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Graeme Storm - 1.5 points ew 25-1 Unibet Grief last week as a final hole treble-bogey cost George Coetzee a certain place, but that is typical of the season as a whole and I'll be glad to see the back of 2017! Still, with a few weeks to go, chances to retrieve some of the losses and Close House certainly seems to indicate the type of player needed to win here, and surely therefore a run over the weekend! Driving means little here this week and placing the ball on the fairway and on the right part of the green is key. Rain has helped a lot this week, with more receptive greens but with the leaderboard containing huge hints to the shorter, more accurate players, it is clear that bombers are not required. The very talented Tyrell Hatton heads the market after opening up a three-shot lead and on talent alone, really should be getting home in front. He has changed caddy and seems a tad more relaxed this week, and with both being home bred, they may well ease to the trophy. He ranks highly on putts converted this week but there is always that doubt surrounding his temperament if things start going awry and at 2-1(ish) he doesn't look value. The current top-10 contains seven Englishman and most are reknown as accuracte players who can perform in wind and rain. As such, and with an expected winning score of around -17, it is tough to see anyone coming from miles off the pace. Indeed, I am happy concentrating on the top-7, from 8-under, as a target score of around -12/-13 at the end of today looks perfectly acceptable for a challenge tomorrow. The likes of Chris Hanson, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have perfect conditions but they are hard to win with. The maiden Hanson really should be challenging here if anywhere and is finally holing the putts he has missed for the majority of two seasons. For selfish reasons I want him to win having backed him at three-figures ante-post, but there is always that doubt that he hasn't puit his head in front yet. Both Westwood and Poulter obviously bring better class form to the table and either could exploit much easier conditions than they are used to, but again they are tough to win with, with Poulter, in particular, not having won since 2012. Instead, I am taking the chance with last week's Portugese 3rd Graeme Storm, who is one of those players who thrive in a war of attrition, something this may become if rain arrives. The 39-year-old has only won once before 2017 on the main Tour, but after a decent little spell at the end of 2016, beat Rory McIlroy ina play-off at the South African Open. Hitting the front after a second-round 63, he took a three-shot lead into Payday, eventually holding off a charging McIlroy and Jordan Smith. It would appear that he was slightly shell-shocked after that but he has played 'okay' for most of this year, finally bouncing back to form with that bronze medal where he was always prominent after the cut. His figures here don't actually match up to the rest of his year so it is to his credit that he stands just 4 off the lead and a shot behind 2nd place. He certainly has the game to find that slight improvement, can probably find a bit off the tee on Moving Day which should result in far more birdie chances and from here should go very close. The general 20-1 is fine but the one offer of 25s is definitely wrong.
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