Open de Canarias

FINAL RESULT: 0-2; -3.00pts

Gonzalez 60th
Spence 11th

At least they had chances. Spence held sole possession of the lead in the first round, but then double-bogeyed the last hole and that was the nature of his week. Whenever he got back into contention, he slipped out of it straightaway.

Outright plays (total stake per play: 1.5pts)

Ricardo Gonzalez to win 14/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Surprised to find him any more than 10/1. He is both the class and the form player in this field and no-one can match his record in this event. After a desperately poor season, his form has picked up enormously since August and he has finished 11th, 23rd, 10th and 7th in his last four European Tour events. And he could have finished even higher last week, but for the 12th hole on Sunday. He has played in this event in each of the last three years and has finished 6th, 19th and 2nd and a win will lift him to 68th in the Order of Merit and within touching distance of a seventh consecutive appearance at the Volvo Masters. In his current form, he stands a good chance of making it.

Jamie Spence to win 33/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet, Sporting Odds, Victor Chandler, Ladbrokes and IASbet
Backing another player who does not have the pressure of potentially losing his Tour Card, but could get himself into the Volvo Masters with strong showing in this event and next week's Open de Madrid. Like Gonzalez, Spence has played less European Tour events than most and it does help at this stage of the season as can be seen in their form since August: Spence has finished 23rd, 13th, 30th and 9th in his last four events. In his last start, he closed with a 65 for a top-10 finish and having made the cut in each of his three previous appearances in this event when they were played in April and so had very much stronger fields, he is another who has the ability and the form to finish high on the leaderboard this week.