Australian Open Championship Golf Betting Preview

AUSTRALIAN OPENWith the PGA season now over, the winter tours kick into gear, and many of the leading players travel to Moonah Links in Victoria, Australia, for the 90th renewal of the Australian Open Championship.A host of the worlds top 100 players are competing this week to try and capture the title off Peter Lonard, and the likes of Adam Scott, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Nick O?Hern and Mark Hensby will all fancy their chances of winning their National Open title.Lonard comes to the Moonah Links this week looking for a three-peat of the Australian title, after winning at Moonah in 2003 and at The Australian course in 2004. The prestige of winning the Stonehaven Cup is unquestionable, with the victor having his name engraved onto the trophy alongside the likes of Nicklaus, Player, Sarazen, Norman and Tom Watson.With so many of the Australians playing all around the world today we have a number of tours yearly form to go on in order to try and find the winner.The PGA, Nationwide, Japanese, European, Asian and Von Nida tours are all well represented this week, as the Australian tour kicks into gear, coming off the back of the end of their minor tour, sponsored by the great Australian golfer Norman Von Nida, which saw 11 tournaments played through the 2005 calendar, and the order of merit clinched by Adam J Bland.For my first selection this week we look to the highest ranked golfer in the field, the world number 8, Adam Scott has had what he describes himself as a ?poor season?, but this is a statement of where he sees himself in today?s game, as this poor season has resulted in 3 victories, on in the rain-shortened Nissan Open at Riviera in February and the other two on the Asian Circuit, in the Johnnie Walker Classic in April and the Singapore Open in September.Scott has also posted 5 other top tens this year on the PGA Tour and comes into the event of a promising 7th place finish in the Tour Championship, where he infact led the field over the final 54 holes of the tournament, and although wouldn?t have gone close to catching runaway winner Bart Bryant, could well have finished in the top 3 if it weren?t for his opening round 73 at the East Lake club in Georgia. Scott has a reasonable record in the Australian Open and will be looking to better the 9th, 12th and 13th place finishes he has recorded in the event since 2000.At the 9/1 available, this price must be taken, for Scott to land his 4th, and most important title of the year. For my second selection of the event I will look to Nick O?Hern to reward each way stakes. OHern in many peoples eyes is one of the most talented players never to have won outside his home country, and definitely the best player not to have won on the European tour to date. His best golf in usually reserved for his home country and he has posted 5 top ten?s in his last 6 starts when visiting his homeland.O?Hern without a victory since the 1999 Coolum Classic comes into the event in hot form, when on his last start in China he finished a respectable 3rd behind the much improved David Howell and the world number one Tiger Woods. I will be looking for him this week to reward what has been years of consistentplay with a famous victory this week and to join fellow ?lefty? GregChalmers on the Honour Roll.For my third and final selection this week, we will opt for and relatively unknown figure to many in the form of Brad McIntosh. The big hitting left hander, resides in Woolongong, and played his Collegiate Golf in the USA in Houston, Texas, and is well on the way to making a name for himself in the paid ranks after turning professional last year.He has just finished second on the Von Nida OOM for 2005, behind Adam Bland, and comes here in fine fettle after finishing 2nd last week in the New South Wales Open behind Michael Wright, and shooting 15 under par in the process. The 23 year old certainly has the game, and it showed when he Won his second Von Nida title, the Queensland Open 2 weeks ago, when beating Peter Senior by 3 stokes at 20 under par, and then the following week shooting an unbelievable 2nd round 59 in the Queensland PGA Championship at the Emerald Lakes GC. Watched by NormanVon Nida himself, McIntosh described it as ?his best ever ball strikinground? and birdied the final hole for the remarkable feat, but was unable to live up to expectations on the final day dropping to 12th place after a 75. At the 150/1 available, I can see the Young Aussie giving us a cracking run for our E/W money.Staking Plan2pts Win Adam Scott 9/11pt e/w Nick O?Hern 16/10.5 Pts e/w Brad McIntosh 150/1