The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 08 September 2008 /

Atrocious putting meant that, not for the first time this year, Phil Mickelson was a big disappointment for the Punter.

Saturdays are known as moving day and there was plenty of movement in both events this Saturday.

In Switzerland Rory McIlroy cut an elegant swathe through the field to cruise to a comfortable four shot lead going in to the final round. Defending Champion and in running pick Brett Rumford was a bitter disappointment shooting a clumsy two over par 73 to play his way out of the tournament.

In the US, where they played both the second and third rounds on Saturday, Jim Furyk was the big mover. A second round tournament record of 62 helped him to second place through 54 holes, just one shot behind leader Camilo Villegas.

The big disappointment for me and not for the first time this year was Mickelson. His putting was absolutely atrocious again. Having gotten himself into a great position early on in his third round and trading as low as [3.0] his putting frailties resurfaced like a cork from the ocean floor. He missed from inside five feet on the 16th (his 7th of the round), seven feet on the 17th and then incredibly three putted from inside five feet on the 18th. Understandably, it was just too much to take and he sank without trace after that.

Sunday in Switzerland was as dramatic a last day as there's been on the European Tour in quite a while. I had one further bet before play started, laying overnight leader, Rory McIlroy at [1.09] for a top 5 finish. He was around [1.70] for the win but I felt that there was a chance he could completely implode and [1.09] was far too short for a top 5 finish, given how many players were bunched in behind him.

It looked like a wise move as the youngster relinquished his lead very quickly, making two bogeys in his first three holes. But as it transpired he managed to get a grip of the situation and retake the lead deep into the back nine.

The massive disappointment for me was in running pick, Alejandro Canizares, who held the lead a few times and traded as low as [3.15] at one point but came home in ambulance! He duck hooked it off the tee at least twice and looks one to oppose the next time he gets in the mix.

By the time he reached the 15th tee McIlroy was tied for the lead with Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin who was playing in the group ahead and I went for the Frenchman, having a modest bet at [3.4] in what by now looked a two horse race. But when Lucquin could only par the par 5 the 15th and the Ulsterman made a lengthy birdie it looked like all I'd done was compounded a poor betting situation.

But then came the drama, teeing off on the 18th with a one shot lead, McIlroy traded at around [1.2], which I felt was too short but I held off taking him on. However I did lay him, albeit modestly at [1.09], as he stood in the fairway following a decent drive and it proved a very good move. Adrenalin helped to shove his second shot long of the green and he failed to get up and down.

If that was a shock what happened on the second play-off hole was scarcely believable. Having putted up to about 18 inches for birdie, with Lucquin around 15 feet away for his birdie, McIlroy chose to putt out. Only he didn't, remarkably he missed the tiny par putt handing the trophy to 'Geoff' as he likes to be known.

With the pressure off the wee Frenchman holed his birdie putt, sealing the fourth French victory on the Tour this year. I'd dodged a bullet and came out of the event, which in truth I hadn't read particularly well for the most part, with a profit.

After all that I was pretty confident going into the final round in the States. I had a few initial picks at decent prices four shots off the lead and I'd dumped most of my Mickelson bet at [4.4] and jumped on the Jim Furyk bandwagon as he'd made his move on Saturday, backing him at an average of [6.2]. With perennial bridesmaid Camilo Villegas leading I was feeling particularly smug about my Lefty/Furyk switch and confident it was going to end up a very decent weekend. But it wasn't to be.

Every now and again you just have to go for it and last night was one of those occasions. I had seen 'Spiderman' as Camilo's known, choke, choke and choke again whenever he's had a sniff of the lead in the past and I was always going to take him on. Although I knew that a player with the abundance of skills that 'Spiderman' has was always going to break through eventually I was happy to take him on until then.

Both Trahan, backed at [230.0] and Ames, at [200.0] finished in the top five but my big regret was Choi. I had picked him out at [46.0] before the off and I thought he was value all weekend and just kept topping up on him at various rates ranging from [40.0] up to [70.0] for what would have been undoubtedly my biggest ever win. I really felt that the 'Tank' was going to bulldoze his way through and win but he just couldn't find any fairways on the back nine, and when he missed a couple of eight footers for birdie he was always going to come up shy, despite trading at a low of [6.8]. Oh well.

To make matters worse Furyk could at best be described as one paced at the finish and I layed the winner Villegas at [1.32].

Although he was making some stupendous par saving putts I still felt 'Spiderman' was vulnerable and I layed him as his tee shot on the 16th hole found the trees. But a kindly bounce out allowed him to coast home in the end and fair play to him. If anyone deserved a win it was him I guess, though I did find his post match interview sad viewing as he reeled off an extensive list of sponsors he had to thank. Sort of took all the emotion out of it for me.

So a small loss on an eventful weekend but no regrets at all, I felt I traded fairly well and was pretty close to a really bumper pay out. Maybe that will come next week at the Mercedes-Benz Championship .

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