Irish Open 2012

As an Irishman I delighted that this years Open is being held at Portrush GC in Northern Ireland as a tribute to outstanding achievement of its 3 Major winners in recent years, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke. Its very ironic that after these successes of the 3 Northern Irishman that the Irish Open is without a "major" sponsor following the withdrawal of 3 (Telecom Operator) who preferred to sponsor the Republic of Ireland soccer team instead. I.m sure the marketing team are well pleased! Despite the lack of sponsorship, the field assembled for the week is very strong and its now being touted as SOLD OUT !. It will be a real Irish Open this year too, inclement weather on a links course....none of this tree lined parkland, "whack it and birdie 'em" shootout we are dished up on Sky Sports nearly every week. Real golf ! So, with that analysis, who should be best suited to the links conditions and weather to prevail come Sunday? There are  a few that jump out, ut over the years the Irish Open has produced a number of surprise winners but down through the years the winners list includes some of the games greats.....Seve, Faldo, Langer, Monty,Woosie,Olazabal, Crenshaw. There has been mixed home success. Padraig Harrington broke a 25 year wait since John O'Leary won in 1982 at Portmarnock GC. Shane Lowry last won for Ireland at Baltray in 2009(another links). Obviously the betting market is headed by the home boys, McIlroy, GMac & Padraig. Of the three it will come to no surprise of regular readers of this blog that I would pick the Dubliner to fare the best. Tied 8th at Augusta and tied 4th at Olympic this year and another solid showing last week at the Travelers, means he is gaining momentum and is bound to end his winless streak soon. He treats this one as the 5th Major and will be keen to win it again and bring solid form into the British Open in a few weeks time. He is only 12/1 this week but is a must on my staking plan.

Chris Wood in his short career has shown a liking for links. Strong showings in the British Open back this up. He finished just 1 shot outside a playoff in Cologne last Sunday and recent results clearly indicate solid form and he will quietly fancy his chances this week. Seeing Danny Willett win last week could inspire him to believe his turn his coming and he has the skills and temperament to contend up North this week. At 33/1 he is real each way value with 6 places on offer.

My third pick this week is Joost Luiten. The Dutchman has also shown a penchant for links golf. Not in great form this season although finished runner up at Celtic manor a few weeks back and but for a poor weekend last week could have finished much higher than 38th. He will like the setup here and could come under the radar which many have done in the past at this event but is well worth taking e/w at 50/1.

TIP 1 2pts WIN .P. Harrington @ 12/1 Paddypower.
TIP 2 1 pt e/w C.Wood @ 33/1 Paddypower.

TIP 3 1 pt e/w J.Luiten @ 50/1 Paddypower.

Players Championship 2012

All 4 picks missed the cut last week in Seville. Very disappointing. Can mean only one thing, we simply have to find the elusive winner soon and a change from the European Tour to the USPGA often tends to do the trick. Not a hard call to make though as the Madeira Island Open is simply a lottery this week with a very weak field assembled. I was tempted to back Simon Wakefield there but it really could go to anyone so the excitement on offer at Sawgrass grabs the attention this week. In stark contrast to Madeira, the Pete Dye designed Florida course attarcts a very strong field where only Bubba Watson is missing from the World's Top 10. Rory upset the Americans last year by not playing here but they will be looking forward to seeing the Irishman this week who has been in scintillating form this season and having just been beaten in a play-off at Quail Hollow last Sunday, he will be drawing a lot of attention again this week. Its hard to ignore Rory given the form that he is in, but this strong field does give us some real good value.

I'll start of by picking Rory's compatriot, Graeme McDowell who has been playing very well the past couple of months and is the type of player that excels when confidence is high. He comes here fresh and has a good record at Sawgrass and could have won last year. The 66 /1 on offer is just too big and with 6 places on offer this week with most bookies he has to be on my staking plan.

Martin Kaymer is too big at 60/1 with Bet365. The German will like sawgrass and his iron play will serve him well here. He is due another big performance and indeed won the USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits, a Pete Dye course.

Another player who has been in sparkling form is of course Louis Oosthuizen. Runner up at Augusta bfore winning in Malaysia, his tee to green play has been excellent this season and is showing not only the temperament for these big events but seems to be enjoying them too. 40/1 is just about right and worth taking with Paddypower.

