Golf Bets / Mike Norman / 09 December 2009 /

Although it's only been a fortnight since last season's European Tour was last on our screens, it's clear that "Mystical" Mike Norman has missed it a lot. But fear not Mike, it's back - and there's just 50 more weeks before it concludes!

And so the European Tour is back... and about bloody time too!

There's no need for a (albeit two week) break in the tour's calendar... I need my fix of regular ET golf - European Tour golf that is, not a stroll along the fairways with some guy from Jupiter who phones home when he gets to the 12th hole!

Actually, if I were in charge I'd have two tournaments a week - one from Monday to Thursday, the other from Thursday to Sunday. Confused? Well don't be. Player X's Thursday score counts as both his final round score for the tournament he is concluding as well as his opening round score for the tournament he is commencing. One thing though. If Player X is German and he shoots a great score on Thursday then this doesn't count; instead he must tag the first Russian he sees, who then goes onto the golf course and records a score for him.

Don't laugh it will work, after all, I'm the man who came up with the simple system that ensured the football World Cup draw was a straightforward and easy-to-follow one. I narrowly got that job ahead of the guy responsible for coming up with the idea of starting the 2010 European Tour season in the year 2009 in the country of South Africa! It's a funny old world isn't it?

But South Africa is where we are at this week, at the picturesque Leopard Creek CC where home favourite Ernie Els will be looking to continue his magnificent record around this 7,249 yard par-72 golf course.

Since 2005 the Big Easy has won here, had two top-five finishes and a top-ten finish, all during a period when his game wasn't exactly at its best due to injuries and loss of form. In a line-up where he is unquestionably the best talent on view, and around a course that he so clearly enjoys playing, it's fully understandable that Els is the [7.0] favourite in the Winner market. However, having said that, I completely share Paul Krishnamurty's view that he is worth taking on because of his apparent 'lack of bottle' in recent years.

The one thing I will say though - and this is not just about Ernie Els but about every golfer who gets accused of 'bottling it' - is that to be accused of being a bottler you have to be getting in to contention to win, and if you're getting in contention to win then you're going to be trading at very short odds.

What I'm trying to say is that backing a [7.0], [70.0] or [700.0] golfer that subsequently loses, having being able to trade out at much shorter odds, is just as good as backing any winner in my opinion.

So although I'm not going to be putting up Ernie as my selection, I certainly won't be putting anyone off backing him if he's the man you fancy this week.

My three against the field for this season opener are South African Hennie Otto ([95.0] to win), and Scottish duo Alan McLean ([170.0]) and David Drysdale ([75.0]). Otto and McLean are two players that have gone well on this course previously (both have had two top-10 finishes in recent years) and have shown some of their best career form around this time of the year. Drysdale is a player that was pretty consistent last season, so in a field much weaker than he is accustomed too, he can go well.

As well as backing this trio in the Winner market, I would advise backing them in the Top 5 Finish market also - Drysdale is available to back at [14.0], Otto at [18.0], and McLean at [30.0]. Good luck.

Recommended Bets

0.5 pts win David Drysdale @ [75.0] in Winner market
0.5 pts win Hennie Otto @ [95.0] in Winner market
0.5 pts win Alan McLean @ [170.0] in Winner market
1.5 pts win David Drysdale @ [14.0] in Top 5 Finish market
1.5 pts win Hennie Otto @ [18.0] in Top 5 Finish market
1.5 pts win Alan McLean @ [30.0] in Top 5 Finish market

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