Southern Farm Bureau Classic @ Betfair

Summary:
Nowhere near, Andrade did trade for a few pennies at 20/1 at one stage but that was it. Loss 5.5 pts.

Selection 1 Back:
Vaughn Taylor 2 pts @ 55
Two facts put him into an elite group when assessing this week's field: One, he is a winner (in only his 20th tour start), and two, it was recently (just six weeks ago). Most of this field are dead wood and I think 50/1 and over is underestimating a progressive under-30 who has not only just won, but has 6 top 25s in his last 12 starts. The little extra that leads me to believe he has a real chance and is excellent value, is the fact that his best three finishes (1st, tied-5th & tied-7th) have come in some of the weakest fields he has contested, and he has shown a marked liking for courses that are not demanding tee-to-green, just like this one. He may struggle against the big boys in this early stage of his PGA Tour career, but lower the grade and give him an easy course, and he has shown he can do the job. And the grade doesn't get any lower than this.
Selection 1 Lay:
2 pts @ 14.5 (to lose 27 pts)
4 pts @ 6.4 (21.6 pts)
6 pts @ 3.7 (16.2 pts) Profit if successful = 43.2 pts

Selection 2 Back:
Corey Pavin 2 pts @ 70
An old-timer here, but one who is showing plenty of zest and good golf. Quite simply his form in 2004, and particularly over the last 3 months, is as good as any in the field; I would make him no bigger than a 33/1 shot if I was pricing this event up. The only other player that can match his consistent form over the last 8 weeks is Loren Roberts and he is 28/1 on Betfair at the moment. Pavin has gone 13/15/14/6/26/41 for his last six tournaments (was 17th in the US Open in June also) and they would have all been in stronger tournaments than this, some massively so.
Selection 2 Lay:
2 pts @ 18 (to lose 34 pts)
4 pts @ 7.8 (27.2 pts)
6 pts @ 4.5 (21 pts) Profit if successful = 55.8 pts

Selection 3 Back:
Billy Andrade 1.5 pts @ 100 (or 100/1 with Coral)
Andrade has to get his skates on or he will be in danger of losing his tour card. He has held it since the 1988 season and will be desperate not to lose it in the same year as he turned 40. Like Vaughn Taylor, it does seem that his performances get better when there is little demand on accuracy (as his shocking DA and GIR stats would suggest!) and here he may be able to compete off a more level footing - he actually has two top-20s in his last four visits to Annandale GC. I'm not sure if he's been in danger of losing his card the last two years, but whether he has or not, his form come September has shown a marked improvement; in 2002 he had 5 top-20s in the 7 events of September and October, and last season he followed 8 finishes of worse than 50th in 9 events with results of 33/34/19/8/30 in late September & October. This year he has got going a bit earlier and currently has 3 top-15s in his last 7 outings - all in all, there has to be more to recommend him than most players over 80/1 in this field.
Selection 3 Lay:
1.5 pts @ 21 (to lose 30 pts)
3 pts @ 11 (30 pts)
7 pts @ 5 (28 pts) Profit if successful = 60.5 pts

The lays are at set prices, based on the original back price, and are left up for the duration of the tournament. Please note: they are to be put up as soon as possible after the market is placed in-running.