British Masters

The last qualifying event for the WGC NEC Invitational - the European Tour ruled that players had to qualify for this event rather than just propose the 1999 Ryder Cup team - means a decent quality field for an event the week before a Major in another continent. Bjorn, Langer and Lawrie would normally be preparing Stateside, but have chosen to play here instead as has Monty who is in great need of a win to maintain any chance of winning the Order of Merit again.

Not a great deal in the way of course form, the event returned here last year after a five-year delay when Bob May beat Colin Montgomerie in a head-to-head battle on the final Sunday. But as in previous years, it is the ball-strikers who prevail on this course - previous winners include Greg Norman, Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros (twice), Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam. A traditional tree-lined parkland course, this short course provides a good and scenic challenge to this week's field.

The very short favorite is Monty. For the past three years he has finished 2nd, 1st and 2nd in this event. In the absence of Westwood and Clarke, his odds are too short to contemplate without even considering his suspect current form. Instead, like Woods in the Buick Open, Monty's short price means decent prices for the other plays. The next two-ranked are Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn. Mcginley is 40/1 at Paddy Power while Bjorn is 18/1 at Victor Chandler and look good e/w bets with both books paying on the first-five places. McGinley was 10th last year and has showed some good form of late, working with sports psychologist. Bjorn has similarly been in good form, including the 2nd at the British Open, and looks a class act when many of the other leading players here are struggling with their games. The dark horse is Fredrik Jacobson 80/1 at Ladbrokes. Had back-to-back 2nd place finishes a month ago and is much more capable of another such finish than his odds suggest.

72-hole plays:

Jarmo Sandelin to beat Stephen Allan -118 @ Sportodds

Jarmo Sandelin to beat Andrew Coltart -111 @ Ladbrokes  [-115 @ DAS where tie is a dead heat]

Paul McGinley to beat Mathias Gronberg -118 @ Sportingbet  [same odds @ Sportodds]

Paul McGinley to beat Adam Scott -111 @ DAS [2 units]

Gary Orr to beat Raymond Russell -125 @ Easybets [2 units]

Patrik Sjoland to beat Raymond Russell -105 @ DAS [2 units]

Jarmo Sandelin to beat Greg Turner -118 @ Sportingbet

Jamie Spence to beat Katsuyoshi Tomori -111 @ Easybets [2 units]

Sorry for no write-up, but time is very short

Mid-point update:

Four of the eight 72-hole plays are decided at the cut, but only one is a winner Sandelin recovered from a horror start to beat Turner by four shots; elsewhere McGinley lost to Gronberg by nine and Scott by one, while Spence lost to Tomori by four. The four remaining plays are split: Sandelin trails Allan by two and Coltart by six, Orr leads Russell by nine and Sjoland leads Russell by two.

DAS's recruitment of Peter Verey looks great for European Tour wagering - they have posted matchups on both the 1st and 2nd rounds, but have found the lines too sharp. Nevertheless a great development for the future.

3rd round plays:

Thomas Bjorn to beat Ivo Giner -163 @ Victor Chandler [2 units]

David Carter to beat Kyi Han -110 @ Victor Chandler

Colin Montgomerie to beat Per-Ulrik Johansson -150 @ Intertops [2 units]  [-138 @ Victor Chandler but ties lose]

3rd round update: 2-1 and +2.90 units

Both two-unit plays won today, Bjorn beating Giner by four shots and Monty beating Johansson by three. The only loss was a tie but when they tie on 75 there can be no complaints about it being graded a loss! Slight improvement in the 72-hole plays as Sandelin overtakes Allan by one, but trails Coltart by five; Orr now leads Russell by ten and Sjoland leads Russell by three.

4th round plays:

Steen Tinning to beat Paul Affleck -133 @ Centrebet

Colin Montgomerie to beat Gary Orr -150 @ DAS

Colin Montgomerie to beat the field [tournament] +140 @ DAS

4th round update: 1-2 and -1.50 units; 7-7-0 and +0.67 units for the week

Let's hope Monty's putter gets lost in the flight over to Valhalla next week! He a missed a couple of putts that were gimmee length just when he'd birdied the first two holes to make up the overnight deficit to Orr   He eventually lost by one shot on the round and three over the 72-hole to Orr. In the other match, Tinning defeated Affleck by two shots.

The 72-hole plays closed out with just one more loss: Sandelin to Coltart by one shot, while Sandelin did defeat Allan by two, Orr over Russell by seven and Sjoland over Russell by one.

Update on the outright plays: 0-3 and -3.00 units

Not even a sniff! McGinley missed the cut, Bjorn finished down the field in 50th place, while Jacobson was 73rd