Golf Events / Paul Krishnamurty / 14 October 2008 /

Bermuda event brings three out of form players together with one who is firing at present. Who will be Paul Krishnamurty be backing at this year's Grand Slam of Golf?

Starting tonight, there's a little extra bonus for the golf punting community to keep our pulses ticking ahead of the weekly events in the form of a longstanding tournament known as the Grand Slam of Golf. Played over 36 holes, this is supposed to be contested by the season's four major winners. However, with Tiger Woods injured and Padraig Harrington winning two majors this year, the two alternate places go to Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen.

As neither of that pair did anything of note in this year's majors, I'm at a loss as to why they were the alternates. Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, for instance, performed much better. No matter, their inclusion completes a fairly even four man line-up and a decent betting heat. Certainly more so than if Woods had played, as the great man has won this on each of the last seven times he's played in it.

According to the local weather forecast, we're set for some rain and more importantly, up to 30kmph winds. That would appear to massively favour Harrington, whose ability to master windy conditions has produced consecutive Open titles. On the basis of his clear advantage in this area and his dual Major-winning form, Harrington is the man to beat in Bermuda. He also very nearly won this last year, trading below [1.1] before eventually losing a play-off to Angel Cabrera.

For all of that though, backing Harrington in such a low-key affair is a seriously risky business. Besides the majors, which he acknowledges his whole season is based around, his form has been massively disappointing. Since winning the USPGA in August, four events have yielded two missed cuts, and finishes of 55th and 13th. Furthermore, he has complained of tiredness and said after a disappointing performance in the Ryder Cup that he 'couldn't wait for the season to end'.

Harrington also apparently described this event as a 'two-day jolly', which is not really what you want to hear before placing a short-priced bet. In fairness, he also said in an interview with Setanta that he was really looking forward to this Bermuda trip and had 'unfinished business' with the event. We can only guess whether those later remarks were attempts to correct the negative impression given earlier.

At his peak, Goosen would have been favourite in this company. Nobody could argue that he has been anywhere near his best for the last 18 months though - he has just three top-10s since the 2007 Masters. His last four starts have been particularly poor, with a best place of 52nd.

On the plus side, the South African is a proven bad-weather player. His opening round in quite brutal conditions at Royal Birkdale stands out as one the best 18 holes seen this year. And as the formbook should be levelled up a bit by the fact the event is over only 36 holes, [5.1] looks a fair trade. Win or lose, I reckon he'll trade shorter.

Masters champion Trevor Immelman is less certain to appreciate the bad weather conditions and deservedly starts as [5.6] outsider. Most of Immelman's best form has come in the middle of American summers or in his native South Africa, leaving little suggestion that this venue will provide the spark he needs to turn around an otherwise disappointing season. Though everyone knows Immelman is world-class on his day, that Masters win came out of the blue to upset the formbook at odds of [350.0]. Since then, he's only contended once on the PGA Tour.

Which leaves us with, steady, reliable trier Furyk. The American won this event in 2003, and was only marginally edged out last year by Harrington and Cabrera. Still without a win in 2008, he may also be more motivated than the Irishman this time. Far from treating this as a 'two-day jolly', he has been reported to be taking the event very seriously and been practising on the course.

There's no question that Furyk is the form man in this field, and therefore worthy of favouritism at [3.2]. His last three strokeplay events have all yielded top-7 finishes, and he was outstanding in the Ryder Cup. With doubts about all the other three, this looks the right time to be getting on side with this determined, disciplined golfer.

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