Tokai Classic

FINAL RESULT: 0-3; -3.00pts

Taniguchi 14th
Kondo 22nd
Izawa 10th

Two weeks of selections on this Tour and two weeks of weather-curtailed events. This time Typhoon Ma-on caused chaos from the second round onwards. All three were there or thereabouts, but needed to be lucky in these conditions.

Outright plays (1pt):

Toru Taniguchi to win 25/1 e.w. @ GolfingGods and IASbet
Taniguchi was a 14/1 selection last week and there is little reason to oppose him this week at almost double the odds. Shingo Katayama is in this week's field, but he is returning from the American Express Championship in Ireland where he played particularly poorly. Taniguchi finished in a lowly 54th position in last week's rain-shortened event, but he had been showing good form recently and he hasn't shot a single round over-par around this course in the last four years. Each time he has finished in the top-20, winning once (2002) and finishing 2nd on one other occasion. Just don't see him as a 25/1 shot.

Tomohiro Kondo to win 30/1 e.w. @ GolfingGods
Did closely consider Hideto Tanihara as a selection, but 20/1 is a little short compared to this price for Kondo. Wouldn't back him in matchups, but he is a good player for this market. In his last ten starts, he has missed the cut three times, but has finished in the top-3 on three occasions and never lower than 22nd when playing at the weekend. A similar story with his course history - 2nd in 2001, he has since missed the cut and finished 23rd. So, provided that he makes it to the weekend, he looks a decent player to side with this week.

Toshimitsu Izawa to win 33/1 e.w. @ GolfingGods
Not the 50/1 that was on offer last week, but still very good odds for a player who is overpriced as he is returning from a severe nasal infection. He recovered extremely well from a poor opening round to be in 8th position and just six shots behind a struggling leader when they abandoned play for the day early in Sunday. It was his second consecutive top-10 finish and is a good indicator that he is almost back to his best form. If he is, then he will surely be a very strong contender this week. He won this event in 1998 and has followed that win with finishes of 3rd, 7th, 1st (2001) and 7th. He did not play last year, but if there are 'horses for courses' in golf, then Izawa and Miyoshi look a very good example of this!

* GolfingGods are a new online bookie, devoted solely to golf betting. Of course, Tour-Tips welcomes the arrival of GolfingGods, but with numerous other online operations going bankrupt and not refunding punters' lost deposits, it would be best to be cautious at this stage. Never bet more than you can afford to lose, either by losing bets or by losing your deposits.

* IASbet are now offering place-odds on this event. Thank you to all who emailed them and lobbied for more than just win-only odds.