EMC World Cup

A new format, but it won't make any difference this week. With many of the world's leading players missing, it is rather a surprise to see Tiger Woods and David Duval team up together. They are ranked #1 and #3 in the world rankings, while the next highest-ranked player is Thomas Bjorn, ranked #19, and the next cumulative ranking after the US team (4) is Spain at 61! Last year Tiger won this event on behalf of the US team despite Mark O'Meara; even Duval on foreign territory will do better.

The course will not present a great challenge this week - it is short at 6,900 yards and has very little rough. The greens are reported to be flat and not particularly hard or fast. This would be a ridiculously low-scoring event! The only defense this course will have will be the wind. When the Argentine Open was played here in 1994 in high winds, Mark O'Meara won the event and still managed to shoot ten-under-par.

The two outright plays are Ireland and Argentina; the odds on the USA are too short to even consider, despite the almost inevitability of their win. Instead Easybets are offering 5/1 for both Ireland and Argentina to be placed in the first-four - out of 24 teams that's a great chance   While the Argentineans have home advantage this week, both teams have players that play particularly well in wind. If it blows, they might even challenge the US team. With the Americans and the Spanish team, they are the only ones to have two strong players together and while McGinley sat out the European Tour trip to Brazil earlier this year, Harrington didn't and finished 2nd and 1st in those two events; both the Argentineans finished in the top-30 in both events.

Outright plays:

Ireland to finish in the first-four 4/1 @ Easybets

Argentina to finish in the first-four 4/1 @ Easybets

Will look at matchups this evening.

72-hole plays:

Argentina to beat Japan -150 @ Sportfanatik [3 units]
Had been -135 earlier today and wish I hadn't waited now! Total mismatch between the hosts and Tanaka/Maruyama; can't believe it sill stay at -150 for much longer either!

Australia to beat Germany -118 @ Easybets
Parsons may be a bit of a liability to the in-form O'Malley, but can't see Cejka and Gogele reversing their recent run of poor form while playing in a foreign continent

Paraguay to beat England -143 @ Easybets [2 units]
Out goes patriotism when there's money involved! Davis & Spence have been little golfed of late and while I know nothing of Esteban Isasi, with Carlos Franco as a partner and on their home continent when so few international tournaments are played there, I think they will finish higher than many people expect

Scotland to beat Wales -111 @ Easybets [3 units]
Can't believe they have Wales as the favorites here. Woosie has not recreated his early season form for quite some time and will let Price down. Lawrie is a seasoned continent-hopper and Orr is just a good all-round player. They should challenge for one of the place spots.

1st round fourball plays:

Australia to beat Canada +130 @ Intertops [3 units]

Sweden to beat England -140 @ Intertops [3 units]

Scotland to beat Zimbabwe -150 @ Intertops

1st round fourball update: 2-1 and +5.40 units

That's half of the ten units in the bag   Won both 3-unit plays as Australia beat Canada by three shots and Sweden beat England by two. Still smarting about losing the Scotland play: they were five ahead after ten holes and then could only secure one birdie and seven pars to close; Zimbabwe closed with eight straight birdies to win by two

All four 72-hole plays are ahead as well: Argentina by three over Japan, Australia by four over Germany, Paraguay by two over England and Scotland by four over Wales. Doesn't get much better than that! Outright plays look good also: Argentina lead the event with New Zealand and are three shots ahead of 5th place (play loses), while Ireland got off to a very slow start, but still managed a mid-table place and just four shots behind 4th place (play wins). With the greatest leaderboard movement due to take place on foursomes days, the experience of playing together many times will be important for Ireland tomorrow and I'm still very confident with that play as well.

Back with 2nd round foursomes plays in the morning.

