Golf. Irish Open. Another new course which makes finding winners more difficult than usual. Lee Westwood got back to winning ways last week, and in some style it has to be said. He clearly loves playing golf in the Emerald Isle. In is last 8 events played in Ireland all 8 have been top 20 finishes, four in the top 10 and three top five’s. The question has to be, is 14/1 a big enough price for someone trying to achieve back to back wins, something rarely done. Westwood however has managed back to back wins on no less than four occasions and Ireland was the scene of the last two back in 2000 and 1999. That was a point in time were he was one of the best players in the world. Is he back to that sort of form? If yes, then he wins and history shows that when he is hot, he stays hot for some time. This event has thrown up big priced winners in the last 3 years, but Westwood may be about to buck the trend. 2 points win and 1 point place Lee Westwood @ 14/1, 3/1 with Unibet. lost 3 points Can’t resist taking on Campbell once again. In his favour, he is stepping down in class having being playing the The Masters and last weeks Players Championship, but the fact is that he has not broken 70 in 2007. That’s 19 rounds with an average of nearly 74.6 per round. He has played well in Ireland in the past and is capable of hitting form without warning. Last year he came into his first European event of the season in similar form and finished 4th, so what was on first sight going to be a max 10 point bet, has been scaled back to a 5 pointer. Sterne is in a rich vein of form with his last five events all top 5 finishes, including one win. He is still only 25, improving and in the kind of form that won him the Open de Madrid three years ago. He was 9th in the Irish Open in 2005 and if he can keep up his current standards, he should be capable of another high finish. 5 points Richard Sterne to beat Michael Campbell @ 10/11 with Sunderlands won 4.54 points Alistair Forsyth is another player in decent form making every cut in his last 8 events which have included 5 top 20 finishes. He has no decent form in the event but a new venue levels the playing field somewhat and he is taken to beat David Lynn. Another player with no great Irish Open form and a player who makes a lot of cuts. However Forsyth is playing the better golf this year, 5-1 up on the H2H’s so far. 4 points Forsyth to beat Lynn @ 10/11 with Skybet. lost 4 points Adding: Bellsouth Classic. 1 point e/w Jonathon Byrd @ 40/1 with Hills, BetFred. lost 2 points (t9th) The past winners of this event have shared good GIR and putting stats, and have been in good recent form and had good course form, logical really. Byrd was 6th here last year and 16th in the Players Championship last week. He is ranked 11th for putting average, hits the ball a good distance off the tee but his GIR stats are not good, just ranked 111th, but last week he hit 68% GIR and that compares with the top in GIR stats on tour. Hopefully this is a sign that he is in top form and ready to add to his 2 tour wins. |
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