FINAL RESULT: 0-3; -4.50pts

Westwood mc
Gronberg mc
Johnson mc

Doesn't get any worse than all the selections missing the cut. Did consider taking a break a week ago and should have done so ... it would have saved the 20pts lost across all Tours this week. Will now take two weeks away from this sport to analyse what has been going wrong. A year ago, I was in profit by over 108pts at stage of the year; now I'm down almost 10pts. It can't continue.

Outright plays (total stake per play: 1.5pts)

Lee Westwood to finish in the top-five 13/1 @ Expekt
All three selections have won on Tour, but none in the last couple of years and after the last six weeks of frustration on this Tour, place-only betting would seem prudent at the moment. Westwood's last victory was in September 2003 (Dunhill Links Championship) when he won twice in four weeks, but even though he has managed several runners-up finishes since then, it has been his form in the last couple of months that is noteworthy. He has two top-5 finishes in his last five PGA Tour starts and was in a position for another one at the Honda Classic at the cut. And given that he is a former winner on this course (1998), there should be some value in these odds.

Mathias Gronberg to finish in the top-ten 7/1 @ SkyBet
Gronberg had been a multiple winner on the European Tour before his last victory which came at the 2003 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, but it has only been in the last month that he has shown any real form on this Tour. He held the 1st round lead in the Honda Classic last month (the first time on this Tour) before fading in the final round to 16th; he followed that with 15th in his next event the BellSouth Classic earlier this month; was in the top-10 early in the Verizon Heritage; and was much more consistent last week when in the top-5 throughout the week, he looked like the only possible challenger to Stuart Appleby in the final round before late bogeys dropped him down to 4th. So there has finally been some consistency in his form and with a 25th place finish on this course the last time that it was used (2004), he could certainly maintain the momentum this week.

Richard S. Johnson to finish in the top-ten 8/1 @ SkyBet
Johnson's last victory came in the 2002 ANZ Championship, though he did lead the 2003 St. Jude Classic for three rounds before finishing 3rd even though he shot 69 in the final round. But like the other selections, it is his form in the last month or so that raises the possibility of a high finish this week. He may miss a lot of cuts, but he has finishes of 7th (BellSouth Classic) and 6th (Houston Open) in his last three starts. And while he has never been playing well when previously competing on this course (missed cuts both times), he is playing at a completely different level now. It may also help that he finished 5th in the Louisiana Open on the Nationwide Tour last year and 9th in this event on a different course last year as well.