- Tyrrell trades at long odds-on but comes up short
- Place markets provide rich pickings again
- Read my Open de France preview here
Swedish sensation, Ludvig Aberg, began the final round of the BMW PGA Championship leading by two and trading at around 2.6413/8 but he set the tone for the day when he missed his par save from inside four feet at the first.
Wayne Riley revealed on Sky that fellow Swedes had told him Aberg wasn't a great wind player due to his high ball flight and whether that's true or not, he certainly struggled on what transpired to be a blustery day. The 23-year-old was never at the races and he eventually finished tied for 10th after a four-over-par 76.
Playing alongside Aberg, having started the final round tied for second and two back, Tommy Fleetwood was his usual tentative self in-the-mix and Connor Syme played himself out of contention with back-to-back bogeys at two and three. Tommy finished sixth after a level par 72 and Syme tied 10th after a 74.
With the leaders struggling, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton edged up the leaderboard early on but after a frustrating three-put par on the par five fourth, it was Hatton that seized the initiative after he almost aced the fifth.
Hatton birdied five, six and seven and after back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11, the pre-event 23.022/1 chance, who had been a 34.033/1 shot on Sunday morning when trailing by five, led by four and he was matched at a low of just 1.292/7.
Hatton parred the next three as Ryan Fox emerged as his biggest danger and everything changed in dramatic fashion as the rain fell hard, just before the threat of lightening caused a suspension in play.
Pre-event 65.064/1 chance, Fox, had trailed by three with a round to go and he was trading at 16.015/1 before the round began but his chance looked lost when he triple-bogeyed the third.
Trailing by five and with a host of players in front of him, the Kiwi was matched at a high of 400.0399/1 but he rallied superbly after that with five birdies in seven holes from the sixth to get to within two of Hatton and it was game on when the Englishman drove out of bounds on the 15th, just as Fox stiffed his tee-shot on 14 to inside eight feet.
Fox knocked in the birdie putt at 14 to get to within one and Hatton drifted all the way out to 3/14.00 as it looked odds-on that he'd lose his lead with a bogey five the best possible outcome after playing three off the tee.
To his credit, Hatton played his fourth shot to just six feet just before the hooter went and he returned the head of the market throughout the suspension.
Jon Rahm and Callum Shinkwin had worked their way back to within two of Hatton and Fox when play was halted and after back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14, Aaron Rai had sneaked his way into solo third, just one off the lead.
On the resumption of play, it looked like Hatton was going to reestablish himself at the head of affairs when he knocked in the bogey putt just after Fox had hit an iffy drive but where hatton had received no luck, Fox found plenty.
Instead of bounding out of bounds or getting stuck behind a tree, his tee-ball was in-play and from what looked a difficult spot, he produced this bit of magic to take the lead outright.
Haton and Rai kept Fox on his toes. Hatton birdied the par five 18th to post 17-under-par and to draw back alongside Fox and Rai very nearly eagled it to get to -18 and overtake him but having taken the sensible decision to lay up from the rough, Fox sealed the deal with a superb wedge to six feet, from where he rolled in his own birdie four to post the winning score and a quite remarkable five-under-par 68 that was bettered only by Hatton and Rory McIlroy.
Correlating Course Links Cemented
Form at Crans appears to hold up well at Wentworth and it did so again this year with this year's Omega European Open winner, Aberg, and the 2019 champ, Sebastian Soderberg, tied for the lead at halfway and form at the K Club crossed over once again.
Fox's third at the Irish Open the week before proved to be the perfect prep and form at those two tracks are well worth bearing in mind in future. As is form at Sedgefield Country Club - home of the Wyndham Championship...
Wentworth winners, Luke Donald, Billy Horschel, and Byeong-Hun An, have all finished second in the Wyndham recently, LIV Golf rebels, Patrick Reed, and Branden Grace, both have form at the two tracks and Tom Kim, who won the Wyndham last year performed admirably on debut until the weather turned on Sunday.
Adam Scott, who really should have won the Wyndham two years ago, also contended, finishing tied for seventh and Hatton, who won at Wentworth two years ago, has only played in the Wyndham twice. He missed the cut on debut way back in 2016 but he was eighth last year.
Theegala gets off the mark
I was a bit too tired to watch the finish to the Fortinet Championship live last night, but I thoroughly enjoyed catching up on the action this morning.
Like Aberg earlier in the day, the very well backed pre-event 18.017/1 chance, Sahith Theegala, began the final round leading by two but he started very differently to the less experienced Swede, birdying three of the first five holes to stretch his lead to five and although he bogeyed the sixth after a poor drive, victory was never really in doubt and it was impossible not to be happy for the amiable Californian.
Theegala had failed from the front twice previously but he'd clearly learnt from his previous experiences and watching him win with so many friends and family in tow was very enjoyable.
A bogey at the par five 18th reduced his margin of victory to just two strokes but it was a very comfortable win.
Odds-on shots again denied in place markets
I appreciate that I'm banging the same drum but it's definitely worth whacking.
A week after Rory McIlroy was matched at 1.171/6 to finish inside the top-five and 1.011/100 in the Top-10 Finish market, when finishing tied for 16th at the K Club, Aberg and Fleetwood finished outside the top-five at Wentworth, having been matched at 1.232/9 and 1.374/11 respectively.
Aberg performing so poorly was a bit of a shock but Fleetwood is repeatedly disappointing when up with the pace and the place markets often make for rich pickings with players that don't often perform well in-contention.
With just over a week to go before the eagerly awaited Ryder Cup, Matt Cooper has taken a deep dive into the European Team here and the USA Team here, and I've previewed this week's only event, the Open de France, here.