The Punter's Masters Diary: Lefty or Lee, who will it be?

US Masters / Steven Rawlings / 11 April 2010 / 2

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Lee Westwood – Can he hold on?

“If I was looking at the event for the first time now, I’d have to back Mickelson, and for anyone looking for a wager now, that would be my advice”

Our man has finally made an in-running play at the Masters but he still has a decision to make...

I thought watching the greatest jump jockey of all time finally winning the world's most famous race was exhilarating enough an experience for one day, but for about an hour, between 10 and 11 o'clock last night, the golf at Augusta was something else.

There were chip-ins from all over the course, lengthy putts holed, dramatic leaderboard changes, and from Phil Mickelson there were back-to-back eagles, for just the third time in the Masters history. And he was just a few inches away from making it three in a row! It was quite a night.

The English duo of Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter went into the third round tied for the lead, but Poults was always struggling and he eventually slumped to a disappointing 74 and now requires the assistance of Chris Bonnington to get involved later today.

Westwood on the other hand was superb and hardly put a foot wrong. He enters the final round on -12, a shot clear of Phil Mickelson, four clear of Tiger Woods and KJ Choi and five clear of Freddy Couples.

I've spent three days sitting on my hands, nursing what, after day one, has proved to be a very nice book, and that tactic has paid off. Last night I finally had my first in-running play, backing Couples at [70.0] after he'd bogeyed the last, so I now have, in leaderboard order, Mickelson at [15.5], Woods at [5.8], Choi at [110.0] and Couples at [70.0].

All that now remains for me to do is put a decent bet on Westwood, uncork the Chateauneuf-Du-Pape and sit back and enjoy what is sure to be an exciting evenings sport, so what's the problem? Well, I have a functioning bottle opener so that part's going to be easy enough but boy am I struggling to press that blue button next to Lee Westwood's name...

Regular readers will know by now that my opinion of Westwood in contention isn't particularly high, and I'm really finding it hard to envisage him winning. In fact so much so that I think it's going to require a discussion with Mrs R about my current book...Once I've told her that I can either go for it for the big win or guarantee a decent profit, a back of the Worksop Wonder will be unavoidable.

Finally, a few stats to digest...In the last 19 years only one winner has come from outside of the final pairing and nobody has shot all four rounds in the 60's. So it looks in all probability a straight fight between Lefty and Westwood. Westwood is the only player to have shot three rounds in the 60's this week, so if he's going to win, there's a fair chance he'll need to create history on the way.

If I was looking at the event for the first time now, I'd have to back Mickelson, and for anyone looking for a wager now, that would be my advice, but ironically I think I'm going to have to back Westwood, if only to cover my stakes.

I haven't done so yet and I haven't spoke to Mrs R yet either but I can almost hear what she'll say now..."Don't Push It!"

I'll be back tomorrow with my tournament de-brief, hopefully waxing lyrically about a tremendous third Masters win for my ole mate Lefty but whatever happens, it's sure to be fun.

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Mike Norman | 11 April 2010

Great position to be in Steve, well done.

All my early selections were doomed so I went back in yesterday and had a decent wager on Mickelson at 6.4.

Whether I'd backed him or not however, it's impossible to deny how brilliant he was from 13 through to 16. His second shot at 13, his second at 14, his third at 15 and even his tee-shot at 16 were quite outstanding. His tee-shot on 16 was literally an inch away from being stone dead, and it eventually rolled away to about 20 feet.

I'm not going to lay Left today as I think he'll win. Good luck on whatever you decide to do mate, but if I can give you just one piece of advice in your lifetime then it'll be this - ALWAYS DO WHAT THE MISSUS SAYS :-)

Mike
Steven Rawlings | 12 April 2010

Cheers Mike, your comments gave us both a chuckle yesterday