The Punter's picks for the Ryder Cup

Ryder Cup Betting / Steven Rawlings / 29 September 2010 / 1

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The core of the American team, are they ready to retain the cup?

“At the last nine Ryder Cups the favourites have been beaten six times!”

Hardly patriotic, our man prefers Corey to Colin and past stats to current form.......

Before I start, I'm going to make a confession. I may sound terribly unpatriotic and maybe I am, but without a wager, I wouldn't really care who wins this week. As hard as I've tried (not very) I just can't get my head around cheering on a whole continent and besides, I quite like Americans. Well most of them anyway.

And when I strip down the two sides into individuals, I like or don't like the characters on both sides in almost equal measure, though when it comes to the men in charge, give me the tenacious, amiable Corey Pavin over the grumpy, petulant Colin Montgomerie any day of the week.

It's been said on many occasions how important the captains' roles are in this event and in what I think will be a close affair Corey might just make the difference. The contrast in styles will be stark. I can't see Corey making any rousing speeches or shouting the odds, I suspect he'll create a calm, relaxed atmosphere - one that's conducive to creating a composed, comfortable and even happy team - a team quite capable of free-wheeling to success maybe?

In contrast, Captain Monty will be attempting to inspire and rouse his troops in readiness for the battle and I think there's a danger he could whip his boys into such a pre-event frenzy that he could over-egg the pudding. And I do wonder how he'll manage the situation, should they fall behind early on. His Ryder Cup record as a player was staggeringly good - he won 23 ½ points out of a possible 36 and there's no doubting his passion for the biannual bash, but is that passion going to be enough? As a player he would rally his team members superbly but is he going to be a great leader?

An interesting character, he divides opinion quite sharply - some will say he's a European Tour ambassador whose career unquestionably commands the utmost respect, whilst others would say he's a moody, rude, major-less old grump.

For this week's affair opinion is again divided, B B's Paul Krishnamurty is of the opinion that he has the makings of a great captain; whist Ralph Ellis warns us that his Churchillian approach could hinder the team.

This week is a crossroads for Monty for sure and come Sunday night he'll be either brandishing that humongous great smile or stomping around like a petulant child. That's what you get with Monty; he's the nicest guy in the world when things are going well but when they're not, look out!

So of the two captains, I prefer Corey but the other factors surely point to the Europeans? Home advantage, strong current form, and even the poor weather forecast all favour Monty's men but other than my slight, and they are only slight, reservations about Monty one thing really puts me off the home team, and that's the recent record favourites have in the event. At the last nine Ryder Cups the favourites have been beaten six times! That's a very strong stat indeed and one that's led me to a small wager on the Americans.

I've also looked at the Correct Score, Top European Scorer, Top American Scorer, and Top Debutant markets in detail so I've plenty of interest besides my modest bet on the USA.

Selections:

America to win @ [2.92]
Event to be a tie @ [13.5] - with a plan to lay back stakes @ [3.5]
Tiger Woods (Top American Scorer) @ [8.0]
Hunter Mahan (Top American Scorer) @ [11.0]
Luke Donald (Top European Scorer) @ [10.0]
Edoardo Molinari (Top Debutant) @ [9.4]

I'll be back on Friday evening for a look back at the first day's action.

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(1)

Mike Norman | 30 September 2010

Oh I'm so disappointed in you Steve, how can you not cheer on the Europeans this week? :-)

For me the Ryder Cup is the third greatest sporting event in the world (behind the World Cup and the Olympics), but for drama, intensity, passion and excitement all condensed into a few days (rather than four weeks) then it has to be the greatest sporting event on the planet. And it makes it even more exciting - for me anyway - to cheer on 'our' boys.

The beauty about golf though Steve, as you well know, is that it's played in the most gentlemanly way that whoever triumphs come Sunday you're still on a high - even if your team hasn't won.

Regarding my bets, you'll be pleased to know (or maybe not) that I agree about Luke Donald. I think he and Ross Fisher represent great value in the Top European Market.

However, as you also know (because I've told you personally), I couldn't have Tiger this week with stolen money. He's never been the top points scorer when he's been the best player in the world so I'm not convinced he will top the points list this week now that he is generally out of form. True, he has a lot of critics to silence and that could work in his favour, but he's not for me.

Good luck with your selections Steve, have a great weekend... and go on, get those European flags out... you know you want to :-)