Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 10 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

Betfair's golf expert TQ fancies Scandinavian pair to do well at Wentworth

The West Course at Wentworth plays host to the World Match Play this week. A fine field has been assembled as 16 of the world's best players battle it out to take home the massive first prize of £1m. Local resident and course consultant Ernie Els will once again head the field, in what promises to be a birdie-filled week with no shortage of high drama.

The matchplay format is always likely to throw up a few shocks, so don't be surprised to see plenty of favourites turned over. The betting strategy is to be aggressive from the start and get at the favourites in the early matches.

The best bet of the week is available in what most will see as a mediocre first-round match-up, for betting purposes it is far from it. Rory Sabattini is taking a rare break from his PGA Tour commitments to play in Europe, and he is likely to go out in the first round as he takes on the in-form Dane, Soren Hansen. Hansen has had an excellent second half of the season, culminating in a victory at the Mercedes-Benz Championships a few weeks ago. Currently trading at 2.18 he is a must-bet, and will set you up nicely for the rest of the week's match betting.

Another first round tie that catches the eye is Harrington v Anders Hansen. Padraig has been outspoken regarding his negative feelings toward this course in the past. Anders Hansen, in complete contrast, has won twice around the West Course and will obviously therefore have a positive vibe. Harrington's price is short because of his Open victory, and it is time to take advantage. Anything over 2.5 is a good bet.

The outright winner's market has to be treated slightly differently to a normal golf event winner's market, as the knockout format means there is no way back from one bad performance, and you will see some dramatic changing of odds, even from hole one on day one. Any pre-tournament picks should be reviewed after each day's play, as the field halves and favourites potentially tumble out and you may see a decent opportunity to trade out to a nice situation. Having tipped up the Hansens for their matches, I also can't get away from them in the outright. With Soren and Anders currently available at 29 and 30 respectively, they are both tremendous value. Of the favourites, defending champion Paul Casey is the best bet. He has been in average form recently but showed good signs at the Dunhill last week, and after some helpful advice from Nick Faldo he is starting to swing a lot better. The 10s that are currently available will seem like big odds after a first round win over Jerry Kelly.

Las Vegas is the venue for this week's PGA Tour event. Unfortunately, the quality of the field is hardly show-stopping. The Frys.Com Open is played in a pro-am format, and like most events of this nature, scoring will be low. Anyone with designs on winning the tournament needs to be looking at a winning total of around 20 under par.

Two courses are used here, both of which play very easily, but as with any low total, the main attribute required is good putting. As it is so hard to make up any lost ground, I advise a watching brief for the first two rounds before making your move. Any player more than three shots back at that point should be discarded. No doubt some of the leaders will go low at the weekend, making chasing a difficult prospect. The only pre-tournament wager that I would recommend is the lay of Scott Verplank. He is not a birdie machine kind of golfer and does not merit his place as the market leader.

Whether you're watching the action unfold in leafy Surrey or amongst the hullabaloo that is Vegas you can be sure that the viewing will be riveting. The tree-lined fairways and serene surroundings at Wentworth are the perfect setting for the restrained golf fan, a simple nodding of the head and gentle applause will suffice for a hole winning putt. It doesn't have the slot machines and flashing neon lights of Vegas but come Sunday afternoon it certainly will have a very happy £1m jackpot winner.

What do you think? Has TQ called it right? Are the deadly Danes going to dominate Thursday's first round? Leave a comment below...

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