The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 28 October 2009 / Leave a comment

It's wall to wall stuff this week from Singapore to Mississippi and our man's confident in the East, cagey in Spain and almost obliged in the States

“If Lefty’s in the sort of form he was in at the Tour Championship and at the Presidents Cup, he’ll take the world of beating.”

We've reached that time of year when the European Tour events start late on a Wednesday night. This week it's the Barclays Singapore Open, the first Race to Dubai event of the winter to be co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour and some big names are making the trip.

The biggest name in the field and the shortest priced is Phil Mickelson. He tees off at midnight and he's my main pick from the off. I snaffled up the [10.0] that was available late on Sunday night and I think he's still a very fair price at [9.4]. This is his third spin around Sentosa, having finished 23rd in '07 and ninth last year. If Lefty's in the sort of form he was in at the Tour Championship and at the Presidents Cup, he'll take the world of beating.

Ernie Els, KJ Choi, Chapchai Nirat and even Robert Karlsson, were all also considered but my only other pre-event pick is Richard Sterne. I don't expect an awful lot as he hasn't played in ages but this pocket-sized multiple winner is always a silly price and I can't let him go un-backed at [180.0].

Selections:

Phil Mickelson @ an average of [9.8]
Richard Sterne @ [180.0]

As the day one coverage in Singapore ends on Sky on Thursday morning, coverage of the other European Tour event starts - the Volvo World Matchplay.

The event has been a firm favourite with many golf fans over the years, staged, as it always was, at Wentworth, but sadly that's not the case anymore.

The event not only moves from Surrey to Spain, but it also changes format. Instead of a straight knock-out tournament, the 16 players now compete in four groups of four over the first two days. The winners of each group will play over 36 holes in Saturday's semi-finals and the final, also over 36 holes, will be on Sunday.

I feel it's an event that could be a bit of a lottery, so I've only taken a small interest in a couple of players at decent prices.

I would have loved to have backed Martin Kaymer, who's clearly returned to action in fine form, but with all the group matches being played over the full 18 holes (to determine group winners, should there be a tie) whoever wins will have played seven rounds in four days, and that's a lot of walking with a broken foot.

Having said all that, one of my two picks, Jeev Milkha Singh, has also been sidelined with a foot injury. The likeable Indian has been playing well of late and was competing strongly at the recent JT Shriners Hospitals Open until the problem arose.

He usually wears special shoes which cushion his ankles but for some reason he didn't wear the right ones at the Shriners and he finished the event on painkillers and described himself as barely able to walk when he withdrew from last week's Frys.com. Hopefully he's recovered, and at [55.0] I'll take the chance.

My only other pick is Simon Dyson, who was the first to turn up at the Finca Cortesin Golf Course and start practising. He's been in a rich vein of form this year and looks very fairly priced to me.

Selections:

Simon Dyson @ [27.0]
Jeev Milkha Singh @ [55.0]

It's wall-to-wall stuff this week and the last event to start on Thursday is the PGA's Fall Series event, the Viking Classic in Mississippi.

The event has been in existence since 1968 and has been staged at the Annandale Golf Club since 1994, so there's plenty of course form to evaluate.

It's a case of third time lucky for my main pick, Chad Campbell, after backing him the last two weeks, when he narrowly avoided victory at the Shriners and tailed off after a bright start at last week's Frys.com.

He won the event in 2007 and didn't defend last year, but on his two previous attempts he finished fourth in '02 and second a year earlier. As much as I'd have liked to, with course form like that, I couldn't desert him.

Just two other picks, Woody Austin, who was in a tie for eighth last year and finished tied fifth in 2005. And last but not least I'm also backing Ryan Palmer, who fellow columnist Paul Krishnamurty has also picked in his 'Find Me A 100 Winner' column, and boy is he in form...check out his 'Five players to follow during the fall series'!

Selections:

Chad Campbell @ [22.0]
Ryan Palmer @ [140.0]
Woody Austin @ [80.0]

I'll post an update on Saturday morning.

Tags: Barclays Singapore Open, Chad Campbell, Chapchai Nirat, Ernie Els, Fall Series, Find Me A 100 Winner, Frys.com, Jeev Milkha Singh, JT Shriners Hospitals Open, KJ Choi, Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson, Presidents Cup, Race to Dubai, Richard Sterne, Robert Karlsson, Ryan Palmer, Simon Dyson, Tour Championship, Viking Classic, Volvo World Matchplay, Woody Austin