MasterCard Championship

Outright plays (2 units):

Tom Watson to win 15/2 @ SkyBet
Finishes of 8th, 12th and 4th in this limited field event may not suggest that Watson is good to win this event, but in what must amount to one of his best seasons for many years, he did win two of his last four seniors events in 2003. He can play in wind and I would put him at a better than a 12% chance of winning most weeks on this Tour.

Bruce Lietzke to win 25/1 e.w. @ SkyBet, Paddy Power and BetDirect
The wheels rather fell off Lietzke's game after winning the U.S. Senior Open Championship last year. From winning twice in five starts, he recorded just one top-10 in his remaining nine events of the year. Hopefully, a season has brought new confidence/enthusiasm and if so, these will look extremely long odds for a player who has been multiple-winner every year on the Champions Tour.

Tom Jenkins to finish in the top-four 10/1 @ Centrebet ** UPDATE - only three places, so 50/1 at Stan James is a much better option **
Stan James quote Jenkins at 50/1, but will opt for the place-only play despite the fact that he did win an event last year. He finished 4th in three of his last events of 2003 and that is more typical of his steady, but typically winless, play. He has played in this event in each of the last four years and improved his finishing position each time. Last year, he was only two shots out of a place finish, so he doesn't need to improve much to earn a reward on this play.

Final update: 0-3; -6.00 units

Watson 33rd
Lietzke 38th
Jenkins 16th

Jenkins was on the fringes of a place finish through the event, but unexpectedly poor performances from the other two selections. Watson needed a final round 66 to lift him as high as 33rd (of 39), while Lietzke had the ignominy of only beating Arnold Palmer in this event.