The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 03 November 2008 /

A long day trading the Volvo Masters and Ginn sur Mer Classic resulted in that most satisfying thing, a winning bet.

Blimey, what a long day!

They started very early in Spain and it was frustrating not having any coverage as the third round was completed.

Soren Kjeldsen took a firm grip of the event with three birdies in a row from the 12th hole and he went into the final round on -8 with a three shot lead over heavyweights Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, who had both drawn level with Kjeldsen during the third round. Anthony Wall was one further back and my last hope, Martin Kaymer was five off the lead on three under par.

Sergio was the first to crack, bogeying the third hole; he followed that mistake with a string of pars and dropped out of the mix, maybe suffering a bit from fatigue after last week's hectic win.

Westwood was yet again poor when in with a chance to win and when he bogeyed the 7th and 8th the Harry Vardon Trophy was on its way to Robert Karlsson.

My man Kaymer gave it a great go and he became the third man to tie with Kjeldsen when he birdied three on the spin from the 11th hole. I had dumped a load of my Kaymer bet at [3.6] which wasn't super smart as he did trade as low as [2.22] but it was a case of managing to tidy up what was quite a mess.

But after that he stalled and went on to bogey the 16th and 18th. Was it signs of temperament or maybe just a touch of over aggression? I'm not sure but for now he's still a player I want to be with, though he's now failed to win a couple of events he maybe should have at least finished stronger in.

So the Dane had the luxury of a decent lead as he finished his round and bogeys on the 16th and 17th didn't halt him as he went on to win by two.

Kjeldsen had both course form and current form going in to the event but he's not a player I'd ever rush to back. It was only his second tour win in 309 events, the first being when he managed to cling on after nearly blowing a five shot final day lead at the 2003 Diego Championships. But he was a very worthy winner here and fair play to him. He did it the hard way, wire-to-wire and saw off the challenges of some big names.

So well done to Kjeldsen and also to Robert Karlsson who was 116th on the Order of Merit just four years ago; he was a potential journeyman back then so to top the list this year was an example of what determination and hard work can achieve.

It had already been a long day when my attention switched to the US for the conclusion of the Gin sur Mer Classic for rollercoaster ride number two.

My man Ryan Palmer started well with a run of solid pars and when he made birdie on the 7th hole he hit the front. A further birdie on the 9th and all was well with the world but then a dreadful stroke of luck blew him off track.

Standing over a lengthy birdie putt his ball moved in the wind and as he'd addressed it he incurred a one shot penalty. How did he respond? By duck hooking his tee shot on the 11th in the water and making double bogey! But he was still only one out of the lead.

He regrouped and birdied the par five 13th hole, just before the first weather delay, so much for an early night.

When play resumed after a couple of hours, Palmer, like all those in the mix, was all over the place but he managed to par his way through the next three holes and remain tied for the lead.

Then came another weather delay. With darkness descending and a Monday finish looking likely, they traipsed off again with seven players tied for the lead and nobody having more than two-and-a-half holes to play.

Mercifully they were back out within half an hour but nobody seemed to be able to birdie the par five last hole. Vaughan Taylor was matched as short as [1.82] as he stood over a ten footer but he missed.

Palmer then played the 18th impeccably, giving himself a ten footer for birdie and he made no mistake. I layed some [1.27] after he'd thankfully made it but I needn't have bothered.

Michael Letzig was the only man that could catch Palmer but he too failed to make birdie and all of a sudden the long day had been worth it.

This Fall Series has been a real boon; unbelievably I've backed every winner so far so I'm quite looking forward to the last event, the lengthily named Children's Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart!

The new season on the European Tour starts next week too, in China of all places, with the HSBC Champions event. I'll preview both events on Wednesday.

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