"14", "name" => "Golf", "category" => "Golf Events", "path" => "/var/www/vhosts/betting.betfair.com/httpdocs/golf/", "url" => "https://betting.betfair.com/golf/", "title" => "So good to see world's best break out of the comfort zone : Golf Events : Golf", "desc" => "Betfair's golf man TQ is excited by the prospect of watching Mickelson and co get down to business in Shanghai...", "keywords" => "", "robots" => "index,follow" ); $category_sid = "sid=4321"; ?>

So good to see world's best break out of the comfort zone

Golf Events RSS / / 07 November 2007 / 1

" class="free_bet_btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">

Betfair's golf man TQ is excited by the prospect of watching Mickelson and co get down to business in Shanghai

Welcome to the start of the European Tour 2008. No, you haven't been asleep for two months since that draining final round of the Volvo Masters...the 2008 tour really does start in November 2007.

The HSBC Champions event has a star-studded field that will certainly get the year off to a fabulous start. With ten of the top-20 in the world competing, you can expect a fiercely fought battle resulting in a big name winner - just how the sponsors like it. At just under 7,200 yards, the Sheshan International GC is nice course for the top pros, and with low rounds available you can expect a winning score of around 14 under par.

This is one of the most competitive fields I have seen in a long while and it makes mouth-watering reading for the golf punter. The betting strategy this week is two-fold and if you commit to the process it should reap rewards. The first step is to select some pre-tournament fancies but only players priced at 70 and above. With all the attention on the market leaders there is some great value out there for other competitors. In both of the only two runnings of this event to date, two of the top four players have been priced at 70 and above.

The first guy who interests me is Charl Schwartzel. The young South African has the game to get right to the top. At the age of 23 he is already a two-time winner on tour and has come close on many other occasions. Two solid performances around here gives him the necessary course form to challenge this week. I believe a big win is just around the corner for Charl and at 220 he simply cannot be ignored.

Sticking with the outside picks the next player on my list is Ross Fisher. A great young prospect, Fisher has made tremendous progress in 2007 and I am sure he will be a multiple winner on tour. Victory at the KLM Open this year has given him a lot of confidence and I fully expect him to go well this week at around 150.

The second part of the strategy involves a wait-and-see approach. Your two outsiders have been backed pre-tournament, and now it's a case of waiting until the conclusion of the second round. Sheshan is the type of course where low scores are possible but poor play is punished, and this style of course nearly always results in a small group of players pulling away from the field. I envisage a group no bigger than three or four to be suitably clear enough of the field come the end of round two. Study the statistics of this group and my advice it to take the plunge on whichever of the lead group has the best putting stats at this point. A lot of players will hit plenty of greens in reg, but it will be the guy who has the hottest putter who will come out on top this week.

With the outright market now covered its time to turn our attention to the first round three-balls. The stand out bet must be to back Randhawa, who's up against Dougherty and Stadler. He lead after round one of this tournament last year before eventually finishing ninth and I am sure he will get off to another flyer this week. At 2.6 for his three-ball he is a must bet.

One of the reasons this week's event stands out so much is the international flavour of the field. During the main part of the season you very rarely get many of the PGA Tour based players venturing out to other events and it is great to see such a mixture of tours at the HSBC. Phil Mickelson said this week that he intends to play more events abroad now and that is something for all golf fans to look forward to.

As a golf fan, I feel that the world's top-20 players should have an obligation to play a certain amount of tournaments across the world. If the likes of Els and Mickelson can manage it why can't the rest of the best?

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

(1)

  1. Terry Jenkins | 08 November 2007

    Mickelson travel around the world! As much as I agree with what you say I think Mickelson being a player managing to play around the world is a poor example.

    When else have you known him to cross the pond? Other than the majors he never ventures out of the States. He must be getting some pay cheque this week to play here.

    Els yes, Singh yes, Woods most definitely yes, but Mickelson no.