No rest for the wicked they say! Just
two weeks ago, the 2012 season finale was played out at the DP world
Championship in Dubai where World Number 1, Rory McIlroy emerged victorious. In
between, qualifying has been completed for 2013 cards, and the Challenge Tour
graduates along with the qualifiers, are all looking to make good starts to the
new season. A new event, the Nelson Mandela Championship, will be played at the
Royal Durban GC which will be a new venue for the tour. Locals always tend to
go well in South Africa and this is reflected in the blog’s selections for this
week as 2 of the 3 picks hail from this amazing country.
I
backed George Coetzee in Dubai, despite is lack of killer instinct to get the
job done and considered him again for this week. But I genuinely believe its
bad value backing big George this week. He wants to win badly, his good friend
Brendan Grace graduated onto the tour last year and promptly won on 4 occasions.
He will be under a small bit of pressure to do well this week and with his good
buddy (Grace) they head the betting at 8/1. Whilst not a great field, there is
some value to be had further down. Thomas Aiken owes me at this stage, but
recent outings have shown he is getting back into top form and he always goes
well in his homeland. He did finish 3rd at the SA Open last month
and but for a poor opening 73, he could have contended. At 18/1 with
Boylesports, this is a good price and makes my staking plan.
My second pick is Aiken’s compatriot, Richard
Sterne. He had a mixed bag of fortune in 2012 due to injury but did manage a
handful of top 10s. He has 5 European Tour titles, 2 of which came on hone
soil, again echoing the achievements of Thomas Aiken. 33/1 is very generous in
my eyes and with a short course in play this week; I expect his iron play to
stand him well. He is one I will be watching over the South Africa swing that’s
for sure.
My third and final pick is Englishman,
David Howell. He has shown signs of improving over the course of 2012. Over 20
events that he played in, he missed 8 cuts, 5 of which were in the early parts
of the season. He recently finished 5th in Perth and his top 5
finish at the French Open on a tough course highlights the case that he can
still compete and in this field assembled for the season’s opener, Howell is
fantastic value at e/w 66/1. If he fins the fairways, he will score this week
and hopefully get the blog off to a good start for the new campaign.
The weather forecast is not good for the
4 days with rain and wind expected and this may help the more experienced,
patient golfers and the 3 picks above have that.
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