Outright Picks - European Tour |
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Open de France |
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FINAL RESULT: 0-3; -3.00pts Olazabal
10th
McDowell mc
Green 7th Two players in the top-10, but no return on the event. Olazabal left
himself too much to do after an opening 74 - he trailed the winner, Bickerton,
by eleven shots after the first round, but finished only six shots back on
Sunday - and Green would have finished in sole 3rd place, but for a run of
three-over-par in three holes during his final round.
Outright plays (total stake per play: 1pt)
Jose Maria Olazabal to win 20/1 e.w. available generally
David Howell is a very strong contender this week, particularly with Monty
withdrawing and the delays at the Booz Allen Classic affecting Padraig
Harrington, but 11/1 is rather too short given other prices around. Of these,
20/1 on Olazabal looks more than fair. He has had another extremely good PGA
Tour season, ranking in the top-10 in scoring average, and comes into this event
fresh from a week's break after finishing 16th in the U.S. Open and looking
forward to continuing his fine record on this course. He has played here from
1991 to 1995 as well as in the last four years and has finished in the top-15
every time. He is even a former winner of this event (1991) when it was
contested at Lyon Golf Club. Howell may be the player to beat this week, but
Olazabal shouldn't be too far behind.
Graeme McDowell to win 40/1 e.w. @
BetInternet,
SkyBet,
Ladbrokes,
BetDirect and
Coral
It has been a disappointing PGA Tour season for McDowell so far, but there have
been plenty of signs that his game is returning. He was the first round leader
in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans two months ago before finishing 15th, he
finished in the top-10 in the British Masters in his first event back in Europe
last month, he finished 12th in the Barclays Classic back on the PGA Tour the
week before the U.S. Open and he ended the 1st and 2nd round in 7th place at
Winged Foot before shooting 75-79 over the weekend to fall down the leaderboard.
That is a significant improvement on his previous form and back in Europe and on
a course on which he has finished 18th and 4th, he should record his best finish
of the year.
Richard Green to win 50/1 e.w. @
BetInternet
Green has been a regular in this event since 1996, but recorded his best finish
in his last attempt in 2004 when he finished 2nd to Jean-Francois Remesy. The
home player did win the event comfortably, but playing partner, Green, was only
one shot behind at the start of the back nine before the pressure of playing
against Remesy and home support took its toll. And now he is playing well enough
to finish even higher. Ignoring the weather-affected Irish Open, he has finished
24th, 14th, 14th and 4th on the European Tour and also finished 3rd in
qualifying for the U.S. Open. His missed cut in that event can easily be
discounted as he qualified and finished 4th in the European Tour event the week
before Winged Foot, but his impressive form still remains. However, note that he
had been marked down for 10/1 for a top-5 finish before BetInternet's 50/1 was
found. If that is not available, 10/1 place-only odds are better value. |