Steve is looking forward to an enjoyable spectacle on the west coast of Scotland and he’s been in good punting form lately, so can the run continue at Turnberry?
The wait is almost over for the 138th Open Championship, staged this year at the stunning Turnberry links, and the sooner it kicks off the better, before I back the entire field!
I have a propensity to back too many selections before the off on any given week and it’s something I’m conscious of so I’ve been curtailing my picks a little more of late. But it’s been a successful year so far and I’ve picked plenty of pre-event winners so I’m not going be too hard on myself. It’s all pretty hopeless with this event and I feel like a kid in a sweet shop when I see some of the monster prices on offer.
Most of my bets have been placed prior to this week and I’ll go through them in chronological order as opposed to price or strength of fancy order.
The first player I backed was Anthony Kim, way back in April, when I was shrewd enough to snaffle up some [44.0] about the young American. He finished 7th last year in his first appearance but hasn’t really sparkled yet this year. I’ve managed to trade him back and fore since April and I’m now on at an average of just under [60.0].
All my other bets have been placed this month and the first of them was Zach Johnson, who seems to be a very fair price every week. I took [170.0] about him just after he’d finished 18th at the Travelers Championship, despite putting poorly. He comes here fresh off a very solid 2nd in the John Deere Classic and still looks a fair price at around [100.0].
Martin Kaymer has done me a few favours in the last two weeks and although he’s in quite sublime form, has links form - having lost in a play-off at last year’s Dunhill Links, and has the patience required to win a Major, he surely can’t complete the hat-trick at the biggest event of them all, can he? I doubt it, he must be very tired now, but I’m quite pleased I tucked away a bit of the [90.0] on offer last Thursday evening though.
I backed two other players last Thursday too, in Ernie Els and Ben Curtis. The Big Easy is a shadow of his impressive former self but has a quite remarkable Open Championship record and the [75.0] available was almost insulting. His putting is his nemesis now and his nerve in the mix isn’t what it was but that price just had to be taken.
Ben Curtis, backed at [95.0], is the pick I’m probably most bullish about. He was a surprise winner of the event back in 2003, thanks to Thomas Bjorn’s antics in the greenside bunker on the 16th hole of the final round, but he followed that win with a slump in form and three missed cuts at the Championship, but he’s found a bit of form in the last year or so and has finished in the top ten in the last two Championships. He relishes the links challenge, can cope with any wind or bad weather and looks sure to be there or thereabouts.
My final pick was to be Brian Gay, who I took [120.0] about on Sunday after he’d shown his wellbeing at the Barclays Scottish Open, but I’ve since added another six!
Robert Rock has had a dip in form since Shane Lowry edged him out in a play-off for the Irish Open but he’d been in good form until then and loves links golf and was added to the portfolio on Monday.
Then Thomas Levet was added to the field when Brett Quigley, who qualified due to his 2nd at last week’s John Deere Classic, decided not to take up his place and I had to back him too. He lost in a play-off to Els back in 2002, and has already won this year. I missed the really big prices but was happy enough with [340.0].
Another last minute inclusion was Ben Crane, who quite frankly, is just a bad habit, but I had to throw a ‘just in case’ tenner at him, and then I read Paul Krishnamurthy’s excellent ‘Find Me a 100 Winner - Open Special’ and two more were added!
I had been looking at Darren Clarke last week but after a fast start in Scotland his price had dipped too low but Paul’s wise words and a drift back out to above [300.0] convinced me, and having backed Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano last week, when he finished 2nd to Kaymer, I guess it made sense to go in again on him this week.
Finally, I remembered that last year I backed Simon Wakefield at [1000.0] and he almost gave me a scare, trading in single figures at one point - so I thought I’d see if I could dig out a small punt on someone at the maximum odds again and found another two picks! Paul Broadhurst and James Kingston are both winners who play well in the wind and on links courses and shouldn’t be quite as big as [1000.0].
I seemed to have backed even more than I usually do but I think a big reason for that is that I’ve struggle to see much value at the head of the market. Tiger’s price is fair but he’s still too short for me and besides, I’d like to see him drive off the 1st tee first, as he has a habit of hitting a shocking first shot in the big events.
Well, I’ve gone mad again and have had far too many bets. Though I haven’t layed out a fortune by any means as they’re all big prices and whatever happens to my picks this week I’m going to thoroughly enjoy the spectacle. I’m also going to post an update after each day’s play, detailing how my portfolio fares as the week progresses.
Selections;
Anthony Kim @ an average of nearly [60.0]
Ernie Els @ [75.0]
Martin Kaymer @ [90.0]
Ben Curtis @ [95.0]
Brian Gay @ [120.0]
Zach Johnson @ [170.0]
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano [270.0]
Darren Clarke @ [340.0]
Thomas Levet @ [340.0]
Ben Crane @ [540.0]
Robert Rock @ [670.0]
Paul Broadhurst @ [1000.0]
James Kingston @ [1000.0]
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: Contests, Events, week, year
