US Masters / Paul Krishnamurty / 10 April 2010 /

Westwood and Poulter have a superb opportunity to win England's first Major of the century but a trio of big name Americans loom large in the chasing pack. Paul Krishnamurty updates the Masters scenario and picks out the best bets on 'moving day'

We've already seen an all-English final of this year's World Matchplay, and things are again looking extremely encouraging from our perspective in Augusta. Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter share the halfway lead, two shots clear of the pack. Given that both have been in the form of their lives recently, soaring up the world rankings to fourth and seventh respectively, this really is a golden opportunity to bring the Green Jacket back to Europe for the first time this century.

Moreover, both men will be fully aware of the historical advantage of a strong halfway position. Only one of the last 19 Masters champions didn't play in Sunday's final group, so whoever finishes on top of tonight's leaderboard is bound to be a very popular pick, on a course famous for suiting front-runners.

The wider weekend picture, however, is about much more than these two Englishmen. One thing that can be confidently predicted at this stage is that the recent run of shock winners will come to an end, given the strength of the leaderboard. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, with six Masters titles between them already, share third place along with last week's winner Anthony Kim. A couple of others might get a look in, but the strong likelihood is that the champion will come from this high-class quintet.

While duly granting respect to the others, I see no reason to amend my position in favour of Tiger Woods, that I've twice laid out here this week. Two back going into Saturday is the perfect launching pad, and rounds so far of 68 and 70 under intense media scrutiny surely prove that Woods isn't any weaker as a player for his recent troubles. I'm expecting another good round, and a further whittling down of serious candidates tonight.

The best betting value of day three could lie in a couple of two-ball bets just prior to those late groups. Firstly, I'm beginning to feel vindicated in opposing Ernie Els from the start, and the Big Easy is no certainty at odds-on to beat Francesco Molinari. The Italian must be delighted with his Augusta debut so far, and tends to produce his best golf in this kind of situation, when well away from contention but within striking range of a lucrative high finish. That was certainly the case in the three majors he contested last year, for which he finished 27th, 13th and 10th.

The nap bet must be another European, Soren Kjeldsen, to beat Fred Couples, who was suffering from a sore back yesterday. Fifty-year-old Freddie's back problems are legendary, so this could be a long weekend assuming he doesn't pull out. His golf badly deteriorated as yesterday's round wore on, slipping out of the lead to finish the day five back. In Kjeldsen, we're backing a likeable player; a real trier and one of the best putters around.

Selections: Saturday Two-Balls
Francesco Molinari @ [2.8] (vs Els)
Soren Kjeldsen @ [2.04] (vs Couples)

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