Volvo Masters Betting Preview

The Volvo Masters takes place this week, and acts as the final event at the end of another absorbing and all too swift European golf season. Valderrama, as ever, is the venue, and 55 of the top 60 players on the Money List will be competing for on e of the most prestigious events of the entire campaign, and to make the ensuing winter all the more palatable. For the past few weeks players have been fighting with all their might to retain their Tour Cards, and even to qualify for this tournament. Whilst the draw is now set and those outside of the top 116 will have to re qualify for their cards, there is still the knowledge that a top 20 Money List position earns automatic entry to The Open Championship, and a top 15 gets a player into the US Open. With a first prize cheque of 666,666 Euros, these positions are just about within reach of all the players in the field. In addition, there is still serious business to be done at the top of the table, and either Colin Montgomerie or Michael Campbell will be fighting it out to win the Order of Merit. A win for either would be good enough although Monty holds the edge, to the tune of 153,486 Euros. We decided it was worth looking at how Montgomerie has done at this event, in similar circumstances in the past. Considering he has won the Order of Merit on seven occasions, we suspected his record was to be impressive and have not been proved wrong. The Scot has been an ever present since 1988, and along with Bernhard Langer is the only man to have taken the title twice. The first year that he won the Order of Merit, in 1993 he took the trophy and has also performed well under pressure on other occasions. In 1995 for example he was runner up and this kept him ahead of Sam Torrance for another Merit victory. Astonishingly, in his last fifteen visits to the Volvo Masters, he has registered eleven top tens, and he has 12 top tens in the current campaign. We consider it quite likely that this could become Monty's 38th European title this week, and see 16/1 as an attractive price. His last three events have seen him win the Dunhill Links Championship, come 3rd at the WGC-Amex in USA, and then 8th at the Open de Madrid with his final three rounds being of 66, 65, and 66. Valderrama is a venue he enjoys visiting, and back in his natural habitat of the European Tour, there is nothing the 42-year-old relishes more that showing the young guns how it should be done. The Ryder Cup legend also loves the head to head battle, and the situation with Campbell should bring out the best in him. The line-up for the tournament is superb as always, and the absence of the injured South African stars Retief Goosen and Ernie Els from the entry, only serves to make this feel more like a strictly European affair. Only two of the top fifteen on the betting list do not come from the continent, and one of these is Campbell. A victory for the New Zealander would ensure that "an outsider" won the Order of Merit for the fifth successive year. Due to the high quality of the field, the odds table has rather a compressed look to it, with around 18 players priced at 40/1 or shorter. Ian Poulter won last year, his biggest title to date, and is priced at 40/1. However, his form has been poor, with no finish better that 18th in his last seven outings. Other former champions taking part include Padraig Harrington (28/1) but personal reasons have meant that 2005 has been a season to forget and the Irishman has been uncharacteristically inconsistent. At 16th on the Money List, Bradley Dredge is in line for the best finish of his career (he was 18th in 2002), and his sights will be firmly set on securing places in the two Majors mentioned above. The Welshman has been playing well for some time, and not missed a cut since the Scottish Open back in July. Only one title has even been won by the 32 year old, the modest Madeira Open in 2003, but has several runners up cheques to his name, including two this term at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, and the Telecom Italia Open. In his last nine starts there are also three further top five's in his results column. In addition to this excellent form, his record at Valderrama is pretty good, with 34th last year the worst effort, but 13th in 2003, and 3rd in 2002. 40/1 is a good price and very much an each way selection. Several players have had poor seasons, and one of the worst considering his high standards, has been Paul Casey. A win at the TCL Classic back in March suggested that it may be a fruitful year for the English Ryder Cup player, but he endured real problems with his game following this. The summer saw the low point, with the cut missed at six successive European events, form that was as shocking to him as it was to his followers. There is much speculation that his drop in form came after meeting the American galleries last spring for the first time since some ill advised comments apparently made to the press, relating to his apparent hatred of the nation. Considering his superb record when on the student circuit in the states, and the fact that his girlfriend is American these reports always seemed unlikely, but the public latched onto them none the less. Anyhow, his game was in a mess, but we have seen plenty in the past month or so to suggest that these struggles are behind him, for the time being at least as he is not likely to tee up a ball in USA until March. The Omega European Masters was the turning point where 3rd place was claimed and this has been succeeded by results of 7th at the Linde German Masters and 23rd at the Dunhill Links. This little surge in form ensured qualification for the Volvo Masters in 41st place on the Money List, but a good week would see him jump up further. He was not entirely comfortable on his first two trips to Valderrama, but successive results of 13th and 9th in the last two years show that this is no longer the case. 33/1 can be found, and if his game is back to near its best as we suspect, this price must be taken. Betting Verdict 2 pts Colin Montgomerie to win at 16/11 pt Paul Casey each way at 33/11 pt Bradley Dredge each way at 40/1he Volvo Masters takes place this week, and acts as the final event at the end of another absorbing and all too swift European golf season. Valderrama, as ever, is the venue, and 55 of the top 60 players on the Money List will be competing for on e of the most prestigious events of the entire campaign, and to make the ensuing winter all the more palatable. For the past few weeks players have been fighting with all their might to retain their Tour Cards, and even to qