Outright plays (1.5 units):
Justin Rose to win 14/1 e.w. @ William Hill
Going early (for me!) on prices that are unlikely to be beaten in the next day or two. Rose, Immelman and Scott head the market and Rose is favoured of these three. Scott was clearly struggling with his game at Gleneagles last week, Immelman has missed four of his last five cuts, while Rose finished 5th in the U.S. Open two weeks ago following some work with David Leadbetter. He is moving in the right direction and bears no resemblance to the player who missed the cut in this event in 1999 and 2000. As a four-time winner last year, he will be well-suited to take advantage of this weak field and notch up his first win of 2003.
Stephen Leaney to win 28/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
Leaney went even better than Rose at Olympia Fields and was very impressive in finishing 2nd to Jim Furyk. Le Golf National is obviously going to be set up very different to the U.S. Open, but it has not been a particularly low-scoring course in the past and there should be no problems with his Leaney's confidence in his game and his ability to compete under pressure. Too large a price considering for someone who was almost the latest major champion.
Richard Green to finish in the top-five 14/1 @ SkyBet
Would normally be wary of playing coming off a windy event, but his swing has obviously not been too greatly buffeted on Thursday and Friday - he shot 68-70 over the weekend to jump up to 10th place. It meant he recorded his third consecutive top-15 finish in four weeks. He had been the leader after two rounds of the British Masters in his previous start and then 2nd after 54 holes, but faltered in the final round, so he has been getting into contention to win. These are large odds for someone who has won in very good company (1997 Dubai Desert Classic) and is consistently on the fringes of the contention.
Justin Rose to win 14/1 e.w. @ William Hill
Going early (for me!) on prices that are unlikely to be beaten in the next day or two. Rose, Immelman and Scott head the market and Rose is favoured of these three. Scott was clearly struggling with his game at Gleneagles last week, Immelman has missed four of his last five cuts, while Rose finished 5th in the U.S. Open two weeks ago following some work with David Leadbetter. He is moving in the right direction and bears no resemblance to the player who missed the cut in this event in 1999 and 2000. As a four-time winner last year, he will be well-suited to take advantage of this weak field and notch up his first win of 2003.
Stephen Leaney to win 28/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
Leaney went even better than Rose at Olympia Fields and was very impressive in finishing 2nd to Jim Furyk. Le Golf National is obviously going to be set up very different to the U.S. Open, but it has not been a particularly low-scoring course in the past and there should be no problems with his Leaney's confidence in his game and his ability to compete under pressure. Too large a price considering for someone who was almost the latest major champion.
Richard Green to finish in the top-five 14/1 @ SkyBet
Would normally be wary of playing coming off a windy event, but his swing has obviously not been too greatly buffeted on Thursday and Friday - he shot 68-70 over the weekend to jump up to 10th place. It meant he recorded his third consecutive top-15 finish in four weeks. He had been the leader after two rounds of the British Masters in his previous start and then 2nd after 54 holes, but faltered in the final round, so he has been getting into contention to win. These are large odds for someone who has won in very good company (1997 Dubai Desert Classic) and is consistently on the fringes of the contention.
