The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 17 October 2009 / Leave a Comment

Steve tries out a new strategy, which has worked so far - abandon your book and go to the pub!

It was a disappointing first day at the Portugal Masters, with none of my initial picks making a decent start. My only serious bet from the outset had been Robert Karlsson, who was returning from injury, but he missed the cut.

My first in running bet was on Ben Curtis at [60.0] after round one. He'd been on my shortlist prior to the event, so after he'd shot four under on day one, which was five shots of leader Francesco Molinari, I felt he was just about worth adding.

Alongside Curtis on four under after round one was defending champ Alvaro Quiros and I also made a small 'just in case' play on him at [30.0].

Quiros came out of the blocks nicely yesterday and I added to my bet at [22.0] and then again at [16.0]. Molinari, also with an early tee time, was still going forward though and he touched a low of [2.94] at one point.

When Quiros closed out his round he was in second place, trailing Molinari by three shots and with the wind getting up all the talk was of a significant advantage for the morning starters. I was happy to top-up yet again, this time at [12.0] and [11.5]. Minutes later my man was being matched at less than [10.0].

As the wind was getting up, I also backed morning starter Simon Dyson at [28.0] as he birdied the 5th hole, his 14th of the round, to get to nine under par. Half an hour later he was making double bogey at the 7th and I was ruing my decision.

As the afternoon play got underway I was a little perturbed to see that the scoring didn't appear to be getting any worse and when the live coverage came back on TV it was clear that the wind had gone as quickly as it had arrived.

To add to my frustration, the player that made the biggest move was Padraig Harrington, whom I'd backed last time out at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. It seems I managed to root out the only event he's played poorly in over the last three months. Just typical!

By the close of play yesterday Quiros, had drifted right out to [16.0] and he's now four off the lead, in a tie for 6th. He seems to be playing much better this week though and I'm more than happy to be with him at this stage, although it's frustrating that the wind dropped and allowed so many others in. As well as Pod, Lee Westwood and Charl Schwartzel also had decent second rounds in the afternoon and the event looks poised for a really entertaining weekend.

In the States I had a poor first day, the lowlight of which was the incredible 17 over par 88 shot by one of my picks, Leif Olson. The highlight was Scott Piercy's seven under par 64, but he still ended the day in a tie for 6th, a couple of shots out of the lead.

I had three bets after round one. Backing Brian Gay at [44.0], Chad Campbell at [60.0] and Ben Crane at [120.0].

With friends staying for the weekend, the plan is to do nothing with this event until after round three. I went out last night and will be doing so again tonight, so it was a very pleasant surprise this morning to see that my picks had done perfectly well without me.

Brian Gay was poor but Ben Crane had shot a respectful six under to just about keep in touch on nine under par. Pre-event pick, Jeev Milkha Singh had also shot six under and is a shot better off on ten under, while both Scott Piercy and Chad Campbell ended their rounds by eagling the 9th hole. Piercy's four under par round leaves him on 11 under and that's just two behind joint leaders Troy Matteson and my man Chad Campbell, who shot an impressive nine under!

So it seems that the secret to a successful book is to go the pub. Not sure it will work every time but I'll give it a go again tonight, for research purposes of course...

Fingers crossed for the weekend, I'm going to just let things roll today in both events and pick them up tomorrow. Whatever happens, I'll post a review on Monday.

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