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The Punter's picks for the Barclays Scottish Open and the John Deere Classic

The Punter RSS / / 07 July 2009 /

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It's the Barclays Scottish Open this week and Steve has some bonnie, bonnie backs at Loch Lomond. While in the States he's hoping for yet another Zach attack.

The field assembling for the Barclays Scottish Open tomorrow is one of the strongest seen on any Tour, outside of a World Golf Championship or Major, in quite a while and it should be a cracking tournament.

I backed the favourite, Ian Poulter, last week at the Open de France at a similar price to the one he's quoted at this week and his course form here is on a parallel with that in France, but given the strength of the field I think he's too short here.

It's not just Poults that looks short - I don't see much to get excited about at the head of the market at all, so I've backed a few old faithfuls at what look value prices.

First up is Brian Gay, who looks a very fair price at [60.0]. He's making his debut here and may well just be tuning up for next weeks Open Championship, but he's already won twice with ease on the PGA Tour this season and looks well worth risking at the price.

Miguel Angel Jimenez has been playing well lately and he has a decent bank of form here. He was third last year and had a couple of top-10 finishes in '04 and '05. I don't think he's the solid player he once was but he still looks at least fairly priced.

I've backed to other Spaniards in Alvaro Quiros, who after a couple of lean weeks and a change of caddy, looks like he could be on the cusp of finding form again, and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who hasn't any form here and looks a little below his best but he's such a prolific winner, he has to be backed at approaching [200.0].

I've been watching Thongchai Jaidee get himself into contention over the last couple of weeks and hoping he wouldn't show up too prominently, as I've had him in mind for this event for a while. In truth, he's been very disappointing once he's moved to within touching distance of the leaders and I do have reservations about his temperament but at a whopping price, and with some sneaky course form in the book, he also has to be backed.

Finally, I've had a whimsical few pounds on big hitting Argentinean, Daniel Vancsik. The Italian Open Champion has seen his form dip since his win but there were signs of a recovery last week.

Selections:

Brian Gay @ [60.0]
Miguel Angel Jimenez @ [65.0]
Alvaro Quiros @ [65.0]
Thongchai Jaidee @ [170.0]
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano @ [180.0]
Daniel Vancsik @ [360.0]

Across the pond, Kenny Perry bids to win back-to-back events after winning the Travelers Championship two weeks ago. He's also the defending John Deere Classic Champion and it would be foolish to dismiss his chances lightly. When Kenny gets hot he tends to stay hot but I do have a few nagging doubts.

The pressure of defending the title is a concern, but more so is the fact that he's readying himself for the trip to the UK, for the Open Championship, with his mother having just been placed in a hospice suffering from multiple myeloma and with his sister suffering from breast cancer.

At twice the price of Perry I've yet again backed Zach Johnson. He missed loads of short putts at the Travelers Championship and that cost him dearly but his game is still in tip-top form. He hasn't a great record here, which is odd because his game really should suit TPC Deere Run, but that was the case with the Waialae Country Club in Hawaii and he found the key there in January and won, so I'm hopeful he can do the same here

Brandt Snedeker, having had time off with a rib injury, suddenly found his form again last week when finishing fifth behind Tiger Woods in the AT & T National. I'm not too sure he'll be suited to the venue but he's a massive talent and a very fair price.

Chad Campbell, whose season has also been disrupted by injury, looks just a shade too big and was seventh here last year.

Last but not least is Heath Slocum. He's not in the greatest of form but does tend to play well at certain venues year after year and this is one place he really does seem to like.

Selections:

Zach Johnson @ [21.0]
Brandt Snedeker @ [65.0]
Chad Campbell @ [70.0]
Heath Slocum @ [100.0]

I'll post an update at the halfway point of both events on Saturday morning.

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