Find Me A 100 Winner / Paul Krishnamurty / 27 May 2008 /

Paul Krishnamurty is pushing the claims of a young Englishman at [160.0] in the betting for the Wales Open

Highly-rated young players seem to be emerging at such a rate that its impossible to keep up. In the States, Anthony Kim looks the real deal already, whereas this side of the Atlantic much excitement surrounds the potential of Martin Kaymer, Rory Mcllroy, Oliver Fisher and Joost Luiten. We can add to those two highly touted recruits from last year's Challenge Tour, Michael Lorenzo-Vera and this week's selection, Ross McGowan.

McGowan is no kid at the age of 26, but is still relatively inexperienced in top-class company. Like most young golfers these days, he cut his teeth on the US college circuit, before beginning to make an impact last year. A series of good efforts in the slightly lower grade African-based Sunshine Tour first took the eye, and Ross then went on to win twice and finish runner-up three times on the Challenge Tour. Upon gaining his main tour card, McGowan made an instant impression with five top-15s from eight starts.

Unsurprisingly at this early stage, he still lacks consistency which explains his massive odds of [160.0]. But I think there is much to suggest this week's test will bring out the best in him. Firstly, he's in decent form having finished sixth in Italy three weeks ago. The clinching factor though is that he would seem to have all the right attributes to perform well at this week's unveiling of the 2010 Ryder Cup venue.

My early impressions of the layout are that there is a distinct advantage to long, straight hitters. The 'Twenty-ten' at Celtic Manor is a long course, and on certain holes there are definite strategic advantages to the long driver. However, there are penalties galore so accuracy will have to be married to distance. The crucial stat then is 'total driving', which combines length and accuracy. In this department, McGowan regularly scores well and is in the top-15 on the European Tour for the last six months.

Furthermore, the course is damp and cold weather forecast for the tournament. Not only will this accentuate any advantage already held by long hitters, but it could slightly favour UK based players. McGowan scores well on each count.

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