The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 24 June 2009 / Leave a comment

The Punter has tried to avoid those put through the mill in New York, but it's not been easy, course and current form have seen his plan foiled.

After last weeks marathon Major in New York my strategy this week was going to be to swerve anyone involved for the full five day slog at Bethpage, but it wasn't that easy to ignore the credentials of some of those that went the distance.

Starting with the BMW International, where both of my main picks played in the US Open and the one I like the most, Thomas Levet, made the cut and played the entire event!

I'm well aware that Levet could be drained after such a demanding and frustrating event, and having to fly back to Europe afterwards won't help his cause this week, but his record here, coupled with his current form, mean he's still worth taking a chance on.

It won't be quite so bad for my second pick, Alvaro Quiros, because he at least missed the cut at Bethpage. His biggest negative is that he's only played the Golfclub München Eichenried once before, missing the cut last year. But I'm not letting that put me off as he was in woeful form at the time.

This event used to be an absolute birdie-fest but as the course has matured the scores have come down but a glance at recent results suggest it's still an advantage to bomb it off the tee and Mr Quiros certainly does that.

Someone else that whacks it miles is John Daly, and he's shown a real aptitude for the venue, winning in 2001, finishing runner-up in '05, 10th in '02 and 11th in '04. He's missed the cut a few times too but I still thought he was worth a few bob.

Finally, I've also backed John Bickerton, who used to live in Germany and has a German wife. He also has a few decent efforts here, finishing in the top four three times in 11 starts.

Selections:

Alvaro Quiros @ [29.0]
Thomas Levet @ [38.0]
John Daly @ [80.0]
John Bickerton @ an average of [185.0]

The other event this week, the Travelers Championship from Connecticut, also offers up plenty of past course form and you don't have to search too hard to find someone with very solid figures.

Hunter Mahan's form here in the last three years reads 2-1-2, so it's fair to say he likes the place, but is he value at less than [15.0]? On the back of last week's draining event, where he was matched at as low as [4.2] to win before stumbling late on, and given that his win here two years ago is his one and only win, the answer has to be no.

With the economic climate being as bad as it is and with the threat of reduced sponsorship going forward the players are being encouraged to play more events and they've responded in numbers this week to produce a quality field, which is another reason why Mahan looks a bit skimpy.

My first pick Vijay Singh, like Levet, also played all five days at Bethpage, so my plan didn't last long did it? But also in common with Levet he's a pretty cool customer that wouldn't have gotten too fazed by all the delays. He's also shown an aptitude for TPC River Highlands, finishing 5th last year and 4th in '07. The big downside with Singh just lately has been his poor putting but if he can find a bit of form in that department he'll be bang there.

Next up is Zach Johnson, again. He missed the cut last week which is probably a positive but he's been in fine form on the whole this year and was 3rd here on debut in 2004.

Ben Crane also missed the cut last week and he makes his debut here. He should have the game for River Highlands and I just could resist him at the price.

My last selection, Matt Bettencourt, didn't turn pro until he was 27, and struggled for a few years after that, but at the age of 33 he suddenly sprang to life at the end of last season and he's just done the same again.

Last autumn, in his last five events on the Nationwide Tour, he won twice and lost in a play-off, so when Matt gets hot he can stay hot, and I'd say 5th at the Memorial and 10th at the US Open is pretty hot.

He makes his debut here this week, which has to be a bit of a negative and I know it goes against the long discarded plan, but I'm not worried that he too went the distance last week; the high of finishing 10th should overcome any exhaustion. He struggled for a while after joining the main tour but he's riding the crest of another wave now and may just bag a trophy before long.

Selections:

Vijay Singh @ [21.0]
Zach Johnson @ [21.0]
Ben Crane @ [95.0]
Matt Bettencourt @ [120.0]

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