World Championship
- Thread starter Ian
- Start date
With the above withdrawals any early prices still out there should be taken http://www.firststake.com have
Westwood 16-1
Monty 20-1
Clarke 28-1
Harrington 33-1
Nick Price 50-1 etc etc
Westwood 16-1
Monty 20-1
Clarke 28-1
Harrington 33-1
Nick Price 50-1 etc etc
Furyk is also not playing because he is injured. But it is pretty sad state of affairs - and will be even worse for the World Matchplay in January - for a "World Championship" event.
There was quite a controversy last year when Faldo criticized Monty for settling for a comfortable money-accumulating existence on his home Tour rather than testing himself against the best on the world. Ditto to the players listed above!
There was quite a controversy last year when Faldo criticized Monty for settling for a comfortable money-accumulating existence on his home Tour rather than testing himself against the best on the world. Ditto to the players listed above!
Well I am sitting here feeling quite pleased having caught the bookies napping this morning and getting the early prices on
Westwood 16-1
Monty 20-1
Clarke 28-1
Harrington 50-1
Nick Price 50-1
If any one finishes in the top 5 then I get my money back but hoping for slightly better than that
Any early prices were quickly withdrawn and just appearing again
One odd one at Stan James is how the hell they can rate Waldorf a 150-1 chance (not that I'd back him) the same price as Fichardt -
Exactly WHO??
Westwood 16-1
Monty 20-1
Clarke 28-1
Harrington 50-1
Nick Price 50-1
If any one finishes in the top 5 then I get my money back but hoping for slightly better than that
Any early prices were quickly withdrawn and just appearing again
One odd one at Stan James is how the hell they can rate Waldorf a 150-1 chance (not that I'd back him) the same price as Fichardt -
Exactly WHO??
And now we have three Swedish withdrawals: Fredrik Jacobson, Per-Ulrik Johansson & Patrik Sjoland. Very strange
BTW Ian, what is happening with your site for the new season? I see from from your site your URLs are up for sale.
BTW Ian, what is happening with your site for the new season? I see from from your site your URLs are up for sale.
I guess the moral of this story being 'if filthy rich guy wants holiday, filthy rich guy takes holiday'
Supposed to be 65 in the field; now standing at 55 and falling
Anyway, you tell them AV, Melbourne in January would be a great place to take a holiday, especially if they only had to play one day as a 1st round loser and still pick up $25,000
Anyway, you tell them AV, Melbourne in January would be a great place to take a holiday, especially if they only had to play one day as a 1st round loser and still pick up $25,000
My preview:
The final World Championship event of the year and with the next one being the first professional event of next year, it is clear that these "World Championships" are being marginalized and squeezed out of the prime Tour scheduling positions. As a result, withdrawals are at a record high and will be even higher in Melbourne in eight weeks time. For all Tiger may dilute the game as it used to be, at least he is not afraid to prove himself on different courses and in different climates. He does make the effort to promote golf throughout the rest of the world.
Grumblings aside, this promises to be a great climax to the season. There is enough quality on the PGA and European Tours to present a challenge to Tiger, just as it was 12 months ago when the 17th hole produced yet another dramatic finale on this course. It had been the home to the final event of the European Tour, the Volvo Masters, until 1996 after which it was prepared, or rather manicured, for the 1997 Ryder Cup and this event since 1999. It is a very short course at 6853 yards, but one of the best challenges in European golf. It is a par-71 course, but last year's winning total was only six-under-par (just three players broke par) and the lowest winning total has been 10-under-par set by Colin Montgomerie in 1993. If anything, the set-up is more akin to courses on the PGA Tour than the parkland & links courses that dominate European Tour golf. Maybe that can explain the very poor overall performance of the Europeans last year. With an increased number of American withdrawals, Clarke's victory in the World Matchplay and the European stage-fright of an opening night World Championship event on their own soil not being the case this year, I do expect a much stronger performance from them this time around.
