The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 06 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

It's been a poor weekend for the Punter and it doesn't look like things will improve much tonight...

There was little joy for any of my picks in the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship last night, and to make matters worse, when I had heard the wind was picking up, I also added Justin Leonard to the portfolio at [30.0]. He birdied the first two holes but imploded after that. Dustin Johnson, who I backed after round two, fared OK for a while and even hit the front at one point but he too lost the plot after that and now looks too far back.

Prior to that it was the final round of the Omega European Masters where my only hope of a winner was Miguel Angel Jimenez, who I'd backed before the event at [28.0]. He started well enough, birdying both the 1st and the 5th and when he hit his tee-shot onto the par four 7th green, it was starting to look like he may finally win the title that has eluded him for over 20 years, but it wasn't to be. He somehow managed to four putt for bogey, his price went from [4.3] to [21.0] in seconds, and I was feeling sick.

The overnight leader was Sweden's Alexander Noren, a player with immense talent and a miniscule amount of bottle, or at least that was my opinion of him before yesterday. In contrast to his nearest challenger, Charl Schwartzel, who bogeyed the first two holes, Noren started superbly, birdying one and two, and was soon trading at odds on.

Although my opinion of Noren meant I wanted to be against him I didn't lay the odds on because at that stage Jimenez looked as if he had the best chance of prospering should the Swede slip up.

I soon changed my mind when Noren bogeyed the 3rd and I was fast enough to snap up some of the odds on though but I didn't hold onto the lay for long. When he parred the 4th, the second hardest hole on the course, I backed it all back at [2.0] and I wish I'd left at that but I didn't.

As the round wore on Bradley Dredge emerged as Noren's only danger after an outrageous chip-in eagle at the 9th and I was scratching my head. I didn't trust Noren but I'm hardly what you'd describe as a Dredge fan either. It was a long-shot but I really could see them both messing up so I set about getting everyone with a semblance of a chance of winning on my side.

I backed Thongchai Jaidee at an average of just over [30.0] and Ross McGowan at [23.0], and all of a sudden the McGowan bet looked a good one. He made birdies at the 11th and 12th while the leaders dropped a shot a piece and as he stood in the fairway on the par five 14th he trailed by just a shot and was matched at just [6.2] but again, it wasn't to be.

McGowan failed to birdie the 14th and nearly drove out of bounds on the 15th! He'd obviously seen a leaderboard. So it was left to Noren and Dredge to scrap it out.

The event was won when the Swede chipped in from the greenside bunker on the 15th to take a two stroke lead. I felt at the time he was still vulnerable and I layed him at [1.15] and I still feel it was worth taking the chance; after all he'd done nothing but struggle in contention in the past and still had three holes to negotiate, including the hardest hole on the course, the par three 16th. But he deserves every credit; he made three very solid pars and was very much the deserved winner.

It had cost me, but then Alexander Noren's first win, which I wasn't even sure would ever materialise, was always going to cost me. But it was another example of how young players that struggle with their nerves can overcome them eventually and well done to him.

I'll recap the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Wednesday when I preview next week's events, which are the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Germany and the BMW Championship in Illinois.

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