My fourth selection is Adam Scott, a previous winner here. I stated earlier in the year that he was looking to a good season and although he has not played an awful lot has shown signs he can post some good scores. If the long putter clicks he will be there or thereabouts. Again 40/1 with Ladbrokes with 6 places on offer.

I am tempted to back Tiger Woods at 25/1.....smashing price despite his mediocre form at Sawgrass. I'm only begining to look at trading on the exchanges and feel this is a trade worth investigating this week. If he gets a decent score on Thursday this price is bound to plummet and therefore create a trade for profit. My only worry is that I'm not sure if it will plummet enough to cover all bets and lock in profit etc but its a trade I will experiment this week.(The trades will need to be studid for m to be able to assess how I think the market will react but I presume with Tiger it will cause a shift if he opens with a 68 or something)

My fifth selection this week, afterall this is the "5th Major" is a 1 pt /w on Padraig Harrington at 110/1 with Betpack. Just a crazy price for the Dubliner who is about to click having shown good performances already this season including a top 10 at the Masters. If the driver behaves he can scramble for the scores which is good to have here on this course.

TIP 1 1 pt e/w G.McDowell @ 66/1 Bet365

TIP 2 1 pt e/w M.Kaymer @ 60/1 Bet365

TIP 3 1 pt e/w L.Oosthuizen @ 40/1 Bet365

TIP 4 1 pt e/w A.Scott @ 40/1 Ladbrokes

TIP 5 1 pt e/w P.Harrington @ 110/1 Betpack

BMW PGA Championship 2010

The Europeantour cranks up a gear this week with the best line-up of the year apart from the Open. The newly revamped West Course means oustpoken Padraig Harrington tees it up this year having sidestepped the event the past few years due to "awful greens" as well as one or two other players. Sadly, Retief Goosen has had to remain on the injured list but his compatriots are sure to go well this week, indeed, its Ernie Els that all the attention will be on as it he who was given the task to redesign the course! "The Big Easy" loves Wentworth, multiple matchplay winner here, he is playing very well and had another strong finish last week in Texas, but its the attention regarding his involvement in the course that makes me want to leave him out of my selection process this week.
They say "beware the injured golfer!" and there are a number teeing it up with firm prospects of succeeding come Sunday afternoon. Padraig himself will take to surgery next Tuesday for a "small procedure" on his right knee before returning for the St Jude as a warm up for the US Open so he may just test himself to see how he can challenge come weekend, but given his feelings towards Wentworth the past few years he may just come up short, and its the tournament winner I am looking for this week. Ian Poulter is also suffering with his neck and one I was considering for the event, and Paul Casey, defending champ, likewise is returning from injury so again I will opt to leave them be.Luke Donald is a player in excellent form and his rare appearance back in Europe may become memorable. His game is well suited to this course and he could be the champion, and he is one of my two main selections this week at 25/1.
My main selection therefore is Martin Kaymer, for me the best young player on the European Tour at present and this course is right up his alley, with some fine performances the past couple of years also at this tournament. He hasn't done too well in the US, but seems to excel back in Europe and the 20/1 on offer is a great price.
Of the favourites, Lee Westwood is being branded a choker on some blogs, and although I disagree with that tag, the thoughts will surely start to enter his mind and at 11/1 to prevail I dont think these are value odds for such a class field, same of Rory McIlroy, the sensational victory at Quail Hollow has put a bit a pressure on him but also given him renewed confidence and although I fancy the Ultserman to go well, 12/1 is not great value.
Local pro, Ross Fisher came so close to winning this last year, I would love to see him win this week, but his odds are too skinny for a man looking to kick start his season. He will be happy to be at home while he plays this week and I'm sure he will be targeting a top 10 finish himself and he has a great advantage of playing the opening two rounds with Els & Rhys Davies, 2 players that will be steady enough so he can gauge his own game against.
My 3rd selection this week is to have a small interest in a top 20 finish @ 20/1 on Jeppe Huldahl, who does tend to go well in the occassional event and can surprise this weekend in a tournament that either produces a shock winner or favourite winner. He has had some decent enough showings already this year, albeit in weaker fields, but he is improving and can sneak a top 20 finish.

Bank Balance after Iberdrola Open + 94.37 pts

BMW PGA Championship Selections:

1 pt e/w M.Kaymer @ 20/1 (Betpack.com)
1 pt e/w L.Donald @ 25/1 (Betpack.com)
1 pt Top 20 finish Jeppe Huldahl @ 20/1 (Paddy Power)