|
Taiheiyo Masters
Outright plays (1 unit):
Toru Taniguchi to win 11/1 e.w. @ Bet365
or UKBetting
Top-10 on each of his three previous visits, the leader on the 2002 Japan Tour
Money List and in excellent form in the second half of the year. In the last
five months, he has won three times and finished in the top-4 in eight out of
fourteen starts on this Tour. Against a tired Rose, a Howell that has never
played in Japan and an Izawa who has the pressures of the three-peat this week,
Taniguchi looks value at elevens even though the 20/1 has gone.
Scott Laycock to win 33/1 e.w. @ Bet365
No event last week, but in the previous two weeks he followed up victory in the
Bridgestone Open with a top-5 finish in the Philip Morris Championship. Has been
playing well since September and looks to be following the same pattern as last
year when he finished the Japan Tour season with seven top-10 and two top-20
finishes in his last nine events. A repeat of last year's top-15 finish looks
likely.
Hiroyuki Fujita to win 80/1 e.w. @
Bet365
or BetInternet
Big price for the highest-ranked (11th) player on the Japan Tour Money List not
to have won an event this year. Has become very consistent instead. In the last
five months, he has secured nine top-10 finishes and a further three top-20
finishes in fifteen events. Did finish in the top-5 in 1998 and followed that
with top-25 finishes in the next two years, so he is capable of a high finish on
this course which does not suit his game which is centred around accuracy rather
than length.
Final update: 0-2; -2.00 units
Taniguchi dnp
Laycock 13th
Fujita 16th
Left to rue what might have been. Taniguchi and Tanaka held a
large lead at the top of my rankings for this event, but I only opted to pick
one of them. Had I known Taniguchi would have decided not to play, I would have
opted for Tanaka instead (20/1 BetInternet & SkyBet) and he finished 2nd. He was
runner-up to Nakajima whom I had considered at 100/1 (BetInternet and Surrey),
but discounted because of his previous course form and opted for a lower-ranked
player (Laycock) at 1/3 his odds. Hindsight can be tortuous!
|
