The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 19 May 2008 /

In a comical finish to the Irish Open, Boris Johnson lookalike Richard Finch ended up chest deep in water after losing his balance on the 18th. He found the green, though, and it was enough to seal victory, much to the Punter's chagrin.

The third round of the Irish Open surprised me completely, having prattled on about how tough the course was the likes of Westwood, Frost, Havret, Dredge & Finch all preceded to rip it up.

Westwood's stunning 64 established a new course record, while my only hope Bickerton played himself out of the tournament with a poor 77. He wasn't alone in the afternoon though, many of the later starters struggled and the leaderboard on Saturday night was unrecognisable to the one I had analysed the evening before.

My thoughts then had been that I would concentrate on the very top of the leaderboard after day three and back one of the leaders. But when the top three were Dredge on -9, Finch -8 and Westwood -7 I needed a rethink.

Dredge with a lead is a recipe for disaster, while Richard Finch's efforts in China when I had lumped on him with two rounds to go was so bad I couldn't back him with counterfeit! As for Westwood, well I'd made the mistake of taking a short price about him at the Open de Andalucía, where he was less than impressive on the last day.

After much deliberation I did nothing and waited for the action to unfold before I got involved further and it soon became clear that my reservations about two of the leaders were justified. Both Dredge and Westwood struggled and I made a move, backing Robert Karlsson @ [6.4].
All seemed to be going well and Karlsson's price contracted nicely, right down to [2.48] as birdies went in on the 7th and 9th holes but there was a fly in the ointment in the shape of Boris Johnson look-alike Richard Finch, who seemed to hole almost everything he looked at.

I could still see Finch tripping up when I also backed Felipe Aguilar @ [8.0], as he birdied the 14th hole. Like Karlsson, Aguilar traded considerably shorter than the price I'd taken @ a low of [2.6]. But also in common with the Swede he couldn't sustain his challenge, making double bogey at the par 3 16th hole.

So Finch was left to collect but not before overcoming a calamitous last hole. A drive into the right hand rough led to a second shot that skipped right across the fairway towards the River Maigue. Somewhat fortunately it got snagged up in the rough and just avoided going in the water, unlike Finch himself. Amazingly, as he played his third shot he lost his balance and fell in! He must have gone through all sorts of emotions at that point; shock, embarrassment and finally relief, when he could see that the ball was safely on the green. It was a most entertaining moment and definitely the highlight of the day's play for me.

The 18th hole apart, this wasn't the bungling, embarrassingly poor player I'd backed in China but a composed and accomplished closer. Every time he looked like dropping a shot he was able to convert lengthy putts. It was quite remarkable to see the contrast and showed starkly why you can't use one piece of evidence when it comes to forming an opinion on a player's character when in contention. The China Open had been a double whammy, not only had he let me down there he had done it so haplessly that I simply couldn't consider him here.

Over the pond, I gave the AT & T Classic very little attention all weekend. When the threat of bad weather caused the event to start early on Sunday I still had Heath Slocum in the mix but it had a very open look and I wasn't about to start guessing which one of about twenty still in the mix would win, especially while the Irish Open was still in full flow.

It was eventually won by last year's runner up Ryuji Imada. He gained compensation for last years play off defeat by Zach Johnson when he got the better of Kenny Perry in another play off. The pivotal moment came when Perry unluckily found water with his second shot after his ball ricocheted off a tree.

Perry had traded as short as [1.13] when he held a one short lead with two holes to play and he had been the fourth odds-on shot in the event. Byrd had traded @ [1.99] on Friday and yesterday Parker McLachlin had hit a low of [1.7] after taking a three shot lead with an eagle on the 13th. Imada himself had been as low as [1.6] before drifting right out again when Perry looked the likeliest winner.

In addition to those that went odds on, Camilo Villegas hit a low of [3.3], while Ryan Palmer, David Toms and Charles Howell III all traded at under [3.0]. It was manna from heaven for all the layers.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a preview for the European Tour's flagship event, the PGA from Wentworth and the Crowne Plaza Invitational in the USA.

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