Great North Open

[Ian]

Back to earth time after all the excitement, Ladbrokes have installed Westwood as favourite at the ridiculous price of 5-2!
I was one of the lucky ones that Clive alluded to in his write-up who got the 150-1 Scarpa at Sporting Odds

 

[Clive]

Could be a few price differences in events this week, esp after a late finishing major, firms don't seem to have time to agree on a party line. Nowhere near the usual amount of prices to view on a normal Monday eve.
Should be a course that suits the big hitters, but a pretty weak field.

 

[Ian]

One other outsider to add to Scarpa - Diego Borrego 125-1 Stan James, has played well here before and his GIR stats are way up on previous years

72 Hole match bet
Hugo over Immelman -110 sports.com
One of Clives' selections over a woefully out of form Immelman

 

[Stanley]

Preview & outright plays:

The week after the US Open is hardly an ideal time for a European Tour event and the result has been a field lacking any of Europe's leading stars who played at Southern Hills, bar one, Lee Westwood. He returns to defend the title that was won five years ago in the inaugural event by Retief Goosen. The South African was never scheduled to play here despite what happened at the US Open and nor was Colin Montgomerie, the 1997 champion. Barring Westwood, it could be another non-household name winning on the European Tour this season.

Accuracy off the tee is important this week, particularly on the front nine and with smaller-than-average greens, the emphasis is on shot-making from the fairway. The list of winners above is testimony to that. The event has been plagued by poor weather - it was washed out completely in 1998 - and this year has been no different. The course will again play long and soft.

This will be Westwood's 8th event in as many weeks and the contrast with last week will be enormous. Even with a journeyman field, he is unbackable at the current odds. The selections this week instead are Greg Turner, Paul Casey and Sven Struver. Turner is certainly one of the best players on view this week and has solid all-round stats. While he failed to repeat his previous form at the Forest of Arden two weeks ago, he did finish 2nd in the French Open last month and has one victory this year in the Australian PGA Championship. Against a much weaker field, he should certainly repeat his top-10 finish of last year.

Paul Casey made quite an impression while at college in the United States and his debut via sponsors invitations in European events has also been impressive. Playing in four of the leading events on the Tour this year he has managed two 12th place finishes and one other top-30 spot. This week the opposition is much less formidable and he certainly fulfill a great deal of that promise this week.

The final pick is Sven Struver who like Turner, already boasts a 2nd place finish on European soil this season - the Algarve Portuguese Open. He was 14th in his last event, the British Masters, and has three Tour titles to his name. With decent course form - 11th in 1999 and in contention in 1998 before the abandonment - he looks a much better prospect than the odds suggest and would be a very profitable investment if he gained a top-5 finish.

Outright plays:

Greg Turner to win 33/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler or BetSmart
Paul Casey to win 40/1 e.w. @ BetSmart
Sven Struver to win 80/1 e.w. @ NetBetSports

 

[Anders]

Oooh, happy to be on a Kiwi from Stan

Have a lot of admiration for Greg Turner - always speaks his mind and it's a very sharp mind too. Used to write a column for one of our Sunday papers and could turn his hand from sport to economics to global warming very comfortably. One very talented family - older brother Glenn scored a run or two in his time while even older brother Brian played hockey for NZ and is a distinguished poet/writer.


------------------
Together we
laid down the gauntlet
and there are takers
even at this late date
still to be
found
as the fire sings
through the
trees

[This message has been edited by Anders (edited 06-19-2001).]

 

[Ian]

Stan
Struver is a non runner

 

[Stanley]

Cheers Ian

 

[Stanley]

Ian, do you know where I can access the tee-times? I can't find them anywhere, yet three-ball betting lines are already up, so the draw has been made.

 

[Ian]

Stan
I can't find them either

 

[Stanley]

Just posted at the European Tour site

 

[Stanley]

72-hole plays:

Peter Baker to beat Scott Gardiner -111 @ Simon Bold
Gardiner was opposed when he made his debut on European soil and he profitably missed the cut. No indications that things should be any easier second time around, the North-East of England will be cold and wet and far removed from playing conditions in Australia. Baker, for his part, has been in decent form, finishing in the top-30 in three of his last four events

Paul Casey to beat Justin Rose +100 @ Sports.com
Decent price for one of the outright picks to beat a consistent under-achiever. Rose did finish 2nd in two events in his native South Africa, but has consistently struggled to put four good rounds together in Europe and too often finishes outside the top-20 for such a bright prospect

