The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 31 May 2008 /

The Punter tells us why, like everyone else, he's running out of patience with Padraig Harrington and updates us on his selections on the tournaments taking place on both sides of the pond

I've already had a decent start to the Wales Open having layed Padraig Harrington @ [1.12] to make the cut. Billionaire course owner Sir Terry Price won't be so happy with the Irishman's efforts though; he's reputed to have paid him £400,000 in appearance money in a two year deal. That's quite a lot of cash to pay Pod to sit out the weekend's play.

Harrington, having upset many for not bothering to play last week's European flagship event at Wentworth, probably upset plenty of his fellow professionals this week as well. When Wednesday's Pro-am was lost to the weather, he apparently criticised those that hadn't been professional enough to play in the practice rounds on Tuesday. Maybe they were recovering from a gruelling four days in tough conditions at the PGA?

Anyway, on to my bets and it seems my scattergun approach has paid a few dividends, both Raphael Jacquelin and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano have played themselves into contention but they're five and six shots off the lead respectfully. Leader by four is Australian Scott Strange on an impressive -13.

Four shot leads have been popular in Europe lately, McGinley last Saturday and Karlsson last Sunday, both held four shot leads and neither of those led to victory and I'm confident this one won't either - I fancy Strange will get swallowed up by the chasing pack today as the nerves kick in.

I have added to my portfolio with wagers on Robert Karlsson @ [8.4], J M Singh @ [13.0] and Martin Kaymer @ [55.0]. I also tried to back Dougherty @ [44.0] but didn't get matched. Now trading at around [30.0] he's a little too short for my liking but I'll be keeping an eye on him.

I had dismissed Karlsson before kick off on the grounds that he's had such a shattering last three weeks but he keeps coming back for more. The bet was struck after he'd played four holes yesterday. He had a chance to be in a much stronger position than he is now and as he knocked in birdie after birdie, he was matched at a low of [3.5] but a tardy finish took the gloss of his round and he's now around [6.8].

Singh was backed as he played his final hole and Kaymer after he'd finished for the day.

Of my three picks at the Memorial, Phil Mickelson has struggled the most. Thursday's first round was very nearly a good one but a three-putt bogey from eight feet and visits to the water on a couple of the par fives left him level for the tournament. In yesterday's tougher afternoon conditions, he failed to claw back the three shots he dropped in the first three holes. Now on +3, he looks to be too far adrift.
Ryan Moore looks to have too much to do also, positioned as he is on level par and tied for 18th. An ugly run of three bogeys around the turn yesterday was his downfall.

Kenny Perry has faired much better though and he shares the lead with Australian rookie Mathew Goggin on -7. A total he'd already reached after 17 holes of his first round. He bogeyed his last hole on day one though and fell out of the traps yesterday. After five holes of his second round he was three over par for the day and sliding down the leaderboard at a rapid rate of knots. It took a miracle chip in eagle from the rough on the 15th hole (his sixth for the round) to turn things right around. After that he seemed to return to an even keel and went on to shoot one under par, making it now 18 consecutive rounds under par here, which really is some feat.

At this stage I'm not making any more picks, I can see plenty of dangers obviously but none that I would rush to back. The big names up there are Donald, Ogilvy and Rose but I don't see any value in their prices so for now I'm going to stick with Perry and hope he kicks on tonight.

It may be wise to wait until tomorrow anyway and then back whoever leads. Third round leaders have a cracking record here, twelve of the last sixteen leaders or joint leaders after three rounds have gone on to win.

As always, I'll post a review of the weekend's play on Monday morning.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: