The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 28 July 2010 /

He may be on holiday but The Punter never takes a tournament off! Read Steve's selections from a hopefully sunny Cornwall ahead of this week's big golf events

Following on from last week's events, staged at a brand new venue and one not used for more than 40 years, research has been far from easy again this. Once again course form is either non-existent or ancient!

I'll start with the week's Race to Dubai event, the 3 Irish Open, which this year moves to the Killeen Course at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, which previously staged the Irish Open in 1991 and again in 1992, when Nick Faldo won both events - before going on to complete the treble at Mount Juliet a year later.

It's a very different venue to the County Louth links used last year - scene of Shane Lowry's famous win. Set amongst the Killarney lakes, overlooked by the spectacular McGillycuddy Reeks mountain range, the par 72 course has undergone some modernisation since last used; it's now slightly longer, at 7,161 yards, with faster greens - that are described as having been brought closer to the water hazards and much like last week's venue in Sweden, water is in play on many holes.

Given the lack of course form on offer, I'm taking it easy this week and just playing a few outsiders, though I was tempted by Padraig Harrington. His record in his homeland is solid and he's at least played the course before, but he wasn't quite big enough to encourage a wager.

First up is Alejandro Canizares, who surely deserves a victory this year. Beaten by Peter Hanson in a play-off at the Iberdrola Open in May, he then lost out in another play-off in France four weeks ago, after playing the best golf of the week. Following a missed cut in Scotland he showed up on the leaderboard for the first three days at the Open Championship and at [60.0], I felt he represented value.

I'm giving another chance to James Morrison, who I backed a few times after he'd won in Madeira back in April. He struggled somewhat when my cash was down but in hindsight a hangover after his maiden win was totally understandable. He's back on the shopping list again now though after a much improved effort last week, where he finished in a tie for eighth.

Last up is Korean youngster Seung-Yul Noh - a player I've backed a few times at big odds this year. I think he's making the right decision to play some Race to Dubai events after he secured his card at the Malaysian Open in March. The far eastern players that win a co-sanctioned event and join the European Tour tend to struggle and make very little impact but this kid is a bit different and persisting over here can only improve his already fine game. I could be wrong but I envisage a really big future and another win in 2010 wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Selections:
Alejandro Canizares @ [60.0]
James Morrison @ [130.0]
Seung-Yul Noh @ [130.0]

Over in the States, it's a brand new event, the Greenbrier Classic, held at the historic Old White Course • White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and it didn't take me long to start humming John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' when I looked at pictures of this beautiful course.

A par 70 at a shade over 7,000 yards, the course is described as having generous fairways and challenging, undulating greens. Though whether they'll be quite challenging enough for the best players of the modern era I have my doubts - we could well be in for a birdie barrage.

I can see my old mate Ben Crane finding some form here but he wasn't quite big enough given his recent results and Matt Kuchar was very nearly included as he's in a rich vein of form, but first up is another in-form player in Jeff Overton...

Still a maiden, it's surely just a matter of time for Jeff. He's had four top-three finishes in his last nine starts, including a third place at the AT&T National which got him in to the Open Championship, where he acquitted himself very well, finishing tied 11th. He's fared well in a couple of low scoring events this year - the Zurich Classic and the Crowne Plaza Invitational and although he's not a massive price, he's a fair one.

If it is going to be a low-scoring putting competition then one player that could shine at a decent price is multiple Tour winner and white-hot putter Brian Gay. He's been off the boil a bit this year - his fast finishing second place at the Byron Nelson in May being the one bright spot, but that result came following a run of poor results and a missed cut at the Players Championship, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he could spring into life this week.

If Kuchar and Overton are in form, what about Matt Bettencourt? I took a triple figure price about him last week and he managed a tie for 14th - not a bad effort after his maiden win the week before. As stated last week, when he played well on the Nationwide Tour a couple of years ago he held his form very well and I don't really see the justification behind his big price again.

And finally, the now obligatory minute wager on Canadian Graham DeLaet. He missed the cut in his homeland last week, after starting out on Thursday with three straight birdies! The wide fairways should help this big-hitter and he won't have the pressure he did last, playing in front of a home crowd. Could this be the week?

Selections:

Jeff Overton @ [30.0]
Brian Gay @ [70.0]
Matt Bettencourt @ [160.0]
Graham DeLaet @ [270.0]

I will be travelling back from Cornwall on Saturday, so I won't get time to post an update but I'll be back on Monday with my tournament De-Brief.

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