Round 1 plays (1pt):
Daniel Wardrop to beat Peter Ellebye -149 @ Unibet
Two players that came through qualifying to play this week, but Wardrop is by far the better player. He is a regular on the European Challenge Tour with a number of top-10 finishes to his name having progressed from the Europro Tour, whereas Ellebye has played in five Challenge Tour events (plus one European Tour) event, missing the cut every time and shooting no better than 73 in any round. He will count himself very lucky to have qualified at all ... he gained the final qualifying spot at Kilmarnock Barassie thanks to an albatross two!
Tom Watson to beat Matteo Manassero -111 @ Unibet
The current British Amateur Champion shot 74-76 to miss the cut by eight shots last week at Loch Lomond and this will be a far more daunting prospect for the 16-year-old, being paired with Sergio Garcia and Tom Watson, a former winner here in 1977. That was a long time ago, but he also won the Senior British Open here in 2003. This is a course on which his straight-hitting will be rewarded and on which many of his younger counterparts will have to play iron from the tee. He finished 4th in the Senior PGA Championship last time out and opened with a 74 at The Masters, so is clearly capable of beating Manassero. On this course, he has a much greater chance.
Kenichi Kuboya to beat Elliot Saltman -106 @ Unibet
Saltman may be a home player, but surely on the basis of the qualities of the Europro Tour and the Japan Tour, it should be Kuboya who should be favourite in this matchup. He did, after all, make the cut in his previous Open appearance, whereas Saltman is making his event debut and Saltman hasn't played particularly well when in Scotland anyway: in five Tour events (3 Challenge, 2 Europro), he has made the cut just once. In fact, he has missed the cut in two of his last four starts; no comparison with a player who has three top-5 finishes in his last five starts on a much superior Tour.
Briny Baird to beat Mark Brown -175 @ Unibet
Opposing Brown who is really struggling with his game at the moment. He has played seven events since the Tour returned to Europe, missing the cut in six of them and finishing 73rd in the other. Baird may not be in the best of form either, but he has had two top-10 finishes in the last three months and when he has missed the cut, it has been very close. Both players are making their event debut, but it is Baird, who is ranked 5th on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, who should be better-suited to the conditions.
David Higgins to beat Jeremy Kavanagh -125 @ Unibet
Kavanagh qualified for this event via the IFQ - Africa, but it was clearly a career event for him. He has played almost all of his Tour golf on the Europro and Southern Africa Tours, but in the 21 events that he has played since the start of 2008, he has made the cut just seven times on these lowly Tours. Higgins is a former regular on the full European Tour only two years ago and has previously competed in this event. His superior quality much surely win him this matchup.
