Golf. Honda Classic – Florida. 6 points Pat Perez to beat Steve Stricker @ evens with Centrebet (tie no bet). Stricker has to be opposed in Florida. He has missed 11 consecutive cuts in the Sunshine State and clearly hates the Bermuda greens. His current form has taken a turn for the worse, mc/44/Rd1 loser. Perez is playing well (last 2 events 8/13) and has solid form in Florida with 4 top 10’s in his last 10 and just 2 missed cuts. 1 point e/w Joe Durant @ 66/1 generally available. lost 2 points Durant’s form may appear to have taken a dip, with just 2 top 20’ and 2 MC’s from 4 in 2007, but he worth chancing to find the brilliant form he showed at the end of 2007. In October and November he had a win and was never worse than 6th in 5 events. He is a Florida resident and likes the Bermuda greens. Putting has always been his weakness and having confidence on the greens can make all the difference to his game, which is super accurate from tee to green. Accuracy looks to be a vital attribute on this Nicklaus designed course, featuring a lot of water and bunkers. As with most Nicklaus courses, the ability to think and plot your way around the course is the key, and Durant fits the bill. 0.5 point e/w Johnson Wagner @ 150/1 generally available. lost 1 point With this event seeing a lot of first time winners (6 of the last 11 winners broke their duck in the Honda Classic) it is worth making a small bet on this young American. He has made 4 of his 5 cuts this year, all inside the top 35. His great strength is accuracy (currently 3rd for GIR) so the course should suit his style and he may be a dark horse. Johnnie Walker Classic – Thailand. Not a great field, but with Els, Goosen and Casey, hardly bereft of star names. Many of the Asian tour players will have some course form, but Goosen played a Skins game here last year which may give him an edge. 1 point e/w Shiv Kapur @ 66/1 with SportingOdds, Totesport. lost 2 points The rise and rise of the Indian golfers continues and Kapur had a fine finish last time out (2nd Indonesian Open). He is at his best in this part of the world and won the Volvo Asian Masters in Thailand in 2005, to go with 2 other top 4 finishes in the country. He played here in 2005, finishing 39th after a poor finishing round of 78. He is a far better player now and so long as he is not intimidated by the few ‘big names’ he could go very well. 0.5 points Jean Francois Lucquin @ 100/1 with Stan James. lost 1 points Not a lot of form in these conditions, but 2nd in Malaysia last time out was encouraging and that was his second top 5 finish in 4 starts in 2007. He has a lot of talent and a good week with the putter could see another high finish. 5 points Montgomerie to beat Weir @ 9/10 with Totesport, Sunderlands. lost 5 points Monty is playing good steady golf at present with 4 straight top 20 finishes in good quality fields. He has played the course before and is familiar with the conditions, enjoying considerable success in Asian, despite being a bit of a pie magnet. Weir continues to struggle with his swing changes. There are signs that he is getting close to a return to form, a final round of 66 in the Nissan for example, but he is just as likely to slip in a 74. Perhaps the main reason for opposing him is his complete lack of experience of playing in Asia. The heat, humidity and the heavily grained greens will be a new ball game. You have to wonder whether his presence here has more to do with the sponsors needing some major winners in the field to help sell the show, or that he is here because he sees it as a real chance to win? |
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