Ericsson Masters

The Australian Masters loses its defending champion this week as Michael Campbell chooses instead to follow the European Tour to Malaysia. There is no Greg Norman either, but making his 2001 debut is Colin Montgomerie. A strange place and time for such an occasion. The venue is, as ever, Huntingdale in Melbourne and there is plenty of course form to utilize. Of note is that last week's winner, Aaron Baddeley, has been a member of this club for the past three or four years. Also of note is that he admits to having only played it a few times though and doesn't know it that well. No real advantage there and at short odds, he, Garcia and the rusty Monty are passed over.

The course is described as being one on which the driver is all-important. Baddeley says he will hit irons most of the week to keep the ball in play, so in that regard the three selections are all good, straight drivers of the ball and available at much higher odds than the three mentioned above: Craig Parry, Peter O'Malley and Stephen Leaney. Parry has won this title on three separate occasions - 1992, 1994 and 1996. His form has been patchy, but it still includes four top-25 finishes in five events this year and an 8th place finish last week. Capable of at least a place finish.

O'Malley and Leaney are simply too good to be prices at 40/1. O'Malley form has been inconsistent as well, notably failing over weekends, but with a three-year course record of 9th, 12th and 7th, it is a course that suits and if his game can be found, then he also should mount a strong challenge for at least a place finish. Even more so Leaney for whom there are no doubts about his temperament down the final stretch. A top-five finisher in 14% of his events entered in the last 3 years, he comes here with 3 top-25 finishes in four events, but without challenging the lead too much. Similarly respectable finishes on this course cause an inflated price, but of not that many in this field, he is capable of winning this event, though the e/w on five places at Surrey makes this an attractive e/w play.

Outright plays:

Craig Parry to win 22/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Peter O'Malley to win 40/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Stephen Leaney to win 40/1 e.w. @ Surrey

72-hole plays:

Richard Backwell to beat Adam Crawford +100 @ DAS [2 units]
Both in indifferent form of late, but Backwell has been making it to the weekend at Huntingdale in the past and Crawford has not

Sergio Garcia to beat Aaron Baddeley -120 @ Surrey [2 units]
Headline matchup and expecting Garcia to exact his revenge on Baddeley for next week, though hopefully not with a club! Did finish 3rd last year, while Baddeley's only appearance in this event was two ago and he finished 35th as an amateur

Brett Rumford to beat Craig Spence +100 @ Centrebet
Rumford finished 2nd last year and plays the 1999 winner. However as Spence's 2001 record is played three, missed three, he is definitely worth opposing

Update:

As customary this year, just one 72-hole play is decided at the cut and it is a loss   Garcia missed the cut by three and was four behind Baddeley when his tournament ended. At least in the other two, the selections are ahead: Backwell by two over Crawford and Rumford by five over Spence. In the outrights, both Parry and O'Malley held the lead for a time yesterday, but ended the day in 4th and 11th place respectively. Leaney made a great 2nd round recovery to make the cut on the mark and in a tightly bunched field there is a glimmer of hope yet!

3rd round plays:

Gavin Coles to beat Richard Backwell +125 @ Centrebet

Peter O'Malley to beat Brett Rumford +110 @ Sportingbet [2 units]

3rd round update: 1-1-0 and -0.75 units

Split the plays as Coles eased to a two-shot win, but Rumford stormed to the top of the leaderboard with a 64, five shots better than O'Malley. And this course was supposed to reward accurate not long players?? Still, meant an even bigger lead in the 72-hole play. Rumford now leads Spence by 17 shots, while Backwell stays ahead of Crawford, by one shot.

Still close but close enough in the outrights. O'Malley and Parry are very much in contention in 9th place, though that is outside a place position, while Leaney is out of the running in 49th place.

4th round plays:

Scott Hend to beat Peter Fowler -118 @ DAS

Michael Long to beat Geoff Ogilvy +130 @ Centrebet

Brett Rumford to beat Anthony Painter -125 @ Surrey

Final update: 2-1-0 and +1.05 units; 5-3-0 and +0.90 units for the week

Hend and Long were convincing winners on the final day, the margins of victory five and six shots respectively. However Rumford's wilting under the pressure of leadership was a little more dramatic than expected and he lost by one shot to Painter. Both the remaining 72-hole plays won. Rumford beat Spence by sixteen shots and Backwell beat Crawford by three.

Update on outright plays: 1-2 and +2.50 units

O'Malley finally kept his game on the final day and closed with a good back nine to finish 3rd, just two shots behind Monty, but it was not so good for Parry, he finished down in 12th place. Leaney ended in 41st position.