To the very famous midlands-situated Devere Belfry this week for the British Masters, normally held here in May.
The wind is set to blow this week, so we are looking for a steady accurate golfer, though we shouldn't read too much into course form I guess, as The Belfry in May is a very different beast to The Belfry in (lets face it) virtually October.
The pre-tournament favourite, Casey, pulled out of this tournament last night, at the eleventh hour, stating that after being paired with Colon Montgomerie and Richard Sterne (RSA), he'd prefer to work on his game at home!
I don't blame him.
Rory McIlroy makes his debut as pro this week, but I wouldn't expect a massive performance by him - if you are looking to bet on an amateur turned pro very recently, better to have a flutter on Lloyd Saltman, who is going un-noticed these days, after McIlroy's headline grabbing antics at carnoustie, remember?
Enough talk. Suggestion time...
Selections:
Richard Green £2 e/w 28-1
Montgomerie £1 e/w 40-1
Paul Lawrie £1 e/w 80-1
Storm £1 e/w 66-1
Opening balance: £372.71p
Stake: £10
Balance after stake: £362.71p
=========================================
Result:
Green dns
Montgomerie =19th
Paul Lawrie m/c
Storm m/c
Winnings: £0
Profit/loss: -£10
Closing balance after tournament: £362.71p
Comment: A strange one. A strange one indeed. Richard Green did not even start. I've yet to find out why. Maybe he pulled out even later than Paul Casey? Lawrie and Storm missed the cut by miles. What a terrible week for "Twenty-Six". Only Colon Montgomerie even competed to any degree for "TwentySix", starting off the final round in 9th place, but having a shocking 74 and ending up in nineteenth place.
Lee Westwood won at the Belfry this week, carrying on his good work (in parts) of last week, and finishing 5 strokes clear here, with a stunning 65 in the final round.
No one could live with that!
Ok. We have a break for a fortnight now, when the Seve Trophy is being played (continental Europe versus Britain and Ireland), and then the Alfred Dunhill Links is played at 3 east coast links courses right outside my Dad's cottage in Fife. A bit of a lottery that - 3 courses, the east coast scottish weather and not to mention of course, the celebrities playing alongside the pros... Best to leave these two tournaments.
Back for the HSBC World Matchplay Championships at Wentworth (selections 10th Oct for play beginning 11th Oct) , fully rested and ready to make some profit at last?
There are only FOUR tournaments left now... The World Matchplay, The Portugese Masters, The Mallorca Classic and finally, "TwentySix" will finish this year's golf season at Valderrama, for the Volvo Masters.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
33. MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIP. GUT LARCHENHOF, COLOGNE. 13-16 SEPT 07
Back to Deutchsland, Deutchsland, uber alles, this week - to the tournament formerly known as The German Masters.
Gut Larchenhof, if the wind does not blow, is one of the most straightforward courses the players will face all year, with hugely generous fairways and flattish, true greens.
We have a limited field of only 78 competing this week, which means there'll be no cut (very strange?!) so picking a winner (usually a "name" here), should be more straightforward than at other tournaments.
Berhard langer (and his brother Erwin) are hosting the event, and if Bernhard can put the speech-making and hand-shaking to one side for these few days (doubtful, I know) the bible-bashing keep-fit freak probably has the best credentials and certainly course form to walk away with the booty, come sunday.
Anders Hansen is another to watch - a duel PGA winner at Wentworth, and finally proving himself on the US Tour, with good course form here.
Ian poulter has had some good finishes recently, with a couple in the (laughable) "Fedex race" in America also. An aggressive player, who likes to attack pins and grab birdies, he may well give "TwentySix" readers a good run for their money, as birdies are most definitely the order of the day this week. He is joint favourite with Lee Westwood, though I'd prefer "Prissy" to "Mongo" this week, as Westwood made quite a few silly mistakes last weekend, and has a far poorer putting stroke to Poulter. This may turn into a putting contest you know...
Finally, Chubb-chops Peter Hanson may get the final nod. He's having a good year, loves playing in Germany (11th in Munich this year and 5th in Hamburg), and has been well rested since another solid performance in the Scandanavian Masters.
