The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 17 January 2011 /

Mulroy comes up shy for Steve as Schwartzel wins ugly....

Charl Schwartzel successfully defended his Joburg Open but quite how is beyond me. I have never seen anyone play so poorly on payday and win. From the 9th hole in he played some very poor golf, missing just about every single fairway by considerable distances at times, and his long irons weren't great either. But thanks to an immaculate short game and pretty limp competition he was in the end able to coast home by a remarkable four shots. He took the phrase winning ugly to new levels.

At the Sony Open in Hawaii, Mark Wilson came out on top after a 36-hole Sunday marathon, in an event, I confess, due to the lateness of the coverage, I barely watched.

My Bets

I made no further plays in South Africa, other than a small lay back of Garth Mulroy at [8.2], who I'd backed at the outset at [130.0], and a small lay back of Schwartzel at [1.1], who I'd backed on Friday at [3.5].

Looking back I guess I could have gotten a bit more out of my Mulroy wager but I expected more from him than he delivered on the back nine and as already stated; Schwartzel was all over the shop. A two or even three shot swing was a definite possibility at any stage but the fact of the matter is, Mulroy was just as lacklustre in the heat of battle as Thomas Aiken - whose pathetic Sunday effort was very much expected. Unfortunately for me and my book, the market had a far loftier opinion of Aiken than I did and Mulroy was always much bigger than I thought he should have been. It was with much reluctance that I layed any back at all!

The result in Hawaii was a slightly frustrating one, with five of my eight picks occupying a place in the top-20. In truth, none of them ever really looked like winning. Matt Bettencourt backed at a monster [340.0], fared best, finishing in a tie for 5th and I'll be backing him with regularity if he continues to be so over-priced.

And I'd looked at Wilson before the off as he has exactly the right game for this venue. It may sound daft but at less than [200.0] I thought he was a bit skinny before the off in such a strong field though! He's a player I used to back a fair bit but I was put off him somewhat when I was aboard last year in Phoenix at a huge price when he faded so tamely over the weekend after leading at halfway.

My back of Schwartzel had secured a very small profit on the week but it could easily have been much, much better.

Players to swerve

Thomas Aiken was poor again and is obviously still one to be wary of but it's worth reiterating how poor Charl was. Anyone that merely looked at the final scores or at Charl's individual scorecard would incorrectly assume that the victory had been a walk in the park. It was anything but, more a scrabble around in the trees that surround the park! At the risk of repeating myself, he was truly awful at times and it's incredible that he won so easily.

Charl won't trade any bigger in future as a result of this win and for my money he remains one to be cautious of in the mix. I backed him here and that was very much because I had Mulroy onside and because the overall standard was decidedly poor but in stronger company and away from his homeland I'll think very carefully before backing him again at a short price.


What have we learnt for next year?

I apologise for focussing so heavily on the European events over the first few weeks of 2011 but the truth is, given how late the US events have been on, they're the ones I've been watching the most and therefore scrutinising the most.

Although the field for the Joburg Open was over 200 strong, there was very little strength in depth. Schwartzel started the event a very short favourite, played atrociously on the back nine of round four and still won by four shots! Mystic Meg would have struggled to pick out inaugural winner Ariel Canete but since then the winners have been fairly obvious.

The last three winners in South Africa have all been in the first three in the betting too. Very few of the European Tour names bother to make the trip down to South Africa and there's a vast gulf between the Sunshine Tour regulars and quality home-grown talent like Schwartzel, and the last two winners in the republic - Louis Oosthuizen and Ernie Els. A number of young South Africans, strong performers on their own tour, have found themselves in contention over the last fortnight but the pressure and prestige of winning on the European Tour appears just too much and they tend to fall away again all to easily. The message is simple enough, when the Tour next visits South Africa, look to the big-named South Africans to scoop the prizes again. The prices aren't great but they may still represent great value.

The US PGA Tour event this week is the Bob Hope Classic - a five-round Pro-Am that starts on Wednesday and on the Race to Dubai a quality field assembles in the desert for the Abu Dhabi Championship. I'll preview both events on Tuesday night.

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