US PGA Championship / Steven Rawlings / 11 August 2008 /

The Punter reflects on a miserable weekend's betting but looks forward to PodSlam.

I can't describe the result of this year's final major as anything but disappointing, punting wise, but it could have been worse.

When I backed JB Holmes after the second round it was due largely to the stat that second round leaders had won in six of the last seven years. I'd described the leaderboard as flimsy after round two but my marginal fancy of the leading bunch had been Curtis at around [20.0]. I had argued my way round to backing Holmes on the strength of the second round stat.

Holmes' tee shot on the first hole in round four found the trees and just about the worst lie I've ever seen. He couldn't even drop it under penalty and get a club on it properly and it led to a triple bogey seven and the end of his tournament.
After that, mercifully, I had the wherewithal to put the spade down and stop digging; it wouldn't have taken much for me to have got heavily involved with Curtis at a short price but I didn't have another bet.

As for stats, just ask Padraig Harrington what he thinks of stats. He became the first to win from outside of the final group out in the last round in something like 12 years and the first European to win in 80 years!

For years the bridesmaid in many an event and never one to trust in contention, he now has a record in majors on a par with Mickelson and Singh and after the so called TigerSlam of 2000/2001 we're now on course for the almost unimaginable PodSlam!

Yes, he had the odd slice of fortune last night but Gary Player's old adage of the harder I practice the luckier I get seems so apt for the amiable, hard working Dubliner. Few could begrudge him his latest success and I'm certainly not one of them.

Next weeks events are the SAS Masters and the Wyndham Championships and I'll post my selections on Wednesday.

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