Golf This Week(Deutsche Bank and Johnnie Walker)

[Beanie]

Deutsche Bank in the Fed Ex Cup playoffs and Johnnie Walker on the Euro Tour...obv another strong field in the Deutsche(plus the return of Tiger) and the lineup for the JW looks ok as well, deffo better than the Euro Tour last week.

Back in a bit for an early start.

[FC Basher]

Darren Clarke on his comeback trail after losing his wife and injury might put a good showing here,42nd in the last major the PGA which included a round of 66.Paddy power go 22's and 4 places @ 1/4 odds for top GB & Ire player.The course although he hes no form in this event is long of the tee which will help with 5 par 5's.Not the strongest field in this event and can make his presence felt I think,look for him in the match ups too.

[FC Basher]

I understand the course being used in the Deutche Bank has been redisgned and now is a tougher test underlined by the facted only a couple of dozen players finished under par last year

Im taking a big chance with Carmillo Villegas in his 3 ball he has shown a liittle form of late but does hit the ball far which will help on this over 7,000 yrd par 71 course,big question marks over his accuracy tho,hes in with Hoffman missed cut last year and Glover who although finished t11th last year has very average form and missed the cut last time out.Villegas is anything upto 2.62 for this 3-ball.

[Swooperman]

Alastair Forsyths last 4 finishes in the Johnny Walker are 2nd, 37th, 54th & 6th last year. He shot a 66 on sunday & either used to be or still is Gleneagles touring champion. I've taken him at 36's e/w 1-5 & hes 40 on Betfair

I was also advised to look at Soren Kjeldsen 'if you like the price' but no other reasoning was given....like a twat I've backed him as well. 46 on Betfair

[Beanie]

Nice one Swoop - Forsyth is likely to be my only outright bet from the off in Europe this week - proven on the course and finished T3 last week...more later when I finally get time to sit down with the card.

[Beanie]

Dang...40s on Forsyth gone on Betfair.

Anyway, as mentioned he has a good history round this course and seems in very good nick.

There are a lot of others with proven track records here as well, but players like Casey @ just 9.80 don't hold much interest.

Second thoughts though...now that the price is down to 34s I'm not so sure...mid 30s or so and I want a far more reliable and consistent player.

The PGA centenary course at Gleneagles is a big bastard - 5 par fives out there and a par of 73. A long, accurate driver could have a field day on this course, and the most consistent of those in the pack is Lee Westwood.

Not too many close finished this season, but this is a far weaker field than he's come up against for a long time, and he comes into this off a nice rest. He's always capable of a storming first round or two, and I really think he could prosper on this course.

Price is fairly short, but as I say Lee usually plays his best golf in R1 so I'd expect him to be well in touch this time tomorrow.

Lee Westwood @ 16.00

[Beanie]

Els is out of the Deutsche Bank.

Tiger his usual 3.00 or thereabouts...never too happy backing him too early in tournaments, altho handy to have onside if he's in the hunt in R3 or so.

Anyway, could be time to call the men in white coats as after his unmitigated disaster last week at the Barclays, I'm gonna keep the faith with Vijay this week.

I can point to all the same reasons that I did last week...

He likes the course, he has a history round here, winning a few years ago and 2nd to Tiger last year, that these tournaments tend to be dominated by the leading players(more so than others anyway) just as last weeks was(just the wrong ones)...

And you would say: 'But Mr Beanie, this was all true last week and bampot VJ missed the cut.'

And that's true. He's in poor form - missing 2 consecutive cuts which came after a T50+ finish...after a superb season.

And were this any other player, that would be reason enough to give it a miss this week...but...it's VJ. Form doesn't mean too much to the big fella, he can blow hot and cold from week to week with little explanation. Infact last year he came into this tournament having missed the cut at the PGA and a lowly finish at the Bridgestone, only to lead going into the final round only to be pipped by Tiger.

Seldom do his slumps last for anything more than 2 or 3 tournaments, so if he's going to pick up soon, he'll do it here, and is worth taking on again at current prices.

Vijay Singh @ 30.00

Will look at the 3 balls in the morning.

[kompressaur]

Leg two of the FedEx Cup - the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston - will hopefully fire the imagination more than the opener at Westchester.

In isolation, there was nothing wrong with last week's Barclays Championship. We saw an exciting finish and the victory for Steve Stricker made a good story.

But Tiger Woods' withdrawal was a kick in the teeth for the new FedEx concept - as was the astonishing lack of movement in the standings.

Only the top 120 in the FedEx Cup list at the end of the Barclays were guaranteed a spot at TPC Boston but 118 of the top 120 starting out at Westchester safely made it through. Rich Beem jumped from 134th to 113th while Doug LaBelle made the huge leap from 121st to 120th.

It doesn't exactly get the pulse racing and the players themselves were rather underwhelmed. If you went into the play-offs down the rankings it's almost certain you'll stay there and that seems a fundamental problem.

Tiger was demoted from first place after the Barclays but can regain top spot in one go by winning here if Stricker doesn't come second.

As the defending champion in this event, a Woods win looks more than likely although he'll see a different course this time.

The par 71 layout has actually been shortened, all the bunkers have been renovated and five greens have been rebuilt.

"The guys have to make decisions off the tee. They have to think their way around the course and explore different options," said Gil Hanse, the man who oversaw the changes.

It suggests that previous course form may not be as important and it's why I'm not afraid to put Phil Mickelson forward as my main pick.

Mickelson is making his tournament debut this week but it should be a course which suits him

After recovering from the wrist injury which hampered him in the US Open, Mickelson was further thrown off balance by a cold putter.

It led to poor finishes of 46th in the Bridgestone Invitational and 32nd in the USPGA but the flatstick started to heat up in last week's Barclays Championship where he finished tied seventh.

Mickelson was ranked sixth in the Putting Average stats and said later: "I was pretty pleased with the way I played this week and I started to putt better."

Lefty was second in greens in regulation too so his words weren't just the usual positive guff he can often come out with.

To put Mickelson's 20/1 in some sort of context, Ernie Els is as short as 12s. Since Els last won on the US Tour, Mickelson has won seven times on American soil, including two majors and this year's Players Championship.

What's more, unlike last week, Els doesn't have any course form advantage either as this is the South African's first appearance in the event also.

At the prices, Mickelson looks a must although we'll also take the 14s at Paddy Power without Woods as, having won his last two events and also enjoyed a week off, the defending champ will be very, very hard to beat.

On current form, Rory Sabbatini is probably one of the top five golfers in the world at the moment so it's surprising to see him at 50/1 here.

He was the top ranked putter when third at The Barclays and in his last 12 starts he's had a win, two second and three thirds. It may be stretching it to say it's Tiger-esque but making the top three in 50% of your starts over a four-and-a-half month period is hugely impressive.

The cocky South African is another making his course debut but, again, there seems no reason why he can't hit the ground running.

Yes, he can buckle down the stretch and Tiger made a bit of a fool out of him at Firestone but 50/1 is an each-way price and 35/1 without Woods appeals too.

Geoff Ogilvy has played well recently and was fifth here in 2003 while Stricker's seventh place last year suggests he can ride the wave following his Barclays win.

Could this be the week for Justin Rose? The Englishman, who these days rarely finishes outside the top 15 whatever the strength of field, has a third (2003) and a fourth (2004) to his name at TPC Boston.

But taking 28/1 about a non-winner on the US Tour is slightly dubious and in this company there's an obvious chance that he'll find a few too good again. An each-way punt could yield a return though.

Like Woods, Adam Scott and Vijay Singh both have a win and a second place to their names in the four previous runnings of this event.

Singh has missed his last two cuts which is a concern but Scott does appear to be coming to the boil again after a 12th in the USPGA and a 14th at the Barclays.

At around the 25s to 28s mark they appeal more than Jim Furyk, who stopped turning up here after deciding the course wasn't for him following a tied 35th in 2004.

But I'll jump way down the betting for a final pick.

Brett Wetterich has played here just once but finished 10th in 2005 after starting the final round just two shots back.

His win at last year's Byron Nelson came with Furyk, Singh, Els, Scott, Ogilvy and Sergio Garcia in the field and he's also shone in top company with big finishes at The Memorial and the WGC-American Express Championship in 2006 and his runner-up placing in this year's CA-Championship at Doral.

He missed the cut at the Barclays but a 30th at the Bridgestone Invitational and a 32nd at the USPGA were decent efforts and before that he'd gone to Germany and finished seventh in the European Tour's Deutsche Bank-sponsored event.

He was top 10 in the putting stats at both Firestone (Bridgestone) and Southern Hills (USPGA) and his greens in regulation stats were good too so Wetterich, who played on the last Ryder Cup team, has a decent chance of putting it all together on a course which should suit his big-hitting much more.

Have a wager at 225/1 and also play the Tigerless market at 150s.

BANK ON MICKELSON: Golf Betting News - Golf Betting News, Previews and Tips.

[Chief77]

Gonna take Stephen Ames @66/1 Betting in Running. He had a decent round of 68 yesterday and is well withing striking distance of the leader Villegas(-8). With a lot of the big names struggling in round 1(Tiger and Harrington +1, Goosen +2 Singh +3 ) 66/1 could be a decent price for a man whos finished 10th and 12th respectively in the last 2 US majors.

Verdict: Stephen Ames E/W @66/1 to win Deutche Bank Open Golf.

[Chief77]

Poor round from Ames yesterday and not much better today mean he's struggling at -3 6 off the pace.

Gonna stick a fiver E/W on Villegas @25/1. Seems a bit big considering he's just 1 off the lead and he's only starting his round.

Verdict:
5 E/W on Villegas @25/1

[FC Basher]

Im with you Chief, gonna punt on Villegas at 25's,he done me big favour in the first round when he shot 63 and landed my 3-ball bet with ease