Golf Events / Paul Krishnamurty / 06 March 2012 /

Paul Krishnamurty roots through the Doral form to bring you five suggested bets from the side markets for this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship

1u Graeme McDowell to be top UK & Ireland player @ [12.0]
Rory McIlroy is flavour of the month for entirely legitimate reasons, and in addition to topping the outright market at [7.2], he's a red-hot favourite to finish as top UK and Ireland player. Of course he'll take plenty of beating, but sports betting is rarely so straightforward. Having assumed world number one status at PGA National, it would be no great surprise to see McIlroy suffer a slight reaction and underperform on the Blue Monster. After all, Doral is not a course where he has much previous, with last year's tenth his best effort from three.

If Rory doesn't deliver, this 12-man market would become wide open, as this has never been a popular track among the Brits. The best value may lie at odds of [12.0] with one of golf's forgotten men, Graeme McDowell, whose sixth place in 2010 is equal to anything any of these domestic rivals have ever managed on this track.

Remember just over a year ago, Gmac had his own claims to being the hottest player on earth, and while he's slipped back into the pack since, there are promising signs. Last week he finished strongly for ninth place, despite losing all realistic chance with an opening day 73. That was only his third strokeplay start of 2012, and the first was also excellent, finishing third amongst elite company at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

2u Sang-Moon Bae to be top Asian player @ [5.5]
On the basis of Sang-Moon Bae's impressive performances to reach the World Matchplay quarter-finals, it may be worth sticking with this promising Korean player in a seven-man market that probably won't take much winning. The three outsiders - Tadahiro Takayama, Tetsuji Hiratsuka and Juvic Pagunsan - have yet to make a single cut in 12 US appearances between them. Y E Yang's best from four Doral starts is just 30th, while short-priced favourite KJ Choi has just one top-ten from nine tries on this course. Kyung-Tae Kim finished 49th last year, and has yet to make an impact in 2012.

Perhaps Bae will suffer a similar fate on a course where Asians have little pedigree, but his efforts to date in the US have been encouraging, making every cut this year and claiming the notable scalps of Ian Poulter and Charl Schwartzel at Dove Mountain, before running into the McIlroy machine.

Top-Ten Finish
Lay Lee Westwood 5u @ [2.36]
Chief among those British underperformers at Doral is Lee Westwood, whose best result from four attempts at 18th, which must point towards a short-priced lay in the place markets. Magnificent from tee to green though he is, Lee's putting is a worry at the best of times, especially on Bermuda greens.

Back Matt Kuchar 3u @ [4.0]
He may not be a prolific winner, but Matt Kuchar has been a friend to speciality market punters in recent years, racking up a relentless series of high finishes, including top-fives in the last two Doral renewals. Twenty-four top-tens from his last 57 strokeplay starts offer a rock-solid mathematical case for following him in this market, especially in a field half the usual size, where several have barely any credentials. Kuchar produced his best golf of the season to date last time out at the World Matchplay, and seems bound to feature on the weekend leaderboard yet again.

Back Retief Goosen 1u @ [11.0]
Again the restricted field and specific Doral conditions lie behind this bet. While Goosen is not the force of old, he still makes most cuts and has his moments, such as a trio of top-six finishes in Race to Dubai events in his South African homeland over the winter. He plays well on Bermuda grass, can boast some Doral previous, twice finishing top-three here, and will enjoy the windy conditions more than most. Its hard to see him winning, but there are many worse outsiders and a top-ten finish is well within range.

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