Others to watch - Goosen (on world ranking, nothing else- he's having his worst season for some time), Ross Fisher, Dredge, Fernandez-Castano, McDowell (the Bart Simpson of the EPGA - a perennial under achiever) and Dougherty.
Opening Balance: £381.71p
Selections:
A Hansen £1.50p e/w 35-1
Poulter £1 e/w 16-1 (jf)
Langer £1 e/w 28-1
Hanson £1 e/w 35-1
Stake: £9
Balance after stake: £372.71p
=====================================
Result:
A hansen =46th
Poulter =27th
Langer =27
P Hanson =27th
Winnings : £0
Profit / Loss :- £9
Closing Balance after tournament: £327.71p
Comment: A strange week. Trust me to write off Mongo's (Westwood's) hopes. He only went and scored a 61, the best round of his life (literally) in the first round. Luckily for me, he struggled a wee bit after that.
A strange week also in that 3 of the 4 selections finished together on the board, with the same score. This was primarily down to The Kaiser (Langer) having a shocker on the last day, scoring a 76 and slipping from a position of serious challenge, to "mid-table obscurity" - something to do with the fact he was concentrating on hosting the event and not, er... winning?! That might have been a bit embarrassing!
So, all in all, another poor week for "TwentySix". We'll leave the German Masters with haste, hot foot it across the north sea to The Belfry... where next week's British Masters may give us a better result. Its getting a little repetitive now, but boy, do we need it!
Gut Larchenhof, if the wind does not blow, is one of the most straightforward courses the players will face all year, with hugely generous fairways and flattish, true greens.
We have a limited field of only 78 competing this week, which means there'll be no cut (very strange?!) so picking a winner (usually a "name" here), should be more straightforward than at other tournaments.
Berhard langer (and his brother Erwin) are hosting the event, and if Bernhard can put the speech-making and hand-shaking to one side for these few days (doubtful, I know) the bible-bashing keep-fit freak probably has the best credentials and certainly course form to walk away with the booty, come sunday.
Anders Hansen is another to watch - a duel PGA winner at Wentworth, and finally proving himself on the US Tour, with good course form here.
Ian poulter has had some good finishes recently, with a couple in the (laughable) "Fedex race" in America also. An aggressive player, who likes to attack pins and grab birdies, he may well give "TwentySix" readers a good run for their money, as birdies are most definitely the order of the day this week. He is joint favourite with Lee Westwood, though I'd prefer "Prissy" to "Mongo" this week, as Westwood made quite a few silly mistakes last weekend, and has a far poorer putting stroke to Poulter. This may turn into a putting contest you know...
Finally, Chubb-chops Peter Hanson may get the final nod. He's having a good year, loves playing in Germany (11th in Munich this year and 5th in Hamburg), and has been well rested since another solid performance in the Scandanavian Masters.
Others to watch - Goosen (on world ranking, nothing else- he's having his worst season for some time), Ross Fisher, Dredge, Fernandez-Castano, McDowell (the Bart Simpson of the EPGA - a perennial under achiever) and Dougherty.
Opening Balance: £381.71p
Selections:
A Hansen £1.50p e/w 35-1
Poulter £1 e/w 16-1 (jf)
Langer £1 e/w 28-1
Hanson £1 e/w 35-1
Stake: £9
Balance after stake: £372.71p
=====================================
Result:
A hansen =46th
Poulter =27th
Langer =27
P Hanson =27th
Winnings : £0
Profit / Loss :- £9
Closing Balance after tournament: £327.71p
Comment: A strange week. Trust me to write off Mongo's (Westwood's) hopes. He only went and scored a 61, the best round of his life (literally) in the first round. Luckily for me, he struggled a wee bit after that.
A strange week also in that 3 of the 4 selections finished together on the board, with the same score. This was primarily down to The Kaiser (Langer) having a shocker on the last day, scoring a 76 and slipping from a position of serious challenge, to "mid-table obscurity" - something to do with the fact he was concentrating on hosting the event and not, er... winning?! That might have been a bit embarrassing!
So, all in all, another poor week for "TwentySix". We'll leave the German Masters with haste, hot foot it across the north sea to The Belfry... where next week's British Masters may give us a better result. Its getting a little repetitive now, but boy, do we need it!
