ANZ Championship

Course: The Lakes Golf Club, Sydney, New South Wales
Yardage: 6904
Par: 73  (five par-fives)
Greens: Bentgrass

Weather Forecast

Inaugural event

Will wait and see what the weather is like on Wednesday before making any plays. This event could easily turn into farce or be cancelled altogether ...

Outright plays:

Craig Parry to win 14/1 e.w. @ Surrey or BetInternet
Winner of the New Zealand Open four weeks ago, in the top-15 in the two events since, top-15 in each of the last three seasons in the Greg Norman International on this course and the winner of that event in 1995 in the previous occasion it was played here. With that record, he should be heading the market.

Peter O'Malley to win 25/1 e.w. @ Bet365
O'Malley was the only player who looked like staying with Els last week and he should welcome this week's venue. He is a member of The Lakes golf club and allegedly regularly plays in weekly competitions here with the members when he is in town. A big price for a quality player in form and on his home course.

Aaron Baddeley to win 25/1 e.w. @ Simon Bold or Centrebet
The winner of last year's Greg Norman International on this course, he is as close to a defending champion as anyone in this inaugural event. Seems to be on the mend from illness last week and with 16/1 the general price, I'll take the attacking young Australian at Simon Bold/Centrebet's offerings.

72-hole plays:

Geoff Ogilvy to beat Paul Gow -118 @ Easybets [2 units]
Both came back from three weeks on the PGA Tour to play in last week's Heineken Classic. Both missed the cut and were probably suffering from jet-lag, but Gow's effort of 78-83 was 14 shots more than Ogilvy. He has missed all fours cuts this year and Ogilvy has beaten him in every event. It should continue this week.

Roger Wessels to beat Jean Hugo -118 @ Easybets [3 units]
Before last week's missed cut, Wessels had finishes of 9/10/27 this season, whereas Hugo has missed all three cuts since his opening event. With no course history either, Wessels is the straightforward choice.

Roger Wessels to beat Carl Pettersson -125 @ Centrebet
Finishes of 33/22/51/39 are competent, but not at the same level as at the end of last year. Pettersson returns to a course where he shot 73-78 last year and there would appear to be no reason why he should break out of his mid-table rut.

Mid-point update:

Ogilvy/Gow WON by 17
Wessels/Hugo Leads by 2
Wessels/Pettersson Trails by 7

Parry 3rd
O'Malley 18th
Baddeley 65th

Decent position in the matchups and two of three outright selections in contention. Leaderboards can change very fast with this modified stableford format though.

Final update:

Matchups: 1-2-0; -2.79 units

Wessels/Hugo LOST by 6
Wessels/Pettersson LOST by 7

Outrights: 1-2; -0.75 units

Parry 2nd
O'Malley 44th
Baddeley 53rd

Disappointing performance by the 'Dodger' to lose both his matchups, particularly after Hugo had only made the cut virtue of a very late birdie on Friday. Parry finished one birdie short of victory and O'Malley had reached the top-5 at the start of the last round, but then disappeared from view.