US PGA Championship / Steven Rawlings / 14 August 2009 / Leave a Comment

It's a great day one for Steve, with winnings already banked thanks to Tiger's fast start...

I'm certainly not going to complain about that for a start, having backed Tiger Woods to not only win the event, but also to end day one with the lead.

I hadn't gone silly in the 1st Round Leader market but it was a nice fillip, having backed him at [12.0]. I did lay some back at [1.40], after he'd finished his morning round, and I had another small bet in the market, on my other outright selection, Phil Mickelson at [40.0], but it was soon apparent that he wasn't going to oblige.

Mickelson had drifted badly all week and only started to shorten yesterday morning and as I'd had far more on him than I'd originally intended, I layed half of my bet off at [25.0] before he started his round. I thought I'd done well considering Woods had all but finished his round and had started so well, but Mickelson actually traded below [20.0] playing the 1st and 2nd holes. It was all rather odd. Friendless all week, then the favourite comes out and takes the lead, yet Lefty shortens up by more than ten points? The market does some strange things at times.

Anyway, I was glad to have halved my bet. By the time he'd finished his round I was wishing I'd gotten rid of all of it! Poor ole Lefty had a miserable day - he missed about a ten-footer for birdie on the 2nd and things went from bad to worse after that.

There was always a chance he'd be rusty, given how little he must have played lately and given the stress of his wife and mother's illnesses and so it proved. There's no other way to put it, he was rusty in every department of his game, and by the end of the day he looked jaded. He's not totally out of it at +2, seven back of Tiger, but it's not exactly a great position to be in.

It proved to be a tough afternoon and none of the latter starters ever looked like getting to Woods' lead. The best any of them could muster was three under, shot by two previous US PGA champs, Vijay Singh and David Toms, and they'll be hoping they can get past Tiger with their early starts today.

Vijay looked to have played very well, now back using a short putter, and I nearly backed him once or twice as his round progressed but in the end didn't.

I have had a couple of small wagers though, backing Ben Crane at [400.0], after he'd birdied the third, and then I also backed Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano at an average of [230.0], after he'd finished for the day, having shot two under.

When interviewed Gonzo revealed that he'd been working on his putting with legendary short game guru Stan Utley, and that his wife was expecting in two weeks - two factors that were enough to sway me into parting with a few pounds.

I'm also waiting to get matched on another of my favourite Spaniards, Alvaro Quiros, who I admit I should have backed before kick-off, after his bold showing last week.

The greens were said to be very tricky as the day wore on yesterday, and with the wind forecast to get up in the afternoon, Quiros may find it a bit trickier today and Woods may even find it tough to hold on to his lead, on the other hand...

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