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
32. OMEGA EUROPEAN MASTERS. CRANS SUR SIERRE, SWITZERLAND, 6-9 SEPTEMBER '07
An important tournament this week, I guess, not only for "TwentySix" (which tournament now isn't?!) but also for the players, as this tournament is the FIRST tournament whereby players wishing to partcipate as team members in next year's Ryder Cup, can start accumulating points. This yearly accumulation of points (rather than a TWO yearly accumulation as the Yanks USED to do) has stood us in good stead over recent Cups, because we fielded the "in-form" players from the EPGA tour, whereas the Americans often fielded players who WERE in form almost TWO years PREVIOUSLY!
There will be a fair few players who will be looking to bank some points from the off - players like Clarke, Dougerty and Howell I expect, though I'm expecting some (still relatively unknown) players (specifically someone like ILONEN, who has won twice on tour this year) to try and carry on the good work at the tail end of this year, with a view to putting some "RC points" together now, before the probable slump in form at some time next season. Ilonen is my outside tip already to make the team next september. (RC point accumulation stops in August 2008).
Just the selections again this week...
Opening balance: £383.96p
Selections:
Gonzales £1.50p e/w 60-1
Fasth £2 win 16-1
A Romero £1.50p e/w 22-1
Dredge £1 e/w 33-1
S Hansen 75p e/w 25-1
Stake: £11.50p
Balance after stake: £372.46
----------------------------------------------------
Result:
Gonzales =56th
Fasth m/c
A Romero m/c
Dredge 3rd
S Hansen m/c
Winnings: £9.25p
Profit/Loss: -£2.50p
Closing balance (after tournament): £381.71p
Comment: A completely mixed bag this week. Mainly bad, but with Bradley Dredge (last year's runaway winner by 8 strokes here) doing enough to make at least a return for"TwentySix", if not quite a profit. In fact Dredge was joint leader at the start of the final round - shame really.
Brett Rumford won this tournament after a playoff between himself and Philip Archer.
Thats all I have to say on this weeks tournament - as I am more interested in following the Rugby World Cup at present, I have to say...!
(NB. That is NOT to say however that tips for the next few tournaments won't be appearing as usual on "TwentySix". Of course they will)!
Back to Germany next week, for the Mercedes Benz Championship, hosted in effect by the veteran Langer (who has already played his first event on the seniors tour). He's playing well at present and should he win in his homeland, he would become the oldest player ever to have won on the regular European Tour!
There will be a fair few players who will be looking to bank some points from the off - players like Clarke, Dougerty and Howell I expect, though I'm expecting some (still relatively unknown) players (specifically someone like ILONEN, who has won twice on tour this year) to try and carry on the good work at the tail end of this year, with a view to putting some "RC points" together now, before the probable slump in form at some time next season. Ilonen is my outside tip already to make the team next september. (RC point accumulation stops in August 2008).
Just the selections again this week...
Opening balance: £383.96p
Selections:
Gonzales £1.50p e/w 60-1
Fasth £2 win 16-1
A Romero £1.50p e/w 22-1
Dredge £1 e/w 33-1
S Hansen 75p e/w 25-1
Stake: £11.50p
Balance after stake: £372.46
----------------------------------------------------
Result:
Gonzales =56th
Fasth m/c
A Romero m/c
Dredge 3rd
S Hansen m/c
Winnings: £9.25p
Profit/Loss: -£2.50p
Closing balance (after tournament): £381.71p
Comment: A completely mixed bag this week. Mainly bad, but with Bradley Dredge (last year's runaway winner by 8 strokes here) doing enough to make at least a return for"TwentySix", if not quite a profit. In fact Dredge was joint leader at the start of the final round - shame really.
Brett Rumford won this tournament after a playoff between himself and Philip Archer.
Thats all I have to say on this weeks tournament - as I am more interested in following the Rugby World Cup at present, I have to say...!
(NB. That is NOT to say however that tips for the next few tournaments won't be appearing as usual on "TwentySix". Of course they will)!
Back to Germany next week, for the Mercedes Benz Championship, hosted in effect by the veteran Langer (who has already played his first event on the seniors tour). He's playing well at present and should he win in his homeland, he would become the oldest player ever to have won on the regular European Tour!
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