Tipster: Shaker

*** Please note, trading plays were posted in January only to highlight the benefits of introducing Betfair into your golf betting. By backing players at standout early prices and then laying back at the lower odds on Betfair, you can have extremely large odds on a player to win an event. This is a simple process that, once learned, can be applied to any golf betting market.

There are many other advantages to using Betfair and Shaker will now be introducing these instead of concentrating on trading alone. His Betfair plays will be found on this page. Trading advice will continue to be given on this page only during February and these will not be 'official' plays, so specific staking and lay-price advice will not be given. However, these bets should be virtually risk-free given the price that you will be able to lay on Betfair.

Chrysler Classic of Tucson

Outright play:

Rory Sabbatini 1.5 pts at prices down to 34 (currently 36) on Betfair

Very keen on the powerful South African this week. He has found his form with a tied 21st and a tied 15th in his last two outings, the important stat from each event being his GIR rankings in each event: tied 6th and tied 8th respectively. Hitting greens is one definite route to success here and although his putting is letting him down at present, it is showing slight signs of improvement and it's not as if it's ever been his strong point; he's still managed two PGA tour wins in recent times, which is a lot more than most of this field. His sometimes wayward driving will not be punished by this almost rough-free course and a friend assures me he has plenty of course experience whilst attending Arizona State University. Looks booked for a good week to me.

Update:

A double bogey at the 18th yesterday is incredibly annoying as a par would've seen him just 3 behind, but there is still a chance that many of the players in front of him will struggle under the pressure today. Many of them are unproven in the heat of a Sunday finish on the PGA Tour so a big final round could still see a challenge by Sabbatini, especially as he is the aggressive type that could shoot the lights out when chasing the lead. So, in case there is still some mileage left in this bet, we'll place some lays on Betfair to try and profit if his price tumbles.
We'll go for 3 lays: 1.5 pts @ 7, 4 pts @ 3.5 and 10 pts @ 2.

Summary:

Annoyingly his great run didn't make enough of an impression as the leaders also shot birdies galore and his price only reached 10 on Betfair, not quite low enough. Had the expected good week but that double on 18 was a massive step backwards at a very bad time. Typically he birdied that hole in round four when it didn't matter.
Total points staked: 1.5 ... Total points laid: 0 ... Profit = -1.5 pts.