Dubai Desert Classic.

[Chief77]

Tiger is on such a roll the 11/8 on offer does almost seem like value. However with Ernie in the field hopefully he won't have things all his own way. At 4/1 I reckon Ernies a good bet to nothing ie I can't see him finishing outside the top 5.

He was 2nd here last year and his record since 2002 reads 1 2 3 1 2. Thats pretty damn impressive. As well as his brilliant course record hes in great form recently and has posted 6/6 top 10 finishes since September. In his last two tournaments hes come 1st and 3rd(last week). Each Way is 1/4 the price for the top 5 so I'm gonna have a decent bet on Els as I think he can achieve a top 5 finish.

Nick Dougherty has been playing prety well in the middle east over the past couple of weeks( 11th and 16th) and he could be a decent shout for top GB + Ireland golfer @ 10/1. No Harrington this week so his main rivals will be Casey Howell McDowell and Westwoodand. As long as he beats 1 of that lot we'll be getting some E/W money.

Johan Edfors @20/1 should give me a run for my money in the top European market, he had a great season last year winning 3 tournaments and finished a creditable 13th here last year. E/W is 1/5th for top 4

Verdict:
40 Points E/W on Ernie Els @ 4/1--1/4 places 1-5
10 Points E/W on Nick Dougherty to be top GB & Ireland Player @ 10/1-- 1/4 places 1-4
5 Points E/W on Johan Edfors to be top European @ 20/1--1/5 places 1-4

[Oddsfellow]

Good stuff as normal Chief.

Dougherty looks a nice price. Mcdowell has gone off the boil, Westwood is short on confidence and Howell is yet to get going.

Best of luck this week.

[Chief77]

And you too Mr oddsfellow. You're in great form at the moment. You're making this golf betting lark look easy!

[brimson]

On Tiger at 2.70, looking to trade.

[k33nan]

Picked Els and Casey in this tournament but put it on fbr thread, els one behind the leader casey as top englishmen wey of the mark but still in with a chance hopefully on -2.

[Chief77]

Good start for Els who lies on -6 just 1 behind the leaders (which include McDowell). Tigers on -4 and still well in contention.
Edfors and Dougherty both had lacklustre Level par rounds but its early days and a decent round tomorrow will see them back in the hunt.

[Chief77]

Great stuff from Els today who lies on -12 with 4 holes still to play(Play has been suspended til tomorrow because of bad light). He lies just 2 behind surprise leader Ross Fisher and if he can get even one more birdie when he finishes his 2nd round he'll be very hard to catch.

Tiger had an ok day and lies on -9, he missed a few putts though and if Els is 5 shots ahead of him going into the 3rd round then the machine will be in trouble. Bookies currently have Els as the 5/6 favourite with Tiger @13/8.

Edfors had a good round shooting 68 to sent him up to 35th on the scoreboard. Theres about 10 Europeans aheadof him though so he'll need another one of those tomorrow for me to get some E/W money.

Doughertys going well to and will recommence on -4 from the 15th hole tomorrow. A birdie or two on the last few holes would be delightful!

[Chief77]

Els had a great birdie birdie finish just when Tiger was breathing down his neck to end day three, 3 shots ahead of the Tiger and 2 ahead of the field. I hate myself for saying this and i wish i could stop myself typing but I really can't see Els losing this now.

Edfors and Dougherty both had solid rounds of 69 which leave sthem on -7. Edfors has 12 Europeans ahead of him and Dougherty has 11 English/NI in front so they'll need low scores tomorrow for my E/W bets to come. Big ask but not impossible.

Anyway COME ON ERNIE!

[Chief77]

Chief you idiot. All you had to do was stop typing and everything would have been ok. You just had to keep on pressing those buttons though didn't ya.

Ernie finishes second with a final round of 71 which meant he ended 1 behind Stenson. His advantage was wiped out with 3 bogeys in the opening 6 holes and Stenson finished his round strongly with 4 birdies on the back 9. That hurt!

Edfors didn't quite make it for me either. He finished in 15th place but 7 of the 14 ahead of him were European(including 4 Swedes!).

Dougherty had a poor final round of =1 and slipped back to 34th place on -6

Points Staked: 110
Points Returned; 90
Loss:20

[Oddsfellow]

What a mare for Els Chief. On Saturday it was unimaginable that Els would not win. Still at least each way you recover the stakes.

[Chief77]

Yeah I know, woke up on Sunday morning with a stinking hangover. Turned on the Golf thinking "Good old Ernie will make the pain go away". Seen the leaderboard with Ernie one behind playing the 17th and Immediately vomited all over my new furry rug.

Actually thought Ernie would get a playoff but Stenson putted well on the 18th to win the title. Fair play to him(Still hate him though!)