This is not a course on which length or accuracy off the tee is of paramount importance. The difficulty lies in the approach shots to the greens and so the ability to hit greens in regulation or scramble around the greens will decide the winner. Apart from Woods last year, the previous winners on this course had been Mark McNulty (1996), Alex Cejka (1995), Bernhard Langer (1994) and Colin Montgomerie (1993). All are not the best drivers in the game, and Tiger is the exception as ever, but are the very best iron-players, while being deft around the greens. These are the best greens in Europe and the rewards to a pure putting stroke will be evident this week.
Once again, Tiger Woods is available in excess of even money, but is passed over this week. This is his third straight week of competitive golf - he will also play in Thailand next week - and as well as not looking as dominant as he did a few months ago, this will be a tiring finale to the season. He should win, but I would say only 2/1 and above would represent value. Instead, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie and Nick Price are the three outright plays this week and are available at sufficiently high odds to make them e/w plays.
Westwood was extremely impressive last week in storming back from an opening 76 to finish just three shots behind the winner, Pierre Fulke. With a dramatic improvement in his putting, the leader in the European Tour putting stats got the rest of his game back under control. He is in ideal condition for this event. He finished 4th here last year and 2nd in 1996 so there is no doubting the suitability of his game to this course. He is involved in a very tight race with Darren Clarke for the European Tour Order of Merit so there is no doubting his commitment. And he came from behind to beat Tiger Woods and win the Deutsche Bank Open earlier this year, so he knows he is capable of beating him, at least on his own soil.
The second pick is Colin Montgomerie who is available at unprecedentedly high odds this week. He could have won last week had he not had a terrible 3rd round, but rather unusually he showed resolve in the final round to secure a top-10 finish. The reason: he managed to control the lateral movement on his upswing that had recently been causing him to miss a significant number of fairways off the tee. From 50% of fairways hit on Saturday, he hit 93% on Sunday. With that under control, he is a world class player that is more likely to win this event than a Major. He had been suffering from severe headaches last year when he finished 20th, but he has an otherwise excellent record on this course. He had an great Ryder Cup in 1997 and his record from 1990 to 1996 was 8th, 15th, 2nd, 1st, 4th, 2nd & 29th. His is fresh and this is the season-ending tournament for him. He will lose his European crown this week, but he will not leave quietly.
Nick Price is the final pick. Available at good odds, he is good value play for a place finish. It has been a few years since he dominated world golf and now he is much more selective in the tournaments that he plays but without a drop in effort. Over the past three years he has finished in the top-5 of a tournament 32% of the time - a ratio surpassed only by Monty, Westwood and Woods this week - and he has finished in the top-3 five times from 17 tournaments on the PGA Tour this season. Those finishes include his last two events: 2nd at the Buick Challenge and 3rd at the Tour Championship last week. His core stats may not be very impressive anymore, but his continued ability to compete and the fact that he finished 4th last year makes him a decent value play.
With all the withdrawals, there are a large number of books still to offer lines on this tournament, so I shall wait to see if better odds can be attained before making these plays final.
The final World Championship event of the year and with the next one being the first professional event of next year, it is clear that these "World Championships" are being marginalized and squeezed out of the prime Tour scheduling positions. As a result, withdrawals are at a record high and will be even higher in Melbourne in eight weeks time. For all Tiger may dilute the game as it used to be, at least he is not afraid to prove himself on different courses and in different climates. He does make the effort to promote golf throughout the rest of the world.
Grumblings aside, this promises to be a great climax to the season. There is enough quality on the PGA and European Tours to present a challenge to Tiger, just as it was 12 months ago when the 17th hole produced yet another dramatic finale on this course. It had been the home to the final event of the European Tour, the Volvo Masters, until 1996 after which it was prepared, or rather manicured, for the 1997 Ryder Cup and this event since 1999. It is a very short course at 6853 yards, but one of the best challenges in European golf. It is a par-71 course, but last year's winning total was only six-under-par (just three players broke par) and the lowest winning total has been 10-under-par set by Colin Montgomerie in 1993. If anything, the set-up is more akin to courses on the PGA Tour than the parkland & links courses that dominate European Tour golf. Maybe that can explain the very poor overall performance of the Europeans last year. With an increased number of American withdrawals, Clarke's victory in the World Matchplay and the European stage-fright of an opening night World Championship event on their own soil not being the case this year, I do expect a much stronger performance from them this time around.
