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Betfair Picks - European Tour |
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12-5; +1.73pts Pre-tournament plays: BACK 1pt Benjamin Hebert 130 36th
Romain Wattel 70 41st
Hebert secured his fourth top-15 finish in his last 13 starts last week in the Made in Denmark event; he is a six-time winner on the Challenge Tour and clearly has the ability so is worth a small punt at these odds
Also backing player partner and fellow Frenchman Wattel - he finished 2nd here in 2011 and 9th in 2013, so he can clearly play on this quirky course LAY 20pts liability Paul Peterson 180 58th
Bryson DeChambeau 55 mc
David Lipsky 34 58th
Marcel Siem 300 mc
Opposing Peterson who won two weeks ago, but finihed a lowly 63rd last year and, more importantly, finished 134th on his course debut here last year - course experience is very important at Crans-sur-Sierre and that points to laying Peterson this week
DeChambeau is making his course debut and, together with failing to reproduce any of his early season form this summer, he is one to oppose in his first event in Europe
Lipsky is the third American to be opposed, but not because of course experience as he won this event two years ago and he has finished 6th and 3rd in the last two weeks, but he has been priced 120 and 55 in those two weeks and 34 just looks too short who is still ranked outside the top-200 in the World Rankings
Easy to oppose Siem who hasn't played since withdrawing after a first round 80 in the Scottish Open - his last five finishes now read wd-52nd-mc-53rd-wd Pre-rd3 plays: BACK 1pt Romain Langasque 16 7th
Scott Hend 14.5 2nd (playoff loss)
Adding to my team of Frenchmen with Langasque who is a very good price for someone who shares the lead and has very good credentials - he is the 2015 Amateur Champion, leads the Road to Oman (Money List) on the Challenge Tour and has finished 2nd and 4th in his last two events
Hend is just a shot back, but much more experienced in this position as a winner of seven events on the Asian PGA Tour over the last three years; he has been very good from tee-to-green so far this week and looks to be a good player to side with when there are 11 players within two shots of the lead LAY 20pts liability Julien Quesne 25 5th
Robert Rock 100 29th
Richard Bland 13 5th
Hao-Tong Li 95 18th
Miguel Angel Jimenez 46 24th
Alexander Levy 85 18th
Quesne is one of those two shots back, so these odds look rather short with so many within two shots of the lead; he has also played in only one event in the last eight weeks, so may be rather competitive-rusty
Rock has been playing better recently but he is back in 14th place, without a top-15 finish in nine attempts here and his ball-striking has been poor so far this week - he ranks outside the top-50 in dirving distance, driving accuracy and greens in regulation
Bland is 0-for-4 when leading after two rounds - the last time was the 2012 Italian Open and he finished 17th, ten shots behind the winner
Li dropped back after his opening 65 and now lies 14th, but this is still far better than his core form - his best finish in any event in the last three months is 50th
Jimenez has finished 2nd or 3rd in each of his last five Champions Tour events, but he has struggled to be competitive on this Tour and if he stayed in 14th place, it would almost match his best finish of 13th on the European Tour in the last year - this makes him easy to oppose in a win-only market
Also opposing Levy who is playing in his first event in two months and had missed the cut in all three previous visits until this week - he is now 14th, but his ball-striking stats are very poor so there is little to suggest that he will be a serious contender this week Pre-rd4 plays: BACK 1pt Richard Bland 16.5 5th
Bland wasn't at his best today, but is still in 3rd place and only three shots behind Hend, so looks a good hedge play with Hend backed yesterday. He is also the only one of the players opposed yesterday who is still in the top-10, so this is also a hedge play against yesterday's lay against Bland LAY 20pts liability Mikko Ilonen 26 12th
Andrew Johnston 18 3rd
Both Ilonen and Johnson are four shots back and in 4th place, but Ilonen's last top-10 finish in any Tour event was back in 2014, so I doubt that he will be the player to challenge Hend tomorrow
Johnston made the headlines with his performance in the Open Championship, but these odds are rather short given his position and his lack of tournament golf recently - he has played in only one event since Royal Troon
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