British Masters

Outright plays (1.5 units):

Bradley Dredge to win 25/1 e.w. @ Tote
Siding with a player who obviously trying to be the 'iron man' of the European Tour. In the last seven weeks he has played six European Tour events and one Euro Pro Tour event. At least he will have a rest next week as he has failed to gain exemption for the U.S. Open. It was another solid week last week with a 10th place finish and at least this week there will not be the pressure of playing in front of his home crowd. He finished in the top-10 last year and another consistent finish is expected. Taking the inferior place odds with Tote over the 22/1 available with BetInternet and BetDirect.

Philip Price to win 28/1 e.w. @ Stan James
Price certainly did feel the pressure of home support last week when he played rather nervously in the final group on Sunday. But he did still record his third top-10 finish in four events and that is impressive form. He is also absent from next week's U.S. Open, but he has entered the Aa St. Omer Open next week and should start as a clear favourite. He is not that this week, but a repeat of last year's 3rd place finish would earn a decent return and make sure he is at prohibitive odds next week.

Fredrik Jacobson to win 50/1 @ BetInternet and Five Dimes
Jacobson is also entered for next week's event and could be these odds to win next week. He is a two-time winner on the 2003 European Tour schedule despite missing three months of the season due to injury and looks in good shape to add a third title last week until he found the water twice on the 8th hole on Sunday. In this form, he can certainly compete with this field and he has shown that he can close out tournaments.

Matchup plays (1.5 units):

Bradley Dredge to beat Andrew Coltart -111 @ Ladbrokes
Pinnacle go -130 on this matchup, but I would go even shorter. Coltart did finish 5th last week and has now made his last seven cuts, but his previous top-10 finish had been in the very weak Madeira Island Open in March. He also returns to a course on which his best finish in six attempts has been 44th (1994) and he has missed his last two cuts here. Siding with the outright selection again.

Bradley Dredge to beat Ian Poulter -111 @ William Hill
Three missed cuts then a win sums up Poulter very well. It was the only time that Poulter has finished ahead of Dredge in Europe in the last three months (7 events) and while he has a decent record on this course, he is more likely to miss the cut than finish in the top-10 again. Siding with consistency. Pinnacle also price this match -130, which looks much more in line.

Peter Fowler to beat Richard Green -118 @ Easybets
They have both played in the same eight tournaments since the Australasian Tour this season and Green has yet to finish ahead of Fowler who was on the shortlist for the outrights (10/1 place-only). Can't see any reason for this run to end with Green's finishing positions of 59th, mc and mc in three previous visit to the Forest of Arden.

Fredrik Jacobson to beat Pierre Fulke -111 @ BetandWin
There is a decent chance that these last two matchup plays could be voided. Jacobson finished top of one of the sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Open on Tuesday to confirm his excellent form and while his still has a starting time for this event, he could scratch and remain in the U.S. instead. But even if he does play with jetlag, then he should still beat Fulke whose last three events have yielded finishes of mc, mc and 58th. Huge difference in form!

Fredrik Jacobson to beat Lee Westwood +100 @ Sportingbet and Sporting Odds
There is a huge difference in form between these two players as well. Westwood did make the cut in the Memorial Tournament last week, but had missed his last two cuts in Europe and has been struggling long-term. Jacobson has finished ahead of Westwood in every event that have shared in Europe this season so I'll gladly take these odds!

1st round plays (1.5 units):

Jarrod Moseley to beat Paul McGinley -110 @ Five Dimes
Nick O'Hern to beat Lee Westwood -117 @ Five Dimes
Simon Khan to beat Gary Orr -117 @ Five Dimes

1st round update: 1-1-1; -0.26 units

Moseley/McGinley TIED (Push)
O'Hern/Westwood LOST by 5
Khan/Orr WON by 4

2nd round plays (3 units):

Mikael Lundberg to beat Raymond Russell -112 @ Five Dimes
Bradley Dredge to beat Justin Rose -103 @ Five Dimes
Santiago Luna to beat Raphael Jacquelin -118 @ Five Dimes

2nd round update: 2-1-0; +2.46 units

Lundberg/Russell WON by 8
Dredge/Rose WON by 3
Luna/Jacquelin LOST by 2

Mid-point update:

Dredge/Coltart Trails by 3
Dredge/Poulter All Square
Fowler/Green Trails by 4

Dredge 57th
Price mc

Profitable day on the 18-holers, but will need them as this does not look a very promising event. Dredge is out of contention for a top-5 place and will need to improve over the weekend to right the matchups. Jacobson did withdrew as anticipated, so three plays this week were voided as a result.

No 3rd round plays.

4th round plays (1.5 units):

Matthew Blackey to beat Christian Cevaer -118 @ Five Dimes
David Lynn to beat Peter Baker -117 @ Five Dimes

4th round update: 1-1-0; -0.27 units

Blackey/Cevaer LOST by 10
Lynn/Baker WON by 1

Final update:

Matchups: 0-3-0; -5.10 units

Dredge/Coltart LOST by 6
Dredge/Poulter LOST by 13
Fowler/Green LOST by 3

18-holes: 4-3-0; +1.93 units

Outrights: 0-2; -3.00 units

Dredge 63rd

Very poor. This Tour continues to baffle me this year. No sign of a loss here in previous seasons, but quite a hole to get out of now!