This is not a course on which length or accuracy off the tee is of paramount importance. The difficulty lies in the approach shots to the greens and so the ability to hit greens in regulation or scramble around the greens will decide the winner. Apart from Woods last year, the previous winners on this course had been Mark McNulty (1996), Alex Cejka (1995), Bernhard Langer (1994) and Colin Montgomerie (1993). All are not the best drivers in the game, and Tiger is the exception as ever, but are the very best iron-players, while being deft around the greens. These are the best greens in Europe and the rewards to a pure putting stroke will be evident this week.
Once again, Tiger Woods is available in excess of even money, but is passed over this week. This is his third straight week of competitive golf - he will also play in Thailand next week - and as well as not looking as dominant as he did a few months ago, this will be a tiring finale to the season. He should win, but I would say only 2/1 and above would represent value. Instead, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie and Nick Price are the three outright plays this week and are available at sufficiently high odds to make them e/w plays.
Westwood was extremely impressive last week in storming back from an opening 76 to finish just three shots behind the winner, Pierre Fulke. With a dramatic improvement in his putting, the leader in the European Tour putting stats got the rest of his game back under control. He is in ideal condition for this event. He finished 4th here last year and 2nd in 1996 so there is no doubting the suitability of his game to this course. He is involved in a very tight race with Darren Clarke for the European Tour Order of Merit so there is no doubting his commitment. And he came from behind to beat Tiger Woods and win the Deutsche Bank Open earlier this year, so he knows he is capable of beating him, at least on his own soil.
The second pick is Colin Montgomerie who is available at unprecedentedly high odds this week. He could have won last week had he not had a terrible 3rd round, but rather unusually he showed resolve in the final round to secure a top-10 finish. The reason: he managed to control the lateral movement on his upswing that had recently been causing him to miss a significant number of fairways off the tee. From 50% of fairways hit on Saturday, he hit 93% on Sunday. With that under control, he is a world class player that is more likely to win this event than a Major. He had been suffering from severe headaches last year when he finished 20th, but he has an otherwise excellent record on this course. He had an great Ryder Cup in 1997 and his record from 1990 to 1996 was 8th, 15th, 2nd, 1st, 4th, 2nd & 29th. His is fresh and this is the season-ending tournament for him. He will lose his European crown this week, but he will not leave quietly.
Nick Price is the final pick. Available at good odds, he is good value play for a place finish. It has been a few years since he dominated world golf and now he is much more selective in the tournaments that he plays but without a drop in effort. Over the past three years he has finished in the top-5 of a tournament 32% of the time - a ratio surpassed only by Monty, Westwood and Woods this week - and he has finished in the top-3 five times from 17 tournaments on the PGA Tour this season. Those finishes include his last two events: 2nd at the Buick Challenge and 3rd at the Tour Championship last week. His core stats may not be very impressive anymore, but his continued ability to compete and the fact that he finished 4th last year makes him a decent value play.
With all the withdrawals, there are a large number of books still to offer lines on this tournament, so I shall wait to see if better odds can be attained before making these plays final.
Originally posted by Stanley:
Supposed to be 65 in the field; now standing at 55 and falling
Anyway, you tell them AV, Melbourne in January would be a great place to take a holiday, especially if they only had to play one day as a 1st round loser and still pick up $25,000
I guess people dropping out if you have bet already on someone else is ok. Definitely good weather then, not the freeze your arse off snow/blizzard/ice crap in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway.
