Shaker decided to step down from the position of Betfair Tipster at the end of 2004. He put in a lot of work to establish the Betfair section at Tour-Tips and he will be missed. However, Chris has agreed to take on the mantle for 2005 and I'm sure you'll give him a warm welcome. Stanley

Buick Invitational

FINAL RESULT
Lehman was in the hunt all the way to the end and was matched for thousands at 2.2, but just didn't reach the lay at 2.
Total: -1.5pts



Update:
As I mentioned this week I will be looking to use a 'back and lay' strategy which attempts to first recoup our stake, then lock in profit on our selections if they perform well. In this way a profit can be made even if the player doesn't actually go on to win the tournament. The following lays should be placed on betfair as soon as possible after the market is turned in running (4:30pm GMT today)

LAY Tom Lehman 2pts @40 at Betfair -- matched
LAY Tom Lehman 4pts @10 at Betfair -- matched
LAY Tom Lehman 10pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Jay Haas 2pts @50 at Betfair -- matched
LAY Jay Haas 2pts @20 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Jay Haas 3pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Jay Haas 8pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Stephen Ames 2pts @30 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Stephen Ames 4pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Stephen Ames 5pts @5 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Stephen Ames 5pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Shigeki Maruyama 2pts @20 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Shigeki Maruyama 5pts @5 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Shigeki Maruyama 5pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Zach Johnson 0.5pts @50 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Zach Johnson 2pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Zach Johnson 5pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Justin Leonard 0.5pts @40 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Justin Leonard 2pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Justin Leonard 5pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Freddy Jacobson 0.25pts @50 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Freddy Jacobson 2pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Freddy Jacobson 5pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Jesper Parnevik 0.25pts @50 at Betfair -- matched
LAY Jesper Parnevik 2pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Jesper Parnevik 3pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

LAY Corey Pavin 0.25pts @100 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Corey Pavin 0.5pts @50 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Corey Pavin 2pts @25 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Corey Pavin 4pts @10 at Betfair -- unmatched
LAY Corey Pavin 8pts @2 at Betfair -- unmatched

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Update:
One last pre-tournament pick for the week, and a real long shot..

BACK Corey Pavin 0.25pts @700 at Betfair -- matched

His best years may be behind him, but don't forget he is a major winner and also showed some decent form towards the back end of last season and over the break including 3 top 10s out of four events in Australia and Vietnam. Top price 200/1 at the bookies - this price is outrageous!

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Update:
The focus on the top 4 has meant some really huge prices being offered on other players. Some are just too big to ignore.

BACK Zach Johnson 0.5pts @130 at Betfair -- matched
BACK Justin Leonard 0.5pts @120 at Betfair -- matched
BACK Freddy Jacobson 0.25pts @220 at Betfair -- matched
BACK Jesper Parnevik 0.25pts @180 at Betfair -- matched

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Last week was focussed heavily on pre-tournament trading, this week I'll continue the Betfair techniques 'refresher course' with some 'back and lay' picks. The idea here is to back a player at big odds before the tournament in the hope to lay off to secure a profit if they go shorter during the tournament.

BACK Tom Lehman 2pts @80 at Betfair -- matched
BACK Jay Haas 2pts @100 at Betfair -- matched
BACK Stephen Ames 2pts @75 at Betfair -- matched -- Price update - can now get 80/1 at William Hill
BACK Shigeki Maruyama 2pts @50 at Betfair -- matched

The reasons are very similar for the first three. They are all very consistent players, they all have reasonable course form: Lehman 4 top 25s from last 5 starts here, Haas 3 top 25s in last 3, Ames no missed cuts in all 4 starts, and most important of all I believe they are all at far too big a price!
A lot depends on if Maruyama can recover from just missing out last week, but if anyone can overcome the disappointment it's the PGA Tour's very own Mr Happy! Despite the wobbly final round, getting in to contention showed that his game is in good shape and he has a great course record here to boot.