Golf Betting Column: What The Golfinggods Say….

Another wonderful tournament has finished at The Masters and like all Masters tournaments it had a fantastic level of drama. Okay so it was a two horse race for all of the last day but what a race it turned out to be with the defining moment being Tiger Wood's outrageous chip on the 16th hole. Lets look at this shot a little more closely.

Tiger Woods has over shot the green with an eight iron which is frightening in itself however his tee shot has left him with a difficult chip shot to a pin and a green that slopes away from him on all sides. Add to this the fact that his ball has come to rest close enough to the collar of the rough to be a nuisance and to get the ball close Tiger must stop the ball on an area no bigger than a napkin. Think about this – the shot was the equivalent of you going outside and standing on the roof of your car (okay your neighbours car!) and trying to chip the ball onto the bonnet of that car and making it stop before it slides past the front lights! Challenging don't you think? Well one man was born for the job and he dually obliged with perhaps the greatest Masters shot of all time!

So in the aftermath what can we take away from The Masters of 2005? Well Tiger is back but still not at full throttle – frightening! Chris Dimarco's stock has increased with a gutsy display on the final day. If he had any luck at all with the putter then he would surely have been the winner. Finally a mention to Luke Donald must be made. As a Masters debutant he showed the class of a great player waiting to break through. On paper Augusta should have been to long for him with too much emphasis on six foot putting. This did not bother the Englishman one bit and we may be witnessing the best British player for sometime evolving before our eyes.

And so to this week.

The PGA juggernaut moves to the Harbour Town Golf Links for the MCI Heritage. The course was designed originally by Pete Dye and then Jack Nicklaus and the essence of the course is very much one of a seaside links course. With only three par fives on the course and some of the smallest greens on tour this course demands accuracy from the tee and into the greens. Scoring will also be affected if the usual afternoon breezes blow so ball striking is very much the area to concentrate on for this event.

Selections:

Davis Love: although Davis has not played well this year he basically owns this tournament with five wins and another three top five finishes. Every year Davis parks his boat at the jetty opposite the clubhouse and enjoys the tranquil surroundings. Considering his success in this event I think the jetty may be full of boats this year. Although his form is patchy he must contend here again.

Fred Funk and Joe Durant: have taken the unusual step to name two players together but have done so because they are basically the same type of player – i.e. they hit fairway and greens all day long. If one of them can get the putter working properly then they must be in the mix on Sunday.

Joe Ogilvie: the real improver of 2005 so far. Lost to Harrington at the Honda in a play off but has been consistently in the mix for most tournaments this year. His ball striking statistics are good and this looks like a course he could challenge again on. Must be one for the shortlist.

Nick O'Hern: not many people outside of Europe had heard of this 'Lefty' before he beat Tiger at the Accenture Matchplay tournament. But do not underestimate this player as he will hit fairways and greens all day, every day. Could surprise a few people this week!

Other to mention: Jim Furyk, Jay Haas and Greg Owen.

The European tour this week moves to Spain for the Open de Espania (Spanish open) to be played around the San Roque Club course. Like most Spanish courses the test this week revolves around accuracy from the tee into tight fairways and solid putting on grainy, small greens. This week also is the occasion for Roger Chapman to play his 600th European Tour event – an enormous achievement.

Selections:

Charl Schwartzel: this South African has made huge strides on this tour over the past two years and with a solid all round game he could win this week. Charl's ability to shoot low on tough, tight courses is well documented and I see him being in the mix this week.

Paul McGinley: one of the best ball strikers on the European Tour Paul's only weakness is his ability with the putter. If he can somehow get the ball into the hole this week his ball striking alone will see him in contention.

Stephen Dodd: a solid player this year and currently occupies a top ten position on the European Tour Order of Merit. Again like so many good ball strikers his putting will determine his position in this tournament. If the flat stick behaves then he must go very close.

Others to mention: Gregory Havret, Paul Lawrie, Ian Garbutt and David Lynn.

Until next week – May The Golfinggods Be With You!