If one of them wants me to fill in, I could pretty much guarantee being a first round loser after 4-5 holes. Even split the cheque if they want
Most of the books have lines open on this event now and are there appear to be good bargains for the three picks even though William offer the place win on just the first four places. The outright plays:
Lee Westwood 14/1 @ Paddy Power
Colin Montgomerie 20/1 @ William Hill
Nick Price 40/1 @ Paddy Power
Lee Westwood 14/1 @ Paddy Power
Colin Montgomerie 20/1 @ William Hill
Nick Price 40/1 @ Paddy Power
72 hole matchups
Monty -110 over Leonard WSEX
Harrington over Olazabal -110 Ladbrokes
I even managed to get one bookmaker to lay me ?20 at -110 Westwood over Langer as I pointed they had made an error on their teletext prices!!!!!
Monty -110 over Leonard WSEX
Harrington over Olazabal -110 Ladbrokes
I even managed to get one bookmaker to lay me ?20 at -110 Westwood over Langer as I pointed they had made an error on their teletext prices!!!!!
Two early 72-hole plays:
Michael Campbell to beat Thomas Bjorn +105 @ Intertops
Alarming loss of form for Bjorn in the last two tournaments and finished almost last twelve months ago; he should be no match for Campbell who has the best current form of the whole field - three events in the last eight weeks and three top-3 finishes
Lee Westwood to beat Darren Clarke -115 @ Sportfanatik
Top tip for this event in a playoff for the Order of Merit with Clarke. Can see Clarke contending, but coming off a poor way to lose to Fulke last week and with no course form - one top-10 finish (1993) compared to Westwood's 4th & 2nd on last two visits - he could struggle to find the top of the leaderboard this week
Nice result Ian
Will always play weak lines, but we all find it's better to inform the book about obviously wrong lines than get bet voided later. Sometimes they even throw us a bone
Must be some action on Westwood today. Within a hour of you listing Westwood 14/1 @ Ladbrokes, he is down to 12/1 and within a hour of my 14/1 play @ Paddy Power, he is also down to 12/1
[This message has been edited by Stanley (edited 11-07-2000).]
Michael Campbell to beat Thomas Bjorn +105 @ Intertops
Alarming loss of form for Bjorn in the last two tournaments and finished almost last twelve months ago; he should be no match for Campbell who has the best current form of the whole field - three events in the last eight weeks and three top-3 finishes
Lee Westwood to beat Darren Clarke -115 @ Sportfanatik
Top tip for this event in a playoff for the Order of Merit with Clarke. Can see Clarke contending, but coming off a poor way to lose to Fulke last week and with no course form - one top-10 finish (1993) compared to Westwood's 4th & 2nd on last two visits - he could struggle to find the top of the leaderboard this week
Nice result Ian
Must be some action on Westwood today. Within a hour of you listing Westwood 14/1 @ Ladbrokes, he is down to 12/1 and within a hour of my 14/1 play @ Paddy Power, he is also down to 12/1
[This message has been edited by Stanley (edited 11-07-2000).]
Stan
Cannot understand but OLY are still offering Westwood 17-1 Monty 22-1
as they are still quoting all the withdrawals
Cannot understand but OLY are still offering Westwood 17-1 Monty 22-1
as they are still quoting all the withdrawals
Oly has odds to show (4 places) this week.Have players up but no lines.I much prefer this to E/W where you have a dead bet if wagering more than one player.Have also got some "unique"lines that they stood by even though they were bad lines.Check em when they 1st hit.
Doesn't Spiro set his own lines at Oly? I don't think he has a separate golf BM. Might explain why lines for withdrawn players stay up for so long and there are so few changes to the original matchup lines. Spiro is amazing in the amount of he sports he covers himself, but I have noticed a lot of outright lines have been a little askew at Oly. If they offered show bets on a regular basis I might consider them, but still prefer the European e/w approach on 5 places
Stanley, wouldn't you prefer the option of place on first five though, to having to bet E/W?
I would. Only two have seen that let you bet to place are Centrebet and SportsTAB that I can think of - plus this Olympic one.
I would. Only two have seen that let you bet to place are Centrebet and SportsTAB that I can think of - plus this Olympic one.
