Preview & outright plays:
Apart from the British Open, this event has the biggest purse on the European Tour and that is after the sponsors have paid Tiger Woods another million dollar appearance fee! With Els also flying over for this event, this is the best field of the year so far on this Tour and it should prove to be a memorable event. It has been every time that Tiger has teed it up here. Two years ago on this course, he coasted to victory and from that point onwards totally dominated world golf having played second fiddle to Duval since the start of the year. Last year, also saw some of the vulnerability of Tiger's game as he lead by two shots going into the last round, only to finish four shots behind Westwood.
The event rotates between the Gut Kaden course on which Westwood has won the last two stagings and the St Leon Rot course on which Woods has won the only previous event. It is a long, flat course with the long-hitters benefiting particularly from the four par-5s which are all over 540 yards. However, with plenty of water around, including the island green 7th hole, so good greens in regulation stats are a necessity.
With Woods passed over because of his odds and Clarke and Monty also ignored because they are paired with Woods for the first two days, the three outright selections are Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Els may have had a rather erratic start to the season and is plagued by an inability to win on the PGA Tour, but on the European Tour it is quite different. He still maintains membership of the Tour and performs much better when the big fish in the smaller pond. Apart from the qualifying WGC and Major events last year, he played in five European Tour events and finished in the top-5 in all of them, including a win at the Loch Lomond Invitational. He finished 5th here last time on this course and with the benefit of playing behind rather than with Woods, he could easily be his strongest challenger at the weekend.
Angel Cabrera has simply raised his game to that of a world class player in the past year and with the belief that he has in himself, then it really should not matter that Woods is in this week's field. He average drive this year is 16 yards longer than Woods' and he should take full advantage of the rewards to big-hitting. Coming off 2nd place last week at the Belfry and having already secured his maiden Tour victory this year, Cabrera is already looking a prime candidate for European player of the year.
Miguel Angel Jimenez is much less likely to win this event than the other two, though he did push Woods very close at Valderrama in 1999. Yet given the very high odds for the outright market, it is this and not the 'w/o Woods' or place-only that is the play. He may not have been in the chase last week when he finished 27th, but he has already shown in the past couples of months in Span and the US that his game is in good condition. Like Cabrera, he has always ranked high in the European Tour greens in regulation stats and has an excellent record in this event, albeit largely on a different course. He finished 7th here in 1999 and also 7th in 1998 and 6th last year. He will need to finish at least one place higher for a place win, but at 50/1 that alone would be a nice profit.
Outright plays:
Ernie Els to win 20/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
Angel Cabrera to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stanley
Miguel Angel Jimenez 50/1 e.w. @ Bet247
[This message has been edited by Stanley (edited 05-16-2001).]
Apart from the British Open, this event has the biggest purse on the European Tour and that is after the sponsors have paid Tiger Woods another million dollar appearance fee! With Els also flying over for this event, this is the best field of the year so far on this Tour and it should prove to be a memorable event. It has been every time that Tiger has teed it up here. Two years ago on this course, he coasted to victory and from that point onwards totally dominated world golf having played second fiddle to Duval since the start of the year. Last year, also saw some of the vulnerability of Tiger's game as he lead by two shots going into the last round, only to finish four shots behind Westwood.
The event rotates between the Gut Kaden course on which Westwood has won the last two stagings and the St Leon Rot course on which Woods has won the only previous event. It is a long, flat course with the long-hitters benefiting particularly from the four par-5s which are all over 540 yards. However, with plenty of water around, including the island green 7th hole, so good greens in regulation stats are a necessity.
With Woods passed over because of his odds and Clarke and Monty also ignored because they are paired with Woods for the first two days, the three outright selections are Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Els may have had a rather erratic start to the season and is plagued by an inability to win on the PGA Tour, but on the European Tour it is quite different. He still maintains membership of the Tour and performs much better when the big fish in the smaller pond. Apart from the qualifying WGC and Major events last year, he played in five European Tour events and finished in the top-5 in all of them, including a win at the Loch Lomond Invitational. He finished 5th here last time on this course and with the benefit of playing behind rather than with Woods, he could easily be his strongest challenger at the weekend.
Angel Cabrera has simply raised his game to that of a world class player in the past year and with the belief that he has in himself, then it really should not matter that Woods is in this week's field. He average drive this year is 16 yards longer than Woods' and he should take full advantage of the rewards to big-hitting. Coming off 2nd place last week at the Belfry and having already secured his maiden Tour victory this year, Cabrera is already looking a prime candidate for European player of the year.
Miguel Angel Jimenez is much less likely to win this event than the other two, though he did push Woods very close at Valderrama in 1999. Yet given the very high odds for the outright market, it is this and not the 'w/o Woods' or place-only that is the play. He may not have been in the chase last week when he finished 27th, but he has already shown in the past couples of months in Span and the US that his game is in good condition. Like Cabrera, he has always ranked high in the European Tour greens in regulation stats and has an excellent record in this event, albeit largely on a different course. He finished 7th here in 1999 and also 7th in 1998 and 6th last year. He will need to finish at least one place higher for a place win, but at 50/1 that alone would be a nice profit.
Outright plays:
Ernie Els to win 20/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
Angel Cabrera to win 33/1 e.w. @ Stanley
Miguel Angel Jimenez 50/1 e.w. @ Bet247
[This message has been edited by Stanley (edited 05-16-2001).]
