Find Me a 100 Winner: Try these Englishmen with the skill-set for a Scottish links

Paul Krishnamurty
07 July 2015

Top prospect Matthew Fitzpatrick's long game is in fine fettle

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After another profitable week in the States, Paul Krishnamurty's weekly trading column recommends a couple of outsiders with the links pedigree to thrive in Scotland...

"Fitzpatrick is the leading ball-striker on the European Tour over the past three months and ranks fifth for greens in regulation amongst this field during that period."

In the absence of any previous course form at the revamped Gullane GC, the best approach for finding the Scottish Open winner is a tried and trusted method in events on links courses. In short, look for good ball-strikers who have shown a liking for this form of the game. With fairly strong winds forecast throughout, the difference between those with and without links pedigree could be stark.

A good recent guide could be June's Irish Open, played in very harsh conditions and yielding a winning score of just two under par. Given the tendency of this Open warm-up to be set up for birdies, this will surely be a lot easier but anyone who could cope with those winds in Ireland will have no worries here. Both of this week's selections fared well at Royal County Down and, at their best, undoubtably have the game for links.

Virtually all world-class players from the British Isles enjoy links, because they will have extensive experience of it from their youths. Matthew Fitzpatrick is widely tipped to become a world-class majors contender in time, and the fact he finished as low amateur in the 2013 Open Championship bodes well for that major.

So does his recent long game numbers. Fitzpatrick is the leading ball-striker on the European Tour over the past three months and ranks fifth for greens in regulation amongst this field during that period. He was only beaten by three shots when eighth in Ireland and has confirmed that form since with third place in the Lyoness Open.

My second pick is a complete outsider, at the whopping odds of 480.0479/1. John Parry spent most of that weekend in Ireland in contention before slipping back to 21st, but it was by no means his best effort on a links. The Englishman was fifth in this event two years ago and arguably the best result of his career came in the 2010 Dunhill Links, when finishing third behind an imperious Martin Kaymer.

Parry is a very streaky player who can either contend in good company or go on long, disastrous runs of missed cuts. His odds are inflated due to two of the latter, but previously he'd qualified for the US Open and made the cut, and registered a pair of top-six finishes in lesser Euro Tour events.

The trading advice is to stake four units on the pair, then place lay orders on both at 20.019/1 and 3.02/1, with a view towards banking a profit in-running. If either hits the first target, we'll be guaranteed to quadruple our money, whilst leaving substantial positions open.

Recommended bets

Back Matthew Fitzpatrick 3u @ 160.0159/1
Back John Parry 1u @ 480.0479/1

Place order to lay both players 16u @ 20.019/1
Place order to lay both players 20u @ 3.02/1