The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 27 February 2010 /

Mark Wilson, backed at a massive [350.0], shares the halfway lead for the Punter and young Rickie Fowler's not far away either....

With just the one event this week, and having made 12 selections from the start, I was never going to get too involved on Thursday. It was really just a case of watching how they all got on.

My three shortest picks, Brian Gay, Zach Johnson, and Matt Kuchar were all lucky enough to get a morning tee-time. Gay started on the 10th and was in the water on the 11th, making a double-bogey, so he was always up against it after that but managed to finish the round on -1. Kuchar shot a run of the mill -3, while Zach, after a slow start, shot -5.

The best of my picks on day one were outsiders Mark Wilson and Rickie Fowler (also the choice of Paul Krishnamurty in his Find Me a 100 Winner column), who both shot six under par 65's, but they were still some way short of the best round of the day.

Camilo Villegas' nine under 62 wasn't just the lowest round of the day, it was also the lowest round of his professional career and it was an effort that really surprised me. After reaching the semi-finals of last week's Match Play I was fully expecting a flat performance.

I spent Thursday evening closely monitoring Phil Mickelson. I'd let him start the event un-backed, having backed him in his last three tournaments, so when he opened up with a couple of birdies it took a degree of restraint to stop me from rushing in. As his round unfolded I was proved correct to hang on as he mixed birdies with bogeys in almost equal measure and ended the day on -3.

I did have one in-running bet on day one though, taking [55.0] about Alvaro Quiros as he birdied his 11th hole, and as he went on to shoot a very decent five under par second round yesterday, to get within two of the halfway lead, it proved to be a good move.

I was a bit more involved yesterday and the first thing I did was get Mickelson onside at [50.0]. It looked for some time as though he wasn't going to figure at all this weekend but he finally found something late in his second round, birdying four of his last seven holes. Now on six under par, he's five shots off the lead so has plenty to do but I'm glad he's in the book.

Also on six under par is Brian Gay, who rallied well yesterday, despite finding water on the 11th again. Geoff Ogilvy is also on that score and he was added to the portfolio at an average of [55.0]. I had hoped for a better finish from him - finding the water on the 17th certainly wasn't ideal, but he's still in with a shout.

My only other activities yesterday were on Zach Johnson. Playing the back nine first he'd started well, birdying two of his first four holes and with the par five 15th fast approaching, as well as the drivable par four 17th, it wasn't a surprise to see him shorten to [10.5], but then disaster struck. He drove into the water on the 15th and the drift started. Then, after taking a drop, he hit it in the water again! I was luckily on the ball and managed to lay my bet back at an average of [21.0]. A missed seven footer for bogey compounded the errors and he chalked up a seven. I then backed him back again at [36.0] so it was pleasing to see him finish well - now on -8, he's by no means out of the reckoning.

After day two, the best of my bets are still Fowler and Wilson. Young Rickie had quite a day, four putting the 17th green to make bogey and holing out from the fairway on the 2nd for birdie! He's now just one shot off the lead. Mark Wilson, backed at a massive [350.0], finished with a real flourish, birdying the last four holes, and he's now tied for the lead with Camilo Villegas.

So I've got plenty of interest, as perhaps I should with 12 pre-event selections and three in-running picks! But I'm far from confident, it's a very congested leaderboard and there's also some bad weather forecasted, so I'm expecting plenty of twists and turns yet.

They didn't quite get finished yesterday. Matt Every still has just over four feet of his second round to negotiate, so the third round three-balls haven't been published yet but with the bad weather due they will be starting earlier than planned so don't get caught out.

I'll be back on Monday with my tournament de-brief, when hopefully I'll be crowing about a [350.0] winner! Don't hold your breath....

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: