Golf Betting 2012

[bobby1]

 the Canadian Open the week after the Open could be right up his street too Ralph, that is one tough course.

[bobby1]

Looks like being an interesting week


Ballantines Championship looks to be the complete opposite of last weeks event in Asia with the course apparently being made tougher than last year. There are some very tricky tee shots with hazards in play and there might be one of two horror numbers around on a  few holes. Last week was bish it bosh it putt it, and the top of the leaderboard had mainly big strong players, this week it looks pretty long but much tighter, the par 5's in particular looking to play long. Looks like long and str8 off the tee and hitting the right part of the greens will be the way to go, given the greens are once again big with lots of undulations.

Weather looks to be ok too, there was a lot of rain yesterday which might make it play even longer on the first day but its a good forecast for the week with Sunday looking to be perfect.

New Orleans

Course is really dry and firm and the greens are listed as 11-12 on the stimp meter which is quick and could get quicker as the week goes on. They have altered the 18th green to make it easier to hit in 2 so stats wise could play easier than the previous years. In fact the last three holes are a driveable par 4, a tough par 3 and a par 5 so plenty of swings possible at the end of rounds for players playing the course 1-18.

Bubba admitted he  is playing only coz he is defending champion and says he has played very little golf since his Masters win so might be rusty.

Weather looks good all week with only semi strong winds occasionally, tho unusually it is set to be a little calmer for the late play on Friday afternoon, there doesn't look a lot in it but early first day and late Friday might just have you playing in the calmest winds of the first three days in your second round.

Sunday looks very calm wind wise but there is a small chance of thunderstorms

[bobby1]

I liked the way Alex Noren played last week, he has been all over the place in the last few months after trying to add  the ability to hit the ball both ways to his game, almost the exact same thing that his good friend  Martin Kaymer went thru last year.

Iv'e seen him play a couple of times this year where he didn't have a clue which way it was going to go and looked  much better last week, tho that track was wide open and if you aim it left/right and it goes the other way there you would still hit the fairway on a lot of the holes. He has form here last year and knows how to win when he has a chance but he will have to have sorted his swing out properly to get away with it on a tight track, which he might have done.

I've taken a small bet him and Kyung Tae Kim who is going to be a really good player and played well here last year, he should have won one of the Aussie comps in the winter that Chalmers won, as he fought off Bubba Watson early in the 4th round only to have a mare on a par 5 and eventually fell away. He has lots of winning form in Japan so hopefully he can go well.

[bobby1]

The one certainty in the US event was that Jason Dufner would feature in the tipping line and newspaper selections given his course and current form but how many chances can a guy have to prove he doesn't know how to win yet?

I think he will play well but his weekend averages when he is in contention are poor and at 28/1 he is surrounded in the market by Stricker, Rose and GMac. He cannot be considered close to them in ability, nor in wins gained or even near misses, an abs awful price and tipped up too. Again another player that would have been on the tipster list if he had been 66, 33 or 20 coz he is in form and plays well here innit?

That doesn't even allow for the fact that the top three players in the market are Luke Donald and the last two major winners in Bubba and Bradley.

Nick Watney has a win around here but it seems that something just isn't right with him at the moment, he has lost an average of 15 yards in driving distance this year and says he cannot understand why, he currently ranks 100th on the tour stats at 285 yards when he is usually around the top ten, last year he ended up ranked 11th at 301 yards.

Im not sure this event is as strong as it looks with a good few question marks about the ones at the head of the market behind Donald,  Bubba might not be sharp, Bradley has not managed to finish off the last few events he could have won, same for Dufner. Watney struggling, Els not winning for ages and Petterrson might just be wallowing in his win. Hanson, Senden , Fowler and Howell play well but don't win and they are all in the top 20 in the market.

Ive thrown a dart at Ken Duke to finish in the top ten, he has come back onto the main tour a better player and tho a bit inconsistent he has had 2 top tens this year and has a smattering of form at the course.

Going to take a punt on Chris Kirk to follow in the footsteps of the new baby winners in recent weeks Watson, Donald, Rose Oosthuizen. Kirk became a father over a month ago and hasnt played much since, he did withdraw from one event when the child was ill so might just be really rusty but at 300 I don't mind taking a chance on a guy with a win and a second last season.

Going to lay a lot of those at the front end and see if we can get a Curtis like winner this week too

gl us

[sweet potata!]

Nice posty Bobby lad, I kinda agree with you that the players and the the top end arent exactly awe inspiring but believe me after last weeks donkfest the field is decent!

Interesting about Watney, I've recently tried to add a bit onto my drives, I'm a powder puff driver, But I can't imagine a pro losing 15 yards and not being able to figure out why!

Anyway 2 bets for me!

David Toms @ 70,75,80   Is this man ever going to repay my faith? He has a stellar record in this comp, It was about this time last year he hit some imperious form , heres hoping he kicks in again!

Graeme McDowell @ 34

Edit ; George McNeill  @ 140

[bobby1]

Nice posty Bobby lad, I kinda agree with you that the players and the the top end arent exactly awe inspiring but believe me after last weeks donkfest the field is decent!

Interesting about Watney, I've recently tried to add a bit onto my drives, I'm a powder puff driver, But I can't imagine a pro losing 15 yards and not being able to figure out why!

Anyway 2 bets for me!

David Toms @ 70,75,80   Is this man ever going to repay my faith? He has a stellar record in this comp, It was about this time last year he hit some imperious form , heres hoping he kicks in again!

Graeme McDowell @ 34

It's weird isn't it. 15 yards is a lot to be giving up too.

[sweet potata!]

Definitely, I'd kill for 15-20 more yards myself!

[Karabiner]

In the Ballantine's tourney I was just scrolling down the players on BF and I found Oliver Fisher @ 420.

The guy was a prodigious talent and very unlucky not to win in his debut year on the tour which may have affected him but he did win last year and he has made the effort to go over and play this event so I have slung a few quid on @ 420.

£15 wins just over £6K that'll do me

I've also slung a few darts in the New Orleans tourney on Romero @170, Hoffman @ 90, Harris English @ 85 and my old pal David Toms.

This week's best bet for me though is Caroline Hedwall @ 33/1 in the LPGA event with the field missing three of the the top four in the world rankings which to my reckoning is a massive price for a young bird that can drive it a good 50 yards past me as well as being the dominant player on last year's European ladies' tour.

GL

[bobby1]

good luck Ralph, I had to have a little interest in the ladies again.

[T_Mar]

I'm on GMAC @ 33's and Crane @ 66's in the US both EW

Thought I better post or I'll get lynched for aftertiming when I get the forecast up 

[sweet potata!]

Up and down from Gmac so far, 5 Birdies 3 bogeys in 8 holes, a steady par is needed!

[T_Mar]

as long as there is more birdies than bogeys its all good

[Karabiner]

If Tringale sticks it in my eye by winning this week when I'm not on I'm taking it personally. 

In other news Natalie Gulbis had a 69 today.  

[sweet potata!]

If Tringale sticks it in my eye by winning this week when I'm not on I'm taking it personally. 

In other news Natalie Gulbis had a 69 today.  

No way! I assumed you would be on.

[Karabiner]

Most of my recent picks have either been either missing or just making the cut, but this week I have sweats.

Oliver Fisher was cruising at -4 through eleven holes of his first round before making a triple-bogey six but managed to handle that disappointment and is quite nicely poised on -3 at the half-way point just four off the lead and T7th.

Caroline Hedwall is -5 after a bogey-free first round and T1.

Charley Hoffman is faring the best of my US darts at -3 just four behind and T15.