What's Going On?

4 birdies in 4 holes. Hello?

The Birdie Song

Charlie Wi has birdied the first three holes to go to eight under. Yay. Early days I know but have we got another VJ happening?

The right Charlie?

It's always good when someone shoots a low score on day one. Whilst they very rarely win, like Mahan last week, for the punter it opens the door for someone at a huge price to shoot the lights out on day two or three en route to the top of the leaderboard. Like Vijay did last week!

As we've said, this is a strong field and after the first round, there's little value at the top. Even on Betfair, it's a very skinny market. Making Singh and Weir 6 to 1 is fine but Antony Kim, who has of course never won on tour, at 16/1?

Having said all that, I'm staggered to find a player on offer at 130/1 who's been in rich form over the last few weeks. tied 4th at 15 under in the John Deere and 9th in the USPGA . He's a champion scrambler who would be a 33/1 shot on form.

His name is Charlie Wi.

Follow you, follow me?

After the euphoria of last week, back to earth with a bump for the Deutsche Bank. Most eyes including mine will be on Gleneagles this week as the Europeans fight for that last automatic spot. The starting field here is a muddled one. Has Vijay fixed his putting problem? Can Sergio put four rounds of brilliance together? Is Mickelson heading the same way as Monty? Will Padraig just put his foot down on the last day and leave them all trailing? Who knows...

There's no value on the first day with all the players mentioned above trading at under 20/1 as I write. Looking down the field, you mght like the 100/1 about Poulter, who's on a mission to get Fed Ex points cos I guess they're worth a bit more than being in the Ryder Cup. Peter Lonard and Matt Goggin are silly odds at over 200/1 and Rich Beem will win again one day.

But. like last week, I'm going to wait for 36 holes before I pick my 100/1 winner. Stay tuned.

These are the things that dreams are made of!

How good a feeling when it all comes together.

On Saturday morning, I was musing about the three figure odds on offer for both Singh and Curtis on a course were we'd seen Mahan shoot 8 under on the first day (bizarrely that turned out to be the winning score!).

Two holes of a play off later, having seen both Sergio and Singh holing improbable twenty footers and then the Spaniard getting an even more improbable free drop, Singh's home and hosed and I'm 240 quid better off.

Happy days!

The things that dreams are made of

Yesterday I tipped Vijay Singh at 100/1. He's in the final group today, one shot behind his partner Kevin Somebody.

Steve Stricker, who was 7/2 yesterday shot 6 over to slip down to four behind. Anyone can win, it's that kind of course. But boy I'll enjoy the measly 5 dollars riding on the Singhmeister.

Go Vijay!

Home on the range?

Driving ranges are amongst the dullest and most dreary of places, even in Australia. Whether it's the countless young Japanese fanatically tweaking their swings or the bloke with a huge watch and gold bracelet gripping it like a hockey stick, the range is a mental mile or two away from Wentworth or Gleneagles.

But you can learn stuff. Even if you get bored really quickly...the skill is remembering it...

1. Richard Flood was right. Holding the club firmly in the left hand is important. But much more important is fixing your gaze on the ball. It's what John Serhan called waiting for the club. It's the difference between sweet and a pull or a flub.

2. That Harvey Peninck thing about taking dead aim. Makes good sense as well.

3. And the post about Conscious Golf that's hanging around in the ether somewhere. "Just breathe" is basically what it said.

4. Finally the short game. Being afraid of shots that you can hit easy on the range is just dumb. See all three tips above, repeat.

Better, not different...

Hunters and gatherers...

Phew. I've been tipping Mahan every week for months now and in the week when I'm busy catching up with Weller after 20 years, Hunter finally shoots the lights out, without a dollar of my money to weigh him down. Thank crikey he shot two over today. With low scores a definite chance Kenny Perry is still in the running, as is Sergio, Casey and Cabrera. But with prices of 15/1 the field, including Kim, none of them represent value.

As usual, with two rounds to go, we're going for the three figures. Geoff Boycott used to say that you should add two wickets to any team's score to get a real view of the state of the game and my model is to take three shots off the top two. That leaves the guys on 2 under just 5 off the lead. Nothing on a course where Mahan shot 62. Or where Adam Scott yesterday shot 82. Ouch!

You can get over 100/1 right now on Singh or young Romero, 95/1 on Ben Curtis. Or you could take 5/2 about Stricker. Honestly, what would be the point?

It's all about the short game.

He doesn't seem to understand the concept of the tournament really starting on the back nine on Sunday afternoon. And boy can he putt. What now for Porridge?

Phew! missed it...

Maybe it's the euphoria of the Olympics, maybe I'm just clumsy wth the time difference, but I failed to get the blog written before the start of the PGA. I confess I was going to tip Hunter Mahan. He looked good value at 50/1.

He's a much better price now, 1000/1 on betfair after a horrendous 11 over par start. Ouch.

So we're scouting around for picks after a confusing first round. Harrington got off to a flier before the putter let him down so I thought he might be worth a go but at 12/1? Probably still a great bet, but we won't get rich. We'll be waiting until the second round is over for the real action, so stay tuned. One thing I do know though. After a 77 in the opening round, it's not going to be a dream first major for the boy from the bush. Again.

The Open that never was

In the week before the USPGA, the leaderboard for the WGC tournament at Firestone looks fit for the final round of a major.

Unlike Birkdale, where the top picks were blown away, literally, by the high winds of an English summer, the Bridgestone classic has seen the cream of world golf rising to the top as we move into a tense final round. Sharing the lead at eight under are Mickleson, Westwood and Singh, with Stuart Appleby hovering one shot behind.

Darren Clarke sits further back on five under, having shot a tidy 65, featuring seven birdies to shoot him up from 35th to tied for 6th. The fact that someone can make seven birdies, even on a course that ranked the toughest overall on tour last year, is proof that there's still betting value to be had as we go to the last 18.

Romantics would want Darren Clarke, currently 100/1 with Betfair to win but it's been a while since the Ulsterman was in contention. With so many winners in the field, we'll give him a miss. Mickleson represents terrible value on Betfair at almost evens and on recent form, he's a miss too. You can get 7/2 each of the two other leaders and 8/1 about Appleby, but all the leaders have been wobbly under the hammer this year and I reckon that the value is worth chasing.

Miguel Angel Jimenez was many people's tip for the Open after a run of good form. Four shots off the lead. he's available at an astonishing 85/1 to take home the trophy. Five birdies and five bogeys made for a boring level par score yesterday after shooting 66 in the second round. For the punter who doesn't fancy taking a short price in an open contest, the cigar smoking Spaniard is great value and worth a few dollars to win.

Real punters will also be tempted by a speculative few bucks on Hunter Mahan and Ian Poulter, five behind the leaders but both of whom are currently available through Betfair at over 250/1. Beats the even money about Mickleson for me any day!