Find Me A 100 Winner / Paul Krishnamurty / 20 November 2007 /

Unheralded yet very accurate, Englishman is a huge price to pull off an Aussie surprise...

Never mind finding a 100 winner, I'm expecting at least double those odds about this week's selection Richard Finch. Granted Finch represents a real longshot, but I rate his chances at least equal to pretty much anyone trading in triple figures.

Though yet to become one of the better-known faces in Europe, I've been aware of Finch for quite some time. When I was living in Hull a few years ago, Finch enjoyed a strong profile in the local press as he pursued a successful amateur career. Since turning professional in 2003 he's made solid progress, retaining his European Tour card for the last four years. He's yet to win, but has seriously challenged in roughly half a dozen European Tour events.

His best performances have tended to be on courses where a hefty premium has been placed on accuracy from tee to green. Indeed his best recent effort came on his penultimate start at Pula in the Mallorca Classic - another course where hitting greens in regulation is essential. After what had been generally disappointing year, Finch produced his best golf at the finish to retain his card. He ranked 6th for greens in regulation that week in Pula, and 3rd in the same crucial statistic a week earlier in Portugal.

Similarly, Finch has shown some of his best form on tough golf courses in the winter overseas stage of the European Tour, such as in South Africa and Qatar. This is only his second ever Australian event, but as long as he can retain that long-game excellence, a course like Huntingdale should very much play to his strengths.

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