VACOM Open

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Jeff Winther - 0.75 points each-way @ 125-1 (Bet365)

Alexander Bjork - 0.75 points each-way @ 40-1 (Skybet)

As a sucker for the Nordic League players when they return to that part of the world, I am spoilt for choice both here and also at the European Tour event at Himmerland this week. However, with the classier Challenge Tour players appearing alongside Thomas Bjorn in Denmark, this event was always likely to be a real chance for the more promising players to make their mark and rise up the CT table.

The 26-year-old non-referee won his first event in Denmark in 2012 beating a certain Lucas Bjerregaard in a play-off and ranking 8th at the end of the Nordic league season. He subsequently came on from that to be 7th in this country at the Finnish Challenge and win twice in 2013, including the Ecco Tour Of Champions held co-incidentally at Himmerland and finishing 5th in the League and winning Ecco Player Of The Year. 

Winther accepts that he needs to mature mentally to compete on the Challenge Tour but there are signs that his game is improving. He made the cut on his first outing at Kenya and then went back to his home Tour for three outings where he finished T26/T6/T17. Finding his game at Slovakia, Winther was top-3 at Azerbaijan going into the weekend before an early double-bogey stopped his progression although he still finished top-20, whilst last week in Norway saw him produce some decent middle-event efforts 68/66 before falling right away with an error-strewn 77 on Sunday. Okay, it is perhaps spurious but even an average 72 would have seen him top-12 for sure and the progressive profile would be clear to see. The odds this week seem to reflect the figures on show and whilst I am very tempted also by last week's selection Alexander Bjork, I could not say that the latter is 3 times as likely to win this week. The 125-1 is very fair and without Lampert, Johnston or Fitzpatrick, better still.    

There is always a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's show' when going in again on a player at half the odds of the previous week but there are just about enough reasons to have Bjork onside.

This is what was written last week and similar applies again

Bjork has plenty of winning and placed form on the lesser Scandinavian Tours but has also won and been 4th at one of the stages of the Euro Tour qualifying at Wychwood Park and Valle Romano, proving he can compete and certainly in a similar grade. His runner-up in the Finnish Open on the Ecco Tour reads nicely and I am always encouraged by an improver that is showing form and returning to his home area. It may be crucial that he has form around here with a 5th in the Nordea Open in 2012 finishing level with Fahrbring and behind winner Broberg and, like Fahrbring, he is now starting to show some decent form at this level with a top-30 in Belgium and top-20 in Slovakia now trumped with an excellent 5th last week in Azerbaijan. Always prominent in that event and in the final group on Sunday, two early bogeys and a double on the par-5 10th was probably due to inexperience. He is young enough to learn a lot from that and can compete in this weak field - as an omen, he is also the same price as last years winner. Recent rounds are consistently in the 60s and even when he has a few nightmare holes he seems talented enough to get enough birdies to recover.

It is worth highlighting that T2 in the same Finnish Challenge that Winther was 7th in July 2013, although at different venue, and that his 'off-the-card' form this year is T22/T10 in the same events that Winther played. The question is whether he did enough with last week's 32nd to play again?

The 23-year-old was quite frank on his Twitter feed saying he had a 'half shitty start' to the Norwegian Challenge and he clearly expected more (he wasn't the only one). Every time he made ground over the weekend he gave away shots and that was possibly down to chasing the game far too much. Once again, he is young enough to start learning that patience is the key and as someone proven when up front, I am just about happy to have him as a back-up to the main bet given an otherwise progressive profile.