**I am running a Betfair account which is used exclusively for plays mentioned here. Every single play I put up here will go immediately on my Betfair account. Started the account with £1000 and my rate will be £20 per Point. The stakes will vary from the minimum of 0.25 pts to the maximum of 10 pts (so £5 to £200 for me) unless I am laying short odds. With the account being used solely for Tour-Tips, it will therefore tell us exactly what the profit/loss record of this page is, including commission costs. If you wish to take these plays as recommendations, please do so but be aware that I can only manage the bets that I have actually struck and cannot give updates for bets you may have had (or not had) which are different to what is put up here.** 

Bank of America Colonial @ Betfair

FINAL RESULT:

Loss = 21 pts

Bank is now £923.35 after 7 weeks (Minus 3.83 pts overall).

Summary:
Had to have the big loss sometime, but it's still hard to take when it happens. Flesch played superbly until his shot into 17 and could've won by more had he not missed a few very makeable putts. Campbell did little wrong overall, and was matched at 1.5, but it wasn't to be. Exciting but expensive!



Page Update #4:
(Winner market)
Move the Campbell Back to 3.3
I got 80% of my earlier bet matched at 3.5 but I have no hesitation tidying up at 3.3, this is still a perfectly acceptable price to back Campbell at in my eyes. All my backs from Update #3 have now been matched.

Page Update #3:
(Winner market)
OK, hopefully going to have some fun and games here! Fancy Campbell quite strongly after his Saturday 61, a round that is remarkably like his third round at the Tour Championship last year. That too was in Texas, his home state, and it was on a course where everybody else struggled to shoot near the mid-60s. His performance in winning there suggests he can follow up a ridiculously low score, which is notoriously hard to do, and the fact that was for his first win, plus his other impressive victory this year, tells us this guy is something special. That cannot be applied to his two nearest challengers and I think it'll be Campbell to win or a big shock with someone coming from way back with a score the later starters just cannot hope to match. Mickelson has birdied the first two on all three days so far and could be quite low in the betting if he repeats that feat and/or scores well on the front nine, but I just do not fancy him to suddenly conquer the back nine today; he is 7 over par on the week for the last 7 holes with no birdies. The players I'll support from miles back are very infrequent winners but capable all the same, and a scenario where they could post a winning score relatively pressure-free isn't too hard to imagine. I'll back the ones at really big prices (plus Verplank who for some reason is almost twice the price of Cink despite being on the same score) and put in some low lays in case they manage to get involved, and also put up one for yesterday's back of Ames as he too is just 5 behind.
Back Chad Campbell 5 pts @ 3.5
Lay Steve Flesch 2.5 pts @ 4.4
Lay Brian Gay 1 pt @ 9.6
Lay Phil Mickelson 4 pts @ 3.5
Back Fred Funk 0.25 pts @ 160, and Lay 10 pts @ 3.2
Back Jeff Maggert 0.25 pts @ 210, and Lay 15 pts @ 3.5
Back Scott Verplank 0.25 pts @ 80, and Lay 8 pts @ 2.2
Lay Stephen Ames 15 pts @ 3.5
Back Chris Riley 0.25 pts @ 150, and Lay 10 pts @ 3.2
Back Bob Tway 0.25 pts @ 210, and Lay 15 pts @ 3.2
Back Skip Kendall 0.25 pts @ 250, and Lay 15 pts @ 3.5


Page Update #2:
(Winner market)
Back Sergio Garcia 1.5 pts @ 32
Back Stephen Ames 1 pt @ 65
I'd imagine Ames' price may go higher but I'll have to take what's on offer now. It looks for all the world that it's going to be a very difficult weekend for scoring so I'm going for two players who have contended on very difficult courses before, are in the top 7 for GIR this season, have been going the right way in terms of results this season, and who are progressing in scoring this week; hoping all this will lead to a big third round from one of them, and thus I may get the opportunity to rescue what has been a desperate week right across the board for me so far.

Page Update #1:
(Winner market)
Back Chris DiMarco 2 pts @ 42
Back Jonathan Kaye 1 pt @ 85
Back Jonathan Byrd 1 pt @ 95
Back Kevin Na 0.5 pt @ 210
Have to admit I'm struggling to get a grip on this tournament. Many of the players have something to recommend them, but similarly they have something that puts me off, including their price in many instances .. although saying that, I don't fancy laying them. My four are younger than some seem to think is ideal for this course but there is no way on earth I'm discounting someone because they are young and promising!
Kevin Na certainly is that and I feel he'll go very close to a win this year (already has a 4th to his name) and I see no reason why that cannot be here. He played well last week on a course some would say is comparable and he could now be ready to equal or better the run of finishes (4/28/11/19) he had back in March/April.
Byrd and Kaye are a different sort of promising in that they've already won on tour and are now looking to start challenging the real big boys of world golf. Kaye's ball striking is worthy of a place amongst them and it is to be hoped that his efforts in sorting out his putting are about to bear fruit. He looks like he's on an upward curve again now, with finishes of 11th and 15th the last two, and it doesn't seem that the layers have cottoned on yet.
Byrd doesn't have as neat a long game, but he sure can putt and score well when he's in the groove. 8th in the Masters and 15th in the US Open last year suggested he was ready to join the elite, as did his finish to the season, 5 top-20s in 7 events including a 2nd and a 5th. Four missed cuts from his first 5 events this year was mega-disappointing, therefore, but 16/25/27 in three of his last four, including starting 67-67 last week, suggests he could be ready to challenge again; he made 8th place here two years ago.
Less needs to be said about DiMarco but I am supporting him because he probably hasn't got the credit he deserves for last week and in my eyes shouldn't be this high a price. I'm not suggesting he's a reliable winner but these odds could net some profit as I feel he is very likely to continue the form he found last week.