Preview & outright plays:
The end at last! Well, almost. This is the last tournament before the European Tour takes a break for the Masters and then regroups in Morocco. Not quite Europe, but at least the continent is in sight and we're on the 'home' stretch of the Tour. This is not to belittle the Open de Argentina, but capping the Tour will become a lot easier when there is some consistency in courses & climates from week to week!
As a tournament, the Open de Argentina has a fine tradition; this will be its 96th staging, though only the first as a co-sanctioned event between the Association Argentina de Golf and the European Tour. The venue is The Jockey Club, which many thought should have been the venue for the EMC World Cup last year as it is widely regarded as the best course in Argentina. It is a short course, measuring 6,780 yards, with a heavy emphasis on straight hitting and good ball-striking. Not only do the course compatibility stats [on site] show the heavy influence of greens in regulation stats this week, but the roll-call of previous winners on this course - Vicente Fernandez, Jim Furyk and Mark Calcavecchia (twice) - confirms the point.
With the 2000 event staged only four months ago on this course and with only the European Tour journeymen making the trip to South America, it could provide a good indicator for this week. That said, three of the top-four from that event are this week's outright selections. They are Vicente Fernandez who won the event, Angel Cabrera who finished 3rd and Jose Cantero who was one place behind.
Cabrera has been installed as the favorite for this event and rightly so. He had two top-10 finishes in the Middle East in his only European Tour starts of the year and competed strongly in the TPC last week to finish 26th on a course that was not suited to his aggressive play. That he can now control his driver and perform well in the US and extremely well in Europe is testimony to the maturity of his game nowadays. He has represented his country in the various nation events and most of all, in the World Cup at Buenos Aires golf club last year. This event is particularly important for him: "Playing on The European Tour in my home country has always been a big dream of mine and to see it happen is very exciting." He will control his game this week and be an emotional champion!
Bob Charles almost caused an upset and boost for the standing of the Senior PGA Tour when he figured very prominently at the New Zealand Open. This week Fernandez should improve on his finish. This is not a course on which length is important as he showed in winning this title four months ago. That took his tally of Open de Argentina title to eight, of which two have been on this course. He has shown some decent form on the Senior PGA Tour to gain two top-10 finishes from seven starts this year, but like Cabrera, defending his home title to an international field will be the highlight of his year. The incredible price of 125/1 @ Surrey has long gone, but he still represents good value for a place finish.
The final pick, Jose Cantero, is priced up at only one firm, despite that lofty finish in November. However, unlike some of the other Argentinians, he unlikely to be fazed by the arrival of the European Tour contingent as he has been a member of the Tour itself some years ago. He best finish was 14th in the Italian Open in 1991, but at the moment he just concentrates on golf within Argentina alone and when the Tour de las Americas came to Argentina for the Litoral Open in November he finished 9th. With experience of Tour golf and a good record in recent events, including on this course, he may well be one home unknown who graces the leaderboard this week.
Outright plays:
Angel Cabrera to win 8/1 @
DAS
Vicente Fernandez to win 40/1 e.w. @
Surrey
Jose Cantero to win 125/1 e.w. @
William Hill
Ian, thanks for the notice about Fernandez's 125/1 - I picked a bad time to take some time off
BTW, Bennett is not playing this week.
