The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 20 July 2010 /

Steve's excited about this week's new venues as he plumps for some local talent on both sides of the Atlantic....

We're in for a real treat this week in Sweden, as the stunning Bro Hof Slott Golf Club makes its tournament debut for the 20th staging of the Scandinavian Masters.

Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, Bro Hof Slott only opened in September 2007, so no time has been wasted in getting it onto the European Tour schedule and it may not be too long before it's on the Ryder Cup rota too. Ordinarily I'd be whining about a lack of course form to analyse but that's not the case this week, I'm just looking forward to seeing this place in action.

The course is described as long (with five par fives), wind-exposed, with penal rough and large greens - with run-off areas. The back nine weaves its way beautifully through fjords and the par 3 17th has an island green a la Sawgrass, so water is most definitely in-play. Without having actually seen how the venue plays, picking the winner from the start isn't going to be easy but I've had a go...

When I noticed Rory Sabatini playing well at the Barclays Scottish Open, I assumed he was there in preparation for the Open Championship, but when I checked to see what price he was for St Andrews I was surprised to see he hadn't qualified. Quite why he's turning up on the Race to Dubai instead of the US PGA Tour right now, I don't know, but having not played last week he turns up here nice and fresh, and in fairly good form.

He missed the cut at the gruelling US Open but that effort was sandwiched between a very respectable 12th at The Memorial Tournament and an 8th placed finish in Scotland. If he can improve slightly on that level of form he should contend here and I thought he was reasonably priced at [40.0].

A Swede has won this title four times over the last 19 years and given it's likely that the home contingent will be far more familiar with this new venue, I thought it worthwhile looking for some value amongst them.

Quite rightly, Robert Karlsson enters the week as favourite but I never seem to catch him in the right week and although he's shown glimpses of form, he's not playing well enough to tempt me in at [13.0]. And Peter Hansen, winner of the event two years ago, also makes little appeal at the prices, so I've scanned a little further down the list...

Having won the BMW Italian Open and finished runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship, Freddie Andersson-Hed missed three cuts in a row but he seems to have returned to form over the last fortnight and he looked more reasonably priced at [50.0].

I'm also taking a big chance on Alex Noren, winner of last year's European Masters. He's been under something of a cloud this year - trying to instrument swing changes, but I assume he knows the venue quite well as he's chosen it for "Alex Camp" - a three-day training camp he hosts in September.

Selections:

Rory Sabatini @ [40.0]
Freddie Andersson-Hed @ [50.0]
Alex Noren @ [70.0]

The PGA Tour pops over the border this week for the RBC Canadian Open, to be held for the first time since 1968 at St. George's Golf and Country Club, Ontario.

Once again, clues are hard to find but my first pick is someone with plenty of course experience. I found this quote by Calgary's Stephen Ames.

"I've played a lot there," said Ames. "It's an old-style, tree-lined course. If they get it firm and fast, it could be really nice and tricky.

"If those greens get any kind of speed, I think it will be a nice test. A really good test."

Ames hasn't had the greatest of years to date and a Canadian hasn't tasted success in the event since 1954, but other than that he looks nailed on!

I've also backed England's Brian Davis, who has already finished runner-up twice this season. The course sounds like it will suit his game and with five par 3's, the fact that he's currently ranked 3rd in Par 3 scoring should bode well.

Regular readers will know that I'm a big fan of Canadian rookie Graham DeLaet and I got lucky last week. With all my attention focused on the Open Championship, I almost completely ignored the Reno-Tahoe Open, so I was horrified to see my man had shot a third round 62 to close to within two of the lead with a round to go. When he birdied the 2nd on Sunday he was matched at below [5.0] but mercifully for me he flopped after that. Hopefully he can pick himself up for this week because it sounds like he's looking forward to it...

"I go into every tournament trying to win, but this is a bit more of an exciting week. I've been looking forward to this all year. I'm somewhat familiar with St. George's. I never played it set up with rough and slick greens like it will be for this week, but every time I've been in Toronto in the past four or five years, I've made a point of playing it. As a rookie on tour, every course is new to me this year, so this is one I've actually played."

It seems, like Ames, DeLaet has plenty of course experience to call upon, so fingers crossed for him this week.

And finally, I've thrown a few pounds at last week's winner, Matt Bettencourt. When he got hot on the Nationwide Tour two years ago, he stayed hot. It's a huge ask but he's a huge price.

Selections:

Stephen Ames @ [50.0]
Brian Davis @ [130.0]
Graham DeLaet @ [160.0]
Matt Bettencourt @ [200.0]

I don't usually look at the Seniors events in much detail, but I'm going to recycle my meagre winnings from my Top Senior bet on Tom Lehman at last week's Open Championship at this week's Senior Open Championship.

Tied 14th was a cracking effort from Tom last week and given he's already bagged the Senior PGA Championship he looks very fairly priced.

Selection:
Tom Lehman @ [11.0]

I'm off on holiday from Friday this week, so I won't post an update or De-brief this week but I'll be back next Wednesday with a preview for the 3 Irish Open and the Greenbrier Classic.

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