Wednesday 25 January 2012

Quiros to prevail on Day 1

Alvaro Quiros has 3 tournament victories to his name in the desert, obviously likes this part of the world and that likeness should see him outscore Jason Day on day 1. Darren Clarke makes up the threeball and although he his making great strides lately, the Spaniard should get a better start and is being backed at 2.30 with Paddypower

Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

What a lineup gathered in the Middle East this week. The Worlds top 4 players PLUS a certain Tiger Woods. On top of that Masters champ, Charl Schwartzel also lines up. Prizemoney & Appearance fees have guaranteed the top class field, providing early value for us golf fans. Over the past 4 years this event has been dominated by Martin Kaymer who is chasing his 4th win in 5 years, and a hat-trick this week. He won by a mile last year over Rory McIlroy but this year's lineup suggests he will find it tougher to do so again. Regular readers of this blog will know how much I rate Kaymer and will not be surprised that I will be backing him this week to win yet again. He simply loves this course, has made it his own and this is just a case of "horses for courses". Tiger is a danger but questions over whether he can produce what we know he can over 4 rounds remains to be seen this week. With Lee Westwood & Rory McIlroy obvious challengers, I am taking some value down the field to perhaps get amongst the leaders the weekend. Having backed him last week, I see no reason not to abandon Padraig Harrington this week especially as the 18th hole at Fancourt proved to be his downfall last week dropping 4 shots on it the first 2 days.(he would have ben leader going into the weekend if he had parred it) Padraig can be backed at 45/1 with Bet365 but at 35/1 with Paddypower where 6 places are on offer this week, this is the bet for me.
MY third pick this week is Shane Lowry who tied 4th here 2 years ago. I am expecting big things from the Irishman this year and he wont be fazed by the field assemebled here and he could spring a surprise amongst the more illustrious superstars on show and if the putter gets going early, so too will his confidence. I'm taking the 6 place offer with Paddypower @ 66/1 on the Offaly native.


TIP 1: 2 pts WIN M.Kaymer @ 7/1 Paddypower

TIP 2: 1 pt e/w P.Harrington @ 35/1 Paddypower

TIP 3: 1 pt e/w S.Lowry @ 66/1 Paddypower

If you want to take advantage of Paddy Powers offer this week of 1/4 odds for 6 places and you need an account with them, you can open one now by clicking here

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Opening Twoball at The Volvo

Lee Slattery should be too strong for playing partner SSP Chowrasia in their opening 2ball on Thursday especially as the latter has really struggld to make an impact outside his home tour. Slattery on the other hand is a recent winner on the European Tour and is expected to kick on this season. Small odds, but 1.62 with Betpack have to be taken.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Volvo Gold Champions & Humana Challenge 2012

Action on the European Tour this week sees just 35 players teeing it up on the Fancourt Links in George, South Africa,a Gary Player designed course that hosted the Presidents Cup a few years back. Again notbale local boys will go off as favourites but I think there is value in backing Padraig Harrington & Nicholas Colsaerts @ 25/1 & 33/1 respectively. The Dubliner will relish opening his campaign on what is considered a difficult course. He will partner Ernie Els in the penultimate group on Thursday. Its an ideal week to strike and the odds on offer are just too tempting for a player of his quality in such a small field and should he find fairways he will challenge for the title to setup a promosing 2012 season.
Belgian, Nicholas Colsaerts missed a chunk of the 2011 season through a skateboarding accident just before The Open but returned towards the end of the year showing that his game was still in check albeit a bit rusty. This good be a very good year for Colsaerts and I will be very surprised if he does not make Ryder Cup team. The 33/1 on offer is wrong and I feel the prices are reflective of the fact that out of the last 10 events staged in Sth Africa, 9 have been won by locals, thus favouritism is bestowed on Oosthuizen, Schwartzel, Grace, Aiken & co. I'm happy to oppose them all and take the value.

On the USPGA, The Humana Challenge takes place at La Quinta Courses in California. Matt Kuchar goes off as favourite and despite not winning in 2011 I am happy to back him this week. Ultra consistent, he should be there or thereabouts come Sunday. He is available at 16/1.

TIP 1: 1 pt e/w P.Harrington @ 25/1 Bet365

TIP 2: 1 pt e/w N.Colsaerts @ 33/1 Bet365

TIP 3: 1 pt e/w M.Kuchar @ 16/1 Paddypower

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Joburg Open 2012

After an exciting finish to the Africa Open last week, the South African swing switches to Johannesburg for the Joburg Open to be held at The Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club played over two courses. There is abig field assembled for this week but again alot of homebased players are involved and tournament favourite, Charl Schwartzel goes off @ 7/2 while he chases a hattrick of titles having won it the past 2 seasons. Was tempted to stick with Retief Goosen again this week but he just isn't closing out the deal for awhile now and I favour some better value in the field despite being very tempted to back Aiken (home based) and Richard Sterne who put in a fantastic performance last week on his comeback. Instead I fancy Danny Willett to improve on his 7th placing at East London. He has great form here in 2009 & 2010 and he can build on the big showing from last week and go better this week. I will be backing him with Boylesports @ 25/1
I backed James Kingston last week, he did well to make the weekend following a poor opening round. His price is too big to be ignored @ 70/1 with Boylesports also and he is very consistent on home soil and is great each way value for me.
Lastly, Oliver Wilson had a poor 2010 by his standards, was going quite well until he took a 9 on the 18th last Saturday and fell away after that.He partners Rich Beem and Richard Sterne for the first 2 rounds, has a 10:30 rd1 tee time and a 7:30 rd2 tee time which is a plus for me. If he can start well, this could be the tournament to kickstart his career again. Following his tweets(@oliver_wilson)the past couple of months suggests he is happier in what he is doing and that should be a settling factor in his approach to weekly competition. He can be backed at 125/1 with Paddypower which is a crazy price really for a talent as good as Wilson and I cannot ignore it.

TIP 1: 1pt e/w D.Willett @ 25/1 Boylesports

TIP 2: 1pt e/w J.Kingston @ 70/1 Boylesports

TIP 3: 1 pt e/w O.Wilson @ 125/1 Paddypower

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Africa Open 2012

As already posted on twitter (@birdieclubtips), my three selections this week for the opening event of the Race to Dubai 2010 being played at East London GC are as follows:


Starting 2012 with a 100 point bank. Each week I will invest 5% of that bank balance. The blog since 2009(start date) has amassed over 250 points profit despite last year being the first loss year. We aim to put that right this year by learning from some mistakes, most notably making bets in tournaments that didn't really present much value. This time round we will look more at the PGA when these poor betting value events take place in Europe.

So here we go again !


2 pts win Retief Goosen @ 12/1 Boylesports : Played well in December and always goes well on home soil.

1 pt e/w Jbe Kruger @ 20/1 Boylesports : Played consistently before Christmas and in decent form, value in taking 20s this week.

1 pt e/w J.Kingston @ 70/1 Betpack Well worth backing at these odds. Consistent in South Africa