Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 10 September 2008 /

Tareq Quiroz talks us through the course, the favourite, the best of the rest and most important of all...the best bets on offer this weekend.

It is just one week until the eagerly awaited Ryder Cup and I don't know about the players but I can barely concentrate on anything else. Thankfully there is no PGA Tour event this week to distract me so I can fully focus on the Mercedes Benz Championship on the European Tour. Traditionally it is a top event that is so often won by one of the game's elite. A decent field has been assembled once again this week so you can expect that trend to continue.

The Course

The players will head to Cologne, Germany this week for what promises to be something of a birdie frenzy. The Gut Larchenhof course has yielded some pretty low scores since it became the host venue for this tournament back in 1998. It is a flat track that given decent weather conditions should see the winner coming home in fifteen to eighteen under par. With the four par fives eminently reachable in two you should also expect a really slow score on the first couple of days.

The Favourite

Unlike recent weeks the market leader isn't totally cut and dried. It is a strong line-up that come Thursday morning will probably see Retief Goosen go off as the favourite. His edge in this department comes from his tournament win on this course in 2005. Clearly a course he likes, it is not too often you see the Goose playing in Europe so it is worth taking note of his intention here. He is currently trading at [15.5] and should he continue with the good play he showed over the summer then he could prove to be very good value. However, I am never a fan of a player switching tours for one week as no matter how good they are it takes a little bit of getting used to the different type of greens etc, and for that reason I wouldn't back him this week.

The Next Best Bets in the Field

We saw last week what a difference it has made to the players that the Ryder Cup selection process is now finished. For the first time in a while the top of the PGA Tour leaderboard was full of the top Americans and although none of them won it was certainly an improved showing. Expect a similar story here with a good selection of those that made it and those that just missed out. One of the names that wasn't mentioned too often in the selection process was David Howell but the former Ryder Cupper has shown much improved form recently and I think he may well be ready to take a title this week. He is a class act who will be fired up to make sure he doesn't miss out next time round. He is the bet of the week at current odds of [40].

The Massive Outsider

Jean-Francois Lucquin was the toast of France last week as he snatched the Omega Masters from young Rory McIlroy. Lucquin is actually the fourth different French player to have won on the European Tour this year and it certainly helps that they are a close-knit bunch. With the infectious nature of a win evident it would come as no surprise to me if another of the group showed up this week. Another former Ryder Cupper in Raphael Jacquelin has played well on this course before and must surely be worth following this week. He is currently available at [150.0] in the Winner market and might also be worth a saver at [20] in the Top 5 Finish market.

Interesting Info

This tournament has an incredibly impressive roll of honour with seven Major champions having won this title despite the event only beginning in 1987. Nobody has successfully defended this crown so you may wish to oppose last year's winner Soren Hansen. He may 51 years old but Bernhard Langer will still be a huge threat this week as he goes for an incredible fifth win in this event. Over a quarter of Langer's victories have come on home soil, you have been warned!

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