The Open / Steven Rawlings / 18 July 2009 / Leave a Comment

Tom Watson's had yet another great day but it's been a shocker for Steve

I've had poor days before, and I've had very poor days before, but today was an absolute shocker.

I wasn't in a brilliant position before play started, with just a few players in with some sort of a chance, but I was fairly hopeful that Martin Kaymer and/or Vijay Singh would at least still be in with a shout with a round to go, but I'm afraid they're not.

I did have two more bets, a back of Thongchai Jaidee as he started to make a move this morning, taking [120.0] and he's now half that price, but my other bet was very poorly timed.

I was unlucky enough to spot Henrik Stenson had birdied the 17th hole to get to level par as the leaderboard changed and I managed to back him at an average of just over [23.0]. It looked a great bet as his price plummeted but minutes later it was rocketing back up after the Swede made a double bogey on the last. I didn't spot that score change anywhere near as fast and I'm now stuck with yet another worthless wager.

It's been a poor one for sure, mercifully stakes haven't been big, so it's not too painful financially, but it's disappointing to go into the final day of a Major without much more than a snowball in hells chance of collecting.

Once again, Tom Watson made a surprising comeback. When it all got a bit scruffy on the back nine and he looked like he was retreating from the drama, he got a breather in on the 15th hole. His playing partner, Steve Marino, made a complete mess of the par three and ended up with a 6, but the delay gave Tom a chance to take stock. Although he bogeyed the hole himself, he went on to birdie the 16th and 17th and par the last, and he still retains the lead.

It felt like a grind today, I guess it would with my bets not faring well, but the coverage on BBC is very different to that on Sky. They tend to just concentrate on the last group and it was frustrating not seeing much play from anyone else. My day basically consisted of watching my picks drop further and further down the leaderboard. Even when Kaymer (who was still in it with a shout at the time) made eagle at the 7th, they failed to show it.

Anyway, where now? Well for me the answer's nowhere. I haven't a clue who will win from here and the safest thing to do is just leave it.

I must admit, I wish I'd had a few sentimental pounds on Watson yesterday when he was trading at over [40.0] but I'm not going to take a single figure price about him now.

Mathew Goggin, a shot behind Watson, is definitely not someone I'd trust in an ordinary event so he's a no no.

Alongside side Goggin is Ross Fisher, and if I were pressed I'd say he was my idea of the winner, but do I want to take around [5.5] about him doing so? The answer's no.

We've then got Lee Westwood a further shot back, trading at around the same price as Fisher. I couldn't even consider it. Anyone that's been following golf closely over the last few years will know how poorly Lee performs in contention nowadays. And the same can be said of the next three on the leaderboard - Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Stuart Cink.

If I had to pick a sporting bet for the last round then it would probably be Angel Cabrera but personally I'm happy to put the spade down and just watch tomorrow, hopping for the sporting story of the year. I may have another play if I see an opportunity but for now it's just a case of......Come on Tom!

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