The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 20 April 2009 /

The Punter talks us through the final round on both sides of the pond in what turned out to be a disappointing weekend.

I got up yesterday morning full of the joys of spring and very confident of getting a result in the China Open. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano had been my best chance, sitting just one shot behind leader Richard Finch, a player I didn't trust in front. And I also had insurance of sorts in the shape of Markus Brier and Chapchai Nirat, who were within three and four shots of Finch respectfully.

Confidence soon seeped away though when Gonzo bogeyed both the 3rd and 4th holes, putting atrociously. His putting seems to be in serious decline and he now uses his caddy to line him up on every single putt, even the really short ones. Coincidently, another of my picks, Markus Brier also has his caddy line up his putts, and has done so for years.

I think it's bizarre that the practice hasn't been banned yet. It looks awful, slows down play, and for me it's as close to cheating as you can get and in the case of Brier and Gonzo - it doesn't seem to work anyway! Still I guess it's not as bad as having every shot lined up by your caddy like Oliver Wilson does, but even so, it looks unprofessional, doesn't work and should be stopped.

Although Gonzo had started slowly, he birdied the fifth hole and was back on track and I felt he'd get the job done, partly because I thought the weak opposition would crumble and just let him through. Unfortunately it didn't quite pan out like that, as there was a bit of a Strange finish that I wasn't prepared for.

Australian Scott Strange made three very lengthy birdie putts in four holes on the back nine - a monster on the 14th, the hardest hole on the course, a very lengthy one on the 15th that would have gone at least six feet by had it not been on target and the shortest of the three, from around 15 feet on the 17th.

In contrast, Gonzo missed far too many putts and finished 2nd, just a shot behind Strange. It was a particularly cruel result as at no time did Gonzo get even close to my target lay back price of [1.70]. The shortest he ever reached was [2.10].

As for my other two - Brier never got nearer than within two of the lead, while Nirat did briefly share the lead, but in truth neither of them ever looked likely to win.

I can waffle on forever and a day but the bottom line was that I had three players in with a great chance of winning before the final round and none of them could even break par, a disappointing outcome indeed.

At the Verizon Classic, Brian Gay streaked away on Saturday, shooting four under par, leaving me and my picks high and dry. I didn't got a handle on this event at any stage and the only upside was that I didn't get too involved in running, just having a modest, misguided wager on Davis Love at halfway.

Gay looked a shade on the generous side at [1.70] before the final round yesterday when three shots clear but odds on shots with a round to go aren't really my thing, which is a shame because he absolutely romped home, winning by an incredible ten shots! His awesome seven under par round was the best of the day and it resulted in him setting the new 72-hole record at the Verizon of 20 under par.

Both winners had pretty similar profiles this week, both have been around a while and both were winning their second events about a year after they'd won their first.

Some big name players will make the trip to Korea this week for the Ballantines Championship, while in the States it's the Zurich Classic, won last year by Andres Romero. I'll preview both events on Wednesday.

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