Find Me a 100 Winner: Two long-shots chanced at 159/1 and 249/1

Prolific DP World Tour winners chanced in Scotland

I got mildly excited on Sunday when 200.0199/1 column pick, David Horsey, gave himself a three-foot birdie putt at the ninth to get to within a stroke of the lead on a congested and unpredictable leaderboard in Denmark and the Englishman was matched at a low of 20.019/1, but I feared the worst when he missed it.

It was a complete momentum killer, and the veteran followed the short missed birdie putt at nine with a bogey at 10 before finishing the week in tied 26^th after posting a four-over-par 40 on the back nine.

Over at the FedEx Ste Jude Championship, the Open winner, Ryan Fox, never got going and was never a factor but my other pick, 250.0249/1 chance, Nico Echavarria, was on the fringes of contention at halfway and he was matched at a low of 32.031/1.

Both men have made it to the second FedEx Play off event - the BMW Championship - but as highlighted in the preview here, long-shots don't have a great record in the event.

Last week's FedEx St Jude Championship winner, Scottie Scheffler, is a strong favourite and my sole selection before the off so both this week's column picks are in the DP World Tour event - the Nexo Championship.

Nexo Championship bet#1 - Richard Sterne @ 160.0159/1

With blustery conditions on the radar in Scotland up until Sunday, experience could be the key at the Trump International Golf Links.

Those with a proven pedigree on links layouts are likely to be there or thereabouts come Sunday afternoon and my first pick, Richard Sterne, fits the bill nicely.

Dogged by injury and on a run of five straight missed cuts, Sterne posted a bogey-free five-under-par 65 in round one of the Nexo Championship last year to lead by a stroke.

A four-over-par 76 on Saturday took him out off contention but he finished the week in a tie for 10^th, so we know the venue suits his eye, and he had this to say about the course after his opening knock.

"It was quite a wake-up call when I get here on Monday and Tuesday with that wind blowing at the speed it did.

"Yesterday showed how beautiful the course is, and I think it has got a lot of good things about it. It is a tough golf course. If the wind can stay like it is then it is quite playable, but I think if it gets a bit winder then it becomes really tricky.

"There are beautiful views and a good layout."

Sterne's 10^th here was followed by some improved form figures reading 29-29-MC-46-15-17 before he demonstrated his liking for links golf once again with a third-place finish behind Robert MacIntyre in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October.

The 44-year-old Pretorian must have been beginning to think he'd end his career with a respectable total of six DP World Tour titles given his last victory came in the Joburg Open back in 2013 but now in a much better place physically, he put his accurate tee-to-green game to good use to win the Soudal Open in May by two strokes.

An 11^th at the KLM Open is his best performance in four starts since his win in Belgium but he ranked second for Driving Accuracy and 10^th for Putting Average in Denmark last week and another good week on the links could be on the cards. And maybe even an eighth DP World Tour title.

Place order to lay 8 Us @ 10.09/1 and 12 Us @ 2.01/1

Nexo Championship bet#2 - Adrian Otaegui @ 250.0249/1

As highlighted in the preview, this is only the third edition of the event and there was a gap of five years between last year's second edition and the inaugural staging at Fairmont St Andrews, which was won by my second selection, Adrian Otaegui, convincingly by four strokes.

That was the second of the 33-year-old's five DP World Tour victories to date, and it was the only occasion that he's demonstrated a liking for links golf.

In addition to also finishing third at Fairmont in the 2022 Hero Open, Otaegui was beaten by a stroke at the Scandinavian Mixed event at the links-style layout of Vallda Golf & Country Club in Sweden, he finished runner-up in the 2023 KLM open at the Bernardus linksy layout and he has placed efforts on his CV at a couple of exposed desert tracks - Doha and Ras Al Khaimah - where links exponents tend to shine.

Otaegui hasn't been at his best since he put up an impressive run of figures reading 6-6-3-61-2 in the spring but after a run of seven straight missed cuts he finished 33^rd in Denmark last week so he could be on the verge of a return to form.

He was never in the hunt last year, eventually finishing tied for 56^th, but he sat tied for fifth after round one and he was woefully out of form at the time, given he missed seven cuts prior to the event and another three after it.

Otaegui is in search of his sixth DP World Tour title and he looks a big price to claim it this week at odds in excess of 200/1201.00 on the Betfair Exchange. 

Place order to lay 8 Us @ 10.09/1 and 12 Us @ 2.01/1