
07-10-2008, 17:26
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Young At Heart.
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Join Date: May 2005
Thanks: 15
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
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Re: Madrid Masters
From The Sporting Life ....
Quote:
The home Spanish players have had a pretty terrible time of it at The Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
The course has held eight Spanish Opens, five Madrid Opens and even a World Cup but has thrown up just one home winner.
So for the inaugural Madrid Masters there's no great compulsion to back the likes of Miguel Angel Jimenez (no win in Spain in his last 18 appearances) or Gonzalo Fernández-Castańo, whose company is promoting the event.
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin, back in 2005, was the last player to score a European Tour win here and he did so in stunning style, reeling off a trio of 64s before sealing the deal with a closing 69 and a winning score of 23-under.
Twelve months earlier Richard Sterne had taken victory with 18-under and it's no surprise that both he and Jacquelin topped the putting stats the year they lifted the trophy.
So a hot putter looks a vital requirement at this short (6,970 yard), undulating tree-lined track.
On the latest stats the man holing out better than anyone else is Argentine Rafa Echenique and it's helped him record two top 10s and a further top 20 in his last four starts.
The best of those was a seventh at Crans-sur-Sierre while earlier this year he was fourth at Celtic Manor and there are some definite similarities between this week's course and those two tracks.
Click on Echenique's website and there is another interesting pointer to possible success - he now lives in Madrid.
"This has been a year of changes, because I have taken the decision to move with my family to Europe, and we are now living in Madrid. Travelling less means we can spend more time together."
"The start of this season was not that good, probably as a result of so many changes in my life. Fortunately everything is improving now, and I am feeling much more confident."
True, he missed the cut at St Andrews last week but that helps give us a better price here on a course much more suitable.
Compatriot Ricardo Gonzalez won here in 2003, adding to the theory that Argentines do well on these types of hilly courses which remind them of home, so all in all Echenique has plenty going for him at 50/1.
A second player with impressive putting stats is Marc Warren. He's ninth in Putts Per Round this year and has enjoyed a good couple of months with a fourth place in the KLM Open, an 11th in the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Germany and a 13th in last week's Dunhill Links.
The Scot likes Spain too.
Warren finished fourth in the Open de Canarias in 2005 and was third in the 2006 Mallorca Classic.
The 2006 European Tour Rookie of the Year has posted a win in each of the last two seasons and there are very few in this field who can match that.
If he can get himself into contention, Warren is a good man to have on your side at 40/1.
A veteran worth backing at a decent each-way price is England's Paul Broadhurst.
Broady is still competitive on courses like this and he was fourth here in 2004 when carding 67-65-68-70.
A fourth place in August's SAS Masters in Sweden on another sub-7,000 yard course showed he's still playing some fine golf and it's particulary worth noting, given what we're looking for this week, that he's second in Putts Per Round in 2008.
Broadhurst wasn't too happy with his driving at The Belfry but made up for it with a sharp short game and he played some good stuff in the Dunhill Links after a poor start left him way back.
His two European Tour wins this decade both came in neighbouring Portugal (2005 and 2006) while in Spain his record in the last five years is dotted with top 10s and 20s.
Have a pop at 66/1.
Finally, Charl Schwartzel has been playing plenty of good golf of late.
He opened and closed with 68s to finish 13th at St Andrews last time while he was fifth at The Belfry the week before.
The South African is putting well and was a winner on Spanish soil last year when capturing the Open de Espana.
He made a decent fist of this course the only time he played it in 2004, shooting three 70s and a 69, and although the 22/1 is short enough the talented 24-year-old is worth a punt to notch his third European Tour win.
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