Dunhill Links Championship

FINAL RESULT: 6-3-0; +4.00pts

Cabrera/Jacquelin WON by 9
Cabrera/Poulter LOST by 6
Cabrera/Montgomerie WON by 2
Casey/Montgomerie LOST by 3
Clarke/Scott LOST by 4
Donald/Howell WON by 2
Goosen/Harrington WON by 9
O'Hern/Immelman WON by 5
Lonard/Stenson WON by 11

Nice profit to round out a very good event.

72-hole plays (1pt unless stated):

Angel Cabrera to beat Raphael Jacquelin -111 @ William Hill and Easybets [2pts]
Just a difference in class between these two players as shown by the fact that Cabrera has finished ahead of Jacquelin in six of seven common events in Europe this season. Expecting at least a top-20 finish from the Argentinean.

Angel Cabrera to beat Ian Poulter -118 @ BetInternet [2pts]
Similar story here. Cabrera has finished of Poulter in six of seven common events in Europe this season. Poulter is hardly renowned as a links course specialist and having missed the cut in his last two strokeplay events, he may be one who struggles this week as well.

Angel Cabrera to beat Colin Montgomerie -115 @ Olympic [2pts]
And here. Monty has failed to finish ahead of Cabrera in any of six common events in Europe this season and he has also missed the cut in his last two starts. He did play well in this event in 2001 and 2002, but he is a very long way from the consistent player that he was.
(also available at Ladbrokes)

Paul Casey to beat Colin Montgomerie -127 @ Pinnacle [2pts]
And again. In eleven common events in Europe this season, Monty has finished ahead of Casey only once. Despite the change of caddy, Casey is still playing much better than Monty and has declared himself a big fan of links golf. He looks far more likely to repeat his top-5 finish of 2001 than his performances of the last two years.

Darren Clarke to beat Adam Scott -110 @ Sportingbet and Sporting Odds
No doubting Clarke's liking for links golf and his record at St Andrews is very impressive. But so is his h2h record against Scott this year: 10-4-0 with the only losses coming on the PGA Tour which will mean little this week in Scotland.
(also available at Expekt and SIA)

Luke Donald to beat David Howell -110 @ SkyBet [2pts]
A hedge play against the outright selection in part, though this play is largely on the basis that Howell is still not in the same class of player as Donald who has won two of his last four European Tour events. Last week was the first time that Howell has ever finished ahead of Donald in an event since Donald turned pro and I just don't see it happening again.
(also available at Intertops)

Retief Goosen to beat Padraig Harrington -110 @ Sportingbet and Sporting Odds [2pts]
Another hedge play that is also on the basis that the outright selection is not quite in the same class as his opponent. It has been five months since Goosen finished outside the top-15 in an event and in that period he has not finished behind Harrington in any of their last seven common events. Just a more consistent player at world class level and so they should not be at such even odds.
(also available at Five Dimes, Olympic, Expekt, Pinnacle and Bet365)

Nick O'Hern to beat Trevor Immelman -105 @ Olympic
An ultra consistent player who tends to fade when on the leaderboard against a player who does very well when in contention but is far too rarely in that situation. In this type of match, I'll side with the former and particularly when he has a 8-3-1 h2h record in 2004 in his favour.
(also available at Expekt)

Peter Lonard to beat Henrik Stenson -133 @ Pinnacle
Lonard has struggled recently on the PGA Tour, but not when he has crossed the Atlantic. His last four finishes in Europe have been 5th, mc, 4th and 23rd. Stenson was an impressive winner two weeks ago in the Heritage and did play well last year in this event, but getting into contention is still far too much of a rare occurrence. No wonder that Lonard has finished ahead of Stenson in each of their last ten common events.