The Heritage

FINAL RESULT: 1-2; +4.25pts

Casey dns
Montgomerie mc
O'Hern 9th
Stenson 1st

Good to get a win with Stenson with the first mid-point play of the season. Almost added to it with O'Hern reaching 3rd place on the leaderboard, but he fell back and would never have caught Stenson who ran away from the field in the final round.

Post-Rd2 outright play (1pt):

Henrik Stenson to win 10/1 e.w. @ BetInternet and Victor Chandler [1/4 1-2-3-4]
Coming off two missed cuts he was unfancied at the start of the week, but he has been the best player on view so far. He finished 2nd in the Scandinavian Masters from a similar midway position last month so he doesn't suffer from leaderboard vertigo and he can always look to his prestigious win in the 2001 Volvo PGA Championship for confidence.

Outright plays (1pt):

Paul Casey to win 20/1 e.w. @ Stan James
In contrast to the PGA Tour, this should resemble a victory lap where the European players receive their deserved plaudits and the momentum and adrenalin of last week is carried on into this one. None of the Ryder Cup players will want to be going home before the weekend after the camaraderie of the European team. So first up is Paul Casey who was playing as well as anyone before the Ryder Cup. Amazingly, he sacked his caddy just a few days before they were due to fly to Detroit, but he now has an old friend on the bag. It will probably has contributed to his indifferent form in the practice rounds and losing his place in the starting line-up for the first set of matches, but his fourball win with David Howell on Saturday cannot be overstressed in its importance for the match. Against Tiger he had nothing to lose and he been able to half-rise to the occasion he would have beaten the former World No.1. As a rookie who played a pivotal role in the Ryder Cup, his momentum and adrenalin coming into this event should be at an all-time high!

Colin Montgomerie to win 25/1 e.w. @ BetInternet and Coral
Monty was no rookie last week, but he was pivotal at the start and at the end of the Ryder Cup. To partner Padraig Harrington and comprehensibly beat Woods & Mickelson in the very first match of the Ryder Cup was extremely important. And of course, it was fitting that he holed the winning putt. He is a second player whose adrenalin and momentum should propel him up the leaderboard this week. It does help that he played so well to finish in the top-3 on this course in 1999 and 2000, but this play is about post-Ryder Cup momentum and Monty is the perfect example of this. The week after the last three Ryder Cups that Europe has won, he has finished 3rd (1995), 2nd (1997) and 3rd (2002)!

Nick O'Hern to win 33/1 e.w. @ Bet365, Victor Chandler and Ladbrokes
A more standard play here. He has course experience from back in 1999 and 2000 when this course was used for the British Masters and he also had a good record around in the Marquess course at Woburn as well. Though it is mainly for his current form that he earns his selection. He started the season in great form and has certainly rediscovered it again since June. With six top-10 finishes in his last ten starts, he should not be 33/1.