OUTRIGHTS:
Barry Lane(66/1) for 0.60* e.w. @ Bet365
Despite a rich vein of form, the seasoned veteran still has yet to experience the thrills that only come from being in the cross hair on the back nine on Sunday. Now comes a course that has for him obvious if somewhat surprising appeal, and he also appears to compete well when his American and worldwide peers repeat their ritual of arriving on the scene.
Retief Goosen(16/1) for 0.60* e.w. @ Bet365
(A) His 10th/4th/1st/14th place finishes here attest to the fact that a roomy, lush and immaculate course over rolling terain seems well suited to his game and temperament. I also think of him as respectable in foul conditions.
(B) He's done this sort of thing before, admittedly while in the best form of his career (winning here the week before The Open Championship in 2001, and winning at the BellSouth in 2002 (and finishing 3rd in 2003) the week before the Masters, so he is deserving of a look as a player not coasting through his preparations for one of the majors.
(C) Any win would be relished about now.
(D) He features prominently in the newspaper article appended below.
Ben Crane(80/1) for 0.60* e.w. @ Bet365
There is nothing surprising about Americans faring well on this signature Weiskopf-Morrish design. With Crane, his lag putting throughout and passion down the stretch are hard to come by . . . While information is hard to come by, I believe his faith is a source of strength as he confronts a personal heartache involving a friend . . . It's not like he hasn't done this sort of thing before when he won at BellSouth this year, admittedly while being without an invitation to the Masters the next week . . . With a course that suits and a soul that really seems capable of taking flight amidst the Scottish trappings, I find the odds appealing.
NOTE: There are a couple of nameless Europeans (in addition to Lane) that I am eying as longshots to make a mark at Sandwich next week, and I gave full deliberations to wagering on them this week as well in case they pop early, but I decided against both of them because of their poor course form at Loch Lomond.
3 BALLS (Thursday) for 1* each @ Bet365:
Crane(+188) over Westwood/Howell
Mickelson(+138) over Montgomerie/Olazabal
Dredge(+125) over Gallacher/Woosnam
MATCHUPS:
Rollins(-105) over Olazabal (Tournament) for 1* @ Olympic
GL
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THE HERALD (Glasgow) (7/9/03):
Standing in the lee of Open champion Ernie Els you will find a diminutive Belgian, often puffing away on a cigarette. He is Jos Vanstiphout, the sports psychologist to some of the most successful golfers on tour - in last year's sudden-death finish at Muirfield he was actually advising not only the big South African but also Thomas Levet, from France.
Jos has few academic qualifications to his name but his list of clients speaks volumes of the faith placed in him. Yesterday at Loch Lomond he was at the side of Scotland's Raymond Russell; the former world No.1 and Ryder Cup vice-captain, Ian Woosnam, also uses him, as do the promising South African Charles Schwartzel and previous Scottish Open winners Peter O'Malley and Barry Lane.
So what, I enquired of Vanstiphout, does he do for all these players that coaches cannot achieve? "I make them aware of their abilities," he replied. "I boost their self-confidence."
Well, forgive me Jos, but was a guy like Els not always aware that he was pretty good? "Yes, of course, and I am not sure Ernie initially believed he required my services. In fact he fired me after five minutes. I guess he didn't like me telling him, as I have told others, that what he required was a kick up the butt. Anyway, he soon hired me again and it was tremendous to be in his corner at Muirfield."
Els himself admitted: "I was almost gone mentally before he showed up."
Vanstiphout, 52, has been in his present job for about eight years. In addition to his golfers he has also worked with snooker player Stephen Hendry and cricketer Andrew Flintoff.
"I get them to listen to tapes and CDs which help them to be confident, to be focused and to stay alert. Sometimes they fall asleep while they do so but that doesn't matter because deep relaxation is part of the process."
So who, I asked the man they all seem to trust, is in the right frame of mind to win at Loch Lomond this week? "Retief Goosen, who I was with when he won the US Open, is determined to get the Scottish title again. Ernie is in great shape and I fancy Justin Rose to do very well."
The most difficult golfer he tried to help was Ireland's Paul McGinley, he admitted. I wondered if he had ever offered his services to Colin Montgomerie? "No," he confessed, tongue in cheek, "he is too intelligent for me."
Not a man in need of a confidence boost is England's Ian Poulter, who sports the kind of coloured hairstyle favoured by Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg. "Yeah, the streaks should be bright red by the time of the Open," he predicted. "Well, it makes people smile, which can't be a bad thing."
Poulter has already won the Welsh Open this season and a total of ?411,694. In last week's European Open he was forced to withdraw during the second round with a bad thumb.
"It is still not completely right and I am taking pain-killers and anti-inflammatories but you can't afford to miss a tournament like this.
"It is a course I like and have played quite nicely. Even so I have one awful memory: a couple of years ago I sat in the scorers' hut waiting to see if I was going to qualify for the Open. I was in until Soren Hansen holed a putt on the last which must have been more than 60 feet and I was out. You don't forget moments like that."
Stephen Leaney, one of the band rarely seen in daylight without sunglasses, was the runner-up in the US Open and is currently lying third in the Volvo Order of Merit. There have been those who have wondered whether his travels to and from America are affecting his form.
"Listen, if you are from Western Australia you have to travel - I am on the move for nine months every year. I like this course but would prefer if it was hard and bouncy to reduce the chance of it just becoming a putting competition."
In Ireland last week, his wife, Tracey, was hit on the head by a ball played by Darren Clarke. "She's fine now. I just wonder what the odds are against that happening."