Andrew Coltart to beat Ian Poulter -125 @ Ladbrokes
Poulter is a frustrating player. He has won twice on the European Tour and again on the European Challenge Tour and each time has played poorly before and afterwards. The same has happened after his win in Morocco and barring a 9th place finish in the English Open, he had not finished in the top-50 in seven events since. He did finish 14th last year, but he remains one to oppose in the hope that this is not that flash-in-the-pan week

Steve Webster to beat Fredrik Jacobson -111 @ Ladbrokes
No great course form but Webster is in good, if erratic, form at the moment. 5th at the English Open and 11th at the Volvo PGA are good finishes in much better quality fields. Jacobson did finish 11th at the British Masters, but had previously missed his last four cuts and in that form and with stats that are very poor, it is hard to see him repeating the 2nd place finish of last year

Greg Turner to beat Ian Poulter +100 @ Paddy Power
In reasonable form and with a top-10 finish last year, the consistent Kiwi will always be favored against Poulter

 

[Ian]

Camelot - have entered the European market - futures bets available - and matchups

[This message has been edited by Ian (edited 06-20-2001).]

 

[Stanley]

And Westwood @ 2/1

Adding:

Paul Casey to beat Simon Dyson -115 @ Camelot
This has been a disappointing season so far for Dyson. He has not made a cut on the Davidoff Tour, a Tour that he dominated last year, and has only one top-10 finish on the European Tour from 15 starts. He has yet to convince that he can fulfill his enormous promise on this Tour and is opposed with one of the outright picks

 

[Cartman88]

Originally posted by Ian:
Ladbrokes have installed Westwood as favourite at the ridiculous price of 5-2

Looks even more ridiculous after Westwood shoots an opening round 81 !!!!

 

[Stanley]

Update:

Not a bad first day. Matchups stand 3-2-1 with both losing plays (Baker to Gardiner and Casey to Rose) behind by just one shot. Coltart leads Poulter by three, Turner leads Poulter by four and Casey leads Dyson by one while Webster and Jacobson are tied. In the outrights, Turner is 4th, Casey is 15th and Struver did not start.

2nd round play:

Brian Davis to beat Roger Wessels -113 @ Five Dimes

 

[Ian]

Match bet Hugo beat Immelman at the cut so have reinvested a few quid with sports.com on Carter at 80-1, he has finished 2nd and 6th here in 3 starts and at 2 under is certainly not out of it

 

[Stanley]

2nd round update: 1-0-0 and +1.00 units

Davis did enough to make the cut and beat Wessels by four shots for a nice win on day two. In the 72-hole plays, the good news is that they stand 4-2-0 at the cut, the bad news is that non oe of them were decided at the cut. The standings: Baker/Gardiner 1 down; Casey/Rose 3 up; Coltart/Poulter 5 up; Webster/Johansson 1 up; Turner/Poulter 2 down; Casey/Dyson 3 up.

A day of reversals in the outrights. Turner had a bad day to fall from 4th to 31st. Casey had a good day to jump from 15th to 3rd and just one shot behind the leaders. Plenty of hope yet for the week. No plays yet, will look at the full list for the two-balls in the morning.

 

[Stanley]

Haven't been able to get in for over half-hour

The great price on Dougherty has now gone

3rd round plays:

Nick Dougherty to beat Mattias Nilsson +110 @ Eurobet [2 units]
David Carter to beat Marc Pendaries -137 @ Easybets
Paul Casey to beat Nicolas Vanhootegem -120 @ Sportingbet

 

[Stanley]

3rd round update: 2-1-0 and +2.00 units

Almost a great day. Dougherty beat Nilsson by two and Carter beat Pendaries by four, but those damn ties at Euro books! Yes, Casey and Vanhootegem shot the same score which meant a lost wager with their three-way lines. Not so good elsewhere. The 72-hole plays fell back to 3-3-0: Baker/Gardiner 9 down; Casey/Rose 3 up; Coltart/Poulter 9 up; Webster/Jacobson 1 down; Turner/Poulter 2 down; Casey/Dyson 8 up. In the outrights, Casey fell back to 4th and four shots off the lead, while Turner remains out of contention in 44th place.

 

[Stanley]

4th round plays:

Paul Casey to beat Darren Lee -120 @ Victor Chandler or Centrebet
Bradley Dredge to beat Andrew Beal +110 @ Stanley [2 units]