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Open de Espana
This is the 13th event of the 2001 season and it is the first time that the European Tour has reached the European mainland. But what an arrival! El Saler is without doubt one of the best courses in Europe and it is a travesty that this course is not used for more Tour events. It is largely tree-lined on the front nine and of Scottish links format on the way home, being more exposed to the sea wind with quite wide fairways snaking though the sandy dunes. As with any seaside course, wind is a major factor with the early starters having a decisive advantage each day.
Despite the fact that only one Spaniard has won his home Open in the past 25 years, the headline pick this week is Jose Maria Olazabal. When this event was last played at El Saler it was thought unlikely that Olazabal would ever play again, but this week he will tee it up having made yet another impressive appearance at the Masters and he even preceded it with good finishes at the tighter courses of Sugarloaf and Sawgrass. He had played in the two previous Spanish Opens here: he finished 4th in 1989 and was a creditable 38th in 1984 when only an 18 year old amateur. He has the low ball flight and the necessary deftness around the greens to excel on this course and he would be an enormously popular winner.
Peter Lonard is the 2nd outright pick. He was a profitable pick last week and is an even stronger candidate this week. He showed in Morocco that he could reclaim the form that had brought him two Australasian Tour titles over the winter and but for some heroic putting by Ian Poulter could have easily snatched the title. Now the links course setup and the wind will be more of an advantage to the Australian and with an early tee-time on Thursday he should get himself established on the leaderboard at an early stage.
The 3rd choice has not been so lucky with the tee-time. David Lynn, who just got the nod over Anders Hansen, will have more of a difficult time with the wind as he is not of Lonard's stocky build. His nickname of 'the coat-hanger' is rather appropriate, but he does come into this event on the back of some of his best-ever golf. He had top-20 finishes in the two Middle East events, finished 7th in the Madeira Island Open and 2nd last week in Morocco. In such a hot streak, any score on any course is possible and he could again challenge strongly if the wind does not blow too hard.
Outright plays:
Jose Maria Olazabal to win 10/1 e.w. @ William Hill [5 places option]
Peter Lonard to win 40/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes [5 places option]
David Lynn to win 66/1 e.w. @ William Hill [5 places option]
72-hole plays:
Gary Evans to beat Peter
Baker -120 @ Victor
Chandler
Baker hasn't played since the Middle
East and in those two events he missed the cut; Evans, by contrast, finished 6th
last week in Morocco and will be looking to continue his fine form in Spain
which has brought him finishes of 7th and 11th in the last two Spanish Opens
Jose Maria Olazabal to beat Darren Clarke
-110 @ BlueSq
or Paddy Power
[2 units]
Olazabal has a great record in this event despite not picking up the title; by
contrast, has not played in this event since 1997 and for good reason. His
previous five appearances had yielded finishes of missed cut, 71st, missed cut,
26th and 55th. With his form erratic at best, he is one to oppose before the
Tour reaches England
Miguel Angel Martin to beat Ignacio Garrido -110 @ Surrey
[2 units]
Martin starts his 2001 campaign in his homeland where he has an excellent
record. He has finished in the top-30 in every event held in Spain over the past
three years (8 events). Garrido on the other hand has followed the Tour from
continent to continent without much success - he missed the cut last week - and
had a best of 50th place from last year's three Spanish events
Miguel Angel Martin to beat Nic Henning
-111 @ Simon Bold
[3 units]
The weekly go-against and not a particularly profitable one! But once again he
edged the matchups by no more than a couple of strokes or even by default with a
tie last week, but his form is still not convincing and he is against a
specialist in Spain this week. Time for some revenge!
Just one 1st round pick:
Philip Price to beat Robert Karlsson -112 @ Five Dimes
1st round update: 0-1-0 and -1.12 units
For the first time this week, the wind didn't blow and it meant a level playing field for both the morning and afternoon starters. Karlsson won the matchup by two shots as both player finished the day in the top-25. As far as the 72-hole plays are concerned, only the Olazabal-Clarke play is losing. Olazabal shot 69 to finish the day in 8th place, but still lies two shots behind Clarke who started his round with six straight birdies! In the other plays, Evans leads Baker by five, Martin leads Garrido by one and Henning by five in the top play of the week. All the outright plays are in contention as all broke par on day one.
2nd round plays:
Miguel Angel Jimenez to beat Darren Clarke -102 @ Five Dimes [2 units]
Gary Orr to beat Ian Poulter +108 @ Five Dimes [3 units]
2nd round update: 1-1-0 and +1.20 units
Split the plays, but still profitable enough to cover the loss from the first round. Orr defeated Poulter by three shots, while Jimenez's 69 was one shot too many against Clarke. Three of the four 72-hole plays were decided at the cut and two were winners. Evans beat Baker by three shots, while Henning finally lived up to his go-against billing - Martin defeated him by sixteen shots! The loss was with the surprising 77 from Olazabal in the 2nd round to drop from 8th overnight to miss the cut; he finished 11 shots behind Clarke. In the remaining 72-hole play, Martin leads Garrido by three.
Not much joy with the outrights. Olazabal missed the cut, Lonard is back in 39th place and Lynn had a particularly poor day to drop to 49th. There were a lot of players making the cut, so they are playing in three-balls over the weekend. With the Euro books offering 3-ball betting for the rest of the weekend, it remains with Five Dimes to offer matchups to keep an interest over the weekend. They have four matchups for the 3rd round, but there are no plays on their lines. Hope for more enticing ones for Sunday!
Final update: 4-3-0 and +3.88 units for the week
No enticing matchups for the final round, but the sole remaining 72-hole play finished an easy winner. Martin beat Garrido by seven shots to complete the 72-hole plays with a satisfying 3-1-0 record.
Update on outright plays: 0-3 and -3.00 units
Lonard finally made a move up the leaderboard with a final round 69, but in 16th place he finished three shots out of a place win. Lynn finished down in 49th position despite a very good opening round and Olazabal missed the cut, also despite a very good opening round.