2nd round foursomes plays:

Australia to beat Japan +105 @ Intertops [3 units]

South Africa to beat Colombia -163 @ Simon Bold [2 units]

Trinidad & Tobago to beat Finland +100 @ Simon Bold [2 units]  [available generally]

Ireland to beat Paraguay -163 @ Simon Bold [2 units]

2nd round foursomes update: 2-2 and -1.37 units

Mixed day as the foursomes plays are split, the lead is lost in one of the 72-hole plays, but now both outright plays look very promising. Australia survived a double-bogey on the last hole to beat Japan by one, while the Ames brothers secured a three shot victory for Trinidad & Tobago. Rather surprising that the heavy favorites South Africa lost, the margin five shots to Colombia, but the hardest loss was with Ireland who shot one of the lowest rounds of the day and only tied with Paraguay. Enough for a loss at a Euro book

In the 72-hole plays, Argentina now lead Japan by seven, Australia lead Germany by three, Paraguay lead England by five, while Scotland fell one shot behind Wales who shot the lowest round of the day. In the outright plays, Argentina remain joint top with New Zealand and six shots ahead of 5th place, while Ireland jumped eight places to fifth and lie just two shots out of a win for the outright play.

3rd round fourballs:

Argentina to beat New Zealand -130 @ Sportfanatik [2 units]

Scotland to beat Canada +100 @ Sportfanatik [3 units]

Scotland to beat Colombia -188 @ Sportingbet [3 units]

Germany to beat Japan +163 @ Surrey [2 units]

Ireland to beat Paraguay -138 @ Simon Bold [2 units]

Thailand to beat Korea +110 @ Surrey [2 units]

Spain to beat Wales -135 @ Sportfanatik [3 units]

3rd round fourballs update: 3-2-2 and +3.26 units

Three out of seven plays tied, but fortunate in that two of them are not at a Euro book and hit the +163 play   Convincing seven-shot win for Scotland over Colombia, less convincing two-shot win for Ireland over Paraguay and a great one-shot for Germany over Japan. Tie three of the remaining four: Argentina & New Zealand, Spain & Wales for which the result is a push, but a loss for Thailand's tie with Korea. Pity that neither Thai player could even par the last hole   The only 'true' loss was by Scotland to Canada, the margin three shots.

72-hole plays still look good: Argentina lead Japan by nine, Paraguay lead England by six, Scotland lead Wales by one, while Australia and Germany are now tied. Outright plays also looking good: Ireland lie in 5th place and only have to make up one shot to Canada in 4th, while Argentina would have to drop eight shots to Sweden tomorrow to fall out of the top-four. Could be a grand finale to the season

4th round foursomes:

Finland to beat Colombia +138 @ Ladbrokes [2 units]

Scotland to beat Japan -105 @ Sportfanatik

Wales to beat Korea -137 @ Easybets [2 units]

Malaysia to beat Venezuela +125 @ Easybets [2 units]

Thailand to beat Paraguay +163 @ Sportingbet

South Africa to beat Trinidad & Tobago -110 @ Sportingbet

Spain to beat Wales -110 @ Sportfanatik [3 units]

Final update: 5-2-0 and +9.21 units for the day; 15-8-2 and +23.32 units for the week

What a great way to finish off the season   The day's results: Finland/Colombia 6 up; Scotland 2 down; Wales/Korea 5 up; Malaysia/Venezuela 3 up; Thailand/Paraguay 12 down; South Africa/Trinidad & Tobago 8 up; Spain/Wales 3 up. Only losses were single unit plays, so a profitable return. Little frustrating for the Australia/Germany match - Australia leading by one until a triple-bogey on the last turned victory into defeat and spoiled the sweep on the 72-hole plays   In the other three, Argentina beat Japan by nine, Paraguay beat England by nine and Scotland beat Wales by five. Brings the profit's on this season's matchup/props plays on the PGA/WGC Tour to over 100 units

Update on outright plays: 1-1 and +3.00 units

Ireland never threatened a top-4 place, eventually failing badly at the close to drop to 10th. Not so for Argentina who pushed the US team very hard, but a three-shot deficit was too much to make up; they finished 2nd but enough for the place win.

Definitely a great way to finish off the season. Great weeks in Australia and Argentina brings the season's profits on all Tours to +225.3 units   Makes quite a target for next season!