The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 13 May 2009 /

The Punter passes over the favourite at the Irish Open in favour of players who he believes have the game to combat tough conditions. Meanwhile, in Texas, the jollies are limbering up to go lower and lower again.

We're in for a real treat this week as the Race to Dubai stops off on the East coast of Ireland for some proper links fare at the County Louth Golf Club, a venue last used for this event, the Irish Open, back in 2004, when Brett Rumford claimed the title.

Earlier forecasts suggested some pretty dire weather so I've been somewhat cautious, opting for small stakes about big prices for my plentiful opening gambits. The favourite, Padraig Harrington, holds his national title in very high regard and his success in 2007 was surely the catalyst for the bigger, more famous titles he soon acquired but he doesn't appear to be in any sort of form at present so he's passed over.

Rory McIlroy will be glad to be home after a lengthy stint in the states and he loves links golf but I've let him go un-backed as well. Pod was only the third ever Irishman to win the event so taking around [17.0] about the youngster just doesn't feel right.

Two players are going for their third wins this season and I've backed both of them. Putting was the key here in '04 and Richard Sterne can certainly roll his potato, as Sky's Wayne "Radar" Riley would say. While Thongchai Jaidee, a proficient enough links performer, certainly showed he could adapt to poor weather with his recent success in Korea.

Raphael Jacquelin, the shortest priced of my picks, played well here in 2004, finished runner-up last week and can also handle poor conditions. The rest of my selections, and there are enough of them, are all triple-figure prices, the most noteworthy of which are Gary Murphy who lives just yards from the course and last week's winner Daniel Vancsik who has held his form well in the past... Talk about after the horse has bolted!

The weather is such a key factor that I'm not particularly confident but I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Selections:

Raphael Jacquelin @ [50.0]
Richard Sterne @ [80.0]
Thongchai Jaidee @ [85.0]
Steve Webster @ [100.0]
Daniel Vancsik @ [110.0]
Michael Hoey @ [130.0]
Stephen Dodd @ [150.0]
Paul Broadhurst @ [150.0]
Gary Murphy @ [210.0]
John Bickerton @ [500.0]

In the US the Texas Open is played at La Cantera for the last time. It's a short, par 70 track that produces a plethora of birdies and to win here you need to go low, and then lower again; Tommy Armour's 26 under par victory in '03 smashed all sorts of records.
Outsiders have a great record in the event so if you fancy a rag don't be scared to wade in, but I've backed both jollies.

I toyed with the idea of gauging how Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard started and then backing either, neither or both in running, depending on their progress, but in the end decided to do both pre-event - the prices about them are fair enough.
I tried to be clever last week with Molinari and ended up taking a worse price at halfway. Unfortunately, they've both been allocated afternoon tee-times for tomorrow, so maybe I should have held off...

Texan Leonard is going for his fourth win in the event and Zach Johnson, who's in pretty fair form, is the defending champ. Just two other picks, and if Johnson wins I've got it covered. Dustin is just the sort of player to get going here and Richard S didn't do too badly last week, considering he was plagued with blisters, and he's shown a liking for this venue in the past.

Selections:

Justin Leonard @ [15.5]
Zach Johnson @ [15.5]
Dustin Johnson @ [80.0]
Richard S Johnson @ [130.0]

I'll post an update at the halfway stage in both events on Saturday morning.

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