Ryder Cup Betting / Steven Rawlings / 21 September 2008 / 1

Mahan and Poulter have provided Steve with a pair of winners so far, check his bets and thoughts on day three here.

The big story yesterday morning was 'Blistergate' with Faldo resting both Westwood and Garcia, due apparently in respect of Westwood to the intolerable affliction of blisters. While Garcia was a bit tired. Bless. In his defence though, rumours were rife that he too was suffering from friction burns to the tootsies.

The first match up was Poulter and Rose against Cink and Campbell and the English lads soon took control, wobbled a bit in the middle, but then finished the match off in style.

Match two was a classic: McDowell and Jimenez bossed it but a late charge meant the American duo of Mahan and Leonard went one up going to the last hole but a birdie by the Europeans snatched a deserved ½ a point.

The 'Dream Team' of Kim and Mickelson were white hot against the heavily criticised pairing of Stenson and Wilson and were soon four up through just six holes and the Faldo bashers, of whom there were many, were in heaven.

But the dream turned into a nightmare as mistakes started to creep in and slowly Stenson and Wilson chipped away at the Americans and by the time they reached the 12th hole the two were tied. The Americans passed up a great chance to regain the lead on the par three 14th when they three putted. Then, on the next tee, Lefty hit a shocking drive and Kim tried a wonder recovery shot that went horribly wrong. Remarkably the lead had changed hands and when Oliver Wilson made a lengthy birdie on the 17th the comeback was complete.

I have to say, despite being on the USA, seeing Wilson make that putt was probably the highlight of the match so far. The poor bloke was left out on day one and when he did get a pick half of Europe seemed to be up in arms about it! Well done that man and as for all the Faldo bashers, shame on you.

Apparently Kim was said to be not 100%, nor was I! The pair had done for my sole morning bet, which was on the USA to win the morning session. Kim and Lefty had traded as short as [1.05] and some canny punter had backed Stenson and Wilson at [50.0].

The last foursome was comfortably won by Furyk and Perry, who after a great start, were never any worse than two up.

So a slight narrowing of the gap, but the Americans still led 7-5.

On to the afternoon four balls and the first match up was a repeat of the last match on Friday with Dumb and Dumber again taking on Westwood and Hansen.

As peeved as I was about their ridiculous demise on Friday I went in again and backed the American pair at [2.88] in what was described as a needle match.

Everywhere Boo went inane boos were sure to follow and Westwood had suggested in Friday's post match interview that Mr Weekley had done little to discourage it, whining that Boo should be showing a little more decorum, or words to that effect.

On the 7th green, as the US pair went two up, Captain Azinger seemed to have words with Boo, seemingly requesting he cool it a tad as the partisan crowd were frothing senselessly amid a crescendo of noise. Soon after that the mind numbing chant of U-S-A merged with the equally dull Booooo and the ingenious new chant of Boo S A was born, echoing all around the course. Quite frankly Westwood and Hansen were just dead men walking, eventually succumbing 2 & 1.

I had one further bet, backing Curtis and Stricker at [3.8] on the assumption they had to improve on Friday's woeful effort and they did. Their match with Casey and Garcia was a tight affair that ended in a halved match. My third bet to end this way, frustrating.

In the third match Poulter & McDowell overcame Perry and Furyk, allowing me to level off my Top Euro scorer bet on 'Poults' at [1.2]. He had well and truly silenced his not insignificant band of ill wishers but as pleased as I was, I wasn't quite delirious enough to join in the chorus of 'Walking in a Poulter Wonderland' that sparked up, much to Poulter's quite obvious delight.

The final match was another tense affair. The Swedish pair of Stenson and Karlsson rallied from two down to tie with Mickelson and Mahan, denting my Top US scorer bet on Mahan and keeping Europe's hopes of retaining the cup very much alive.

So after two days, the Americans lead 9-7 and I'm doing OK, small gains on Friday's matches were countered by a small loss on yesterday's but having layed off both Poulter and Mahan a very nice profit is already assured. Why didn't I do the double? Oh well.

Having priced up the singles I concurred with the market on nine matches so will let them go without an interest.

The matches I didn't agree with were the last two, where both Curtis and Campbell look slightly generously priced against Westwood and Harrington respectfully, so I've had modest bets on the Americans there. And I've also backed Boo Weekley to hunt down young Wilson, odds against is more than fair.

Although my three bets are all on Americans and my outright pick was the USA I realise that it's nowhere near a done deal and I can see it being an extremely tense and exciting evening, which I'll review tomorrow morning.

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1. kookimebux | 01 February 2009

   Hello. And Bye. :)

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