Hi,
Long time thread stalker, first time poster. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these pages over the past couple of months, and have managed to nick a few quid on a few of the selections. So I thought I would try and add something I see as being potentially a good investment.
I see golf has been profitable so far, and you seem to have plenty of knowledgeable golf posters (bobby1, hector etc). So I would be interested to hear your thoughts
Ryder Cup 2014 European Captain at Gleneagles -
With the ryder cup just round the corner, most ppls thoughts concern the event in Medinah in three weeks. But my attention was caught by a market for the euro captain for 2014 . This is normally announced around December 2012/January 2013, so it would mean tying up your money for a couple of months but I believe it may be worth it.
The selection will be Paul McGinley @ 2/1 with William Hill, Skybet are Evens (Only Two Firms betting on it).
http://www.oddschecker.com/golf/ryder-cup/2014-european-ryder-cup-captainReasons:
Paul has a strong ryder cup background, being a winning member of the european teams in '02, '04 and '06. Which included holing the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002. He has been the winning captain of the Seve Trophy (a team competition between GB&I and Europe) in both 2009 and 2011, widely accepted to have done an excellent job on both occasions with arguably weaker sides. The two previous Seve Trophy winning captains (Montgomerie and Faldo) both subsequently captained the European side in the Ryder Cup. Paul was a vice captain to Monty in 2010, and is fulfilling the role again in three weeks time (alongside Clarke, Bjorn and Jimenez).
The main reason of the bet is the weakness of his fellow potential captains, the betting(with WH) is a follows ;
McGinley 2/1 - Case made above
Monty 3/1 - Has strong ties to Gleneagles, but a wealth of potential captains in waiting(McG, Clarke, Bjorn, Lawrie, Jimenez) makes it highly unlikely he will be asked to repeat. Neither side has had a captain do the job more than once since Bernhard Gallagher in 1995. He has stated that he will only consider it, if approached.
Clarke 5/1 - Darren has been highly critical of Gleneagles in the past. Quotes including "It's unbelievable they chose to stage the 2014 Ryder Cup on this course,"
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/darren-clarke-unflinching-in-criticism-of-gleneagles-for-2014-ryder-cup-1-1754822). Darren's higher profile in the USA would make him the strong fav to be capt in 2016 at Hazelltine, he has also stated his intention to play the senior tour in the USA once he turns 50.
Lawrie 8/1 - Currently playing the best golf of his career, he is unlikely to want to jeopardise this by having the distraction of the captaincy. Also, has no experience in captaining team sides. Only such a short price because he is Scottish.
Bjorn 10/1 - A possibility, but a fairly controversial character and probably feels still able to make the team in 2014.
Jimenez 14/1 - Unlikely to be back-to-back Spanish Captains, plus has no captaining experience.
Olazabal 16/1 - May depend on how he does in Medinah, but like Monty, no repeat Cpt since 1995. Happy to rule out.
Lyle 14/1 - Not the worst outsider, as he has stated a few times about his desire to be the captain. Is Scottish, but is too out-of-sync with the current game and not sure he would be a popular choice.
Price 33/1 - Too low profile
Langer 40/1 - Done the job before, shown no desire
Westwood 40/1 - Worst price of all time, is in the process of moving to USA to try and improve his chances of that elusive major. Will not want the distraction. Should be 400/1
Torrance 66/1 - Done the job before
Woosnam 66/1 - Done the job before
Faldo 66/1 - Did a spectacularly bad job last time, no chance.
I rate McGinleys chance of getting the job at more like 65-75%, so this should be comfortably odds on.
Although tying up the money for a few months in not ideal, I think its worth it.
Recommend:
£100 @ 2/1 Paul McGinley to be Ryder Cup Captain in 2014 with William Hill
I would be interested to see the thoughts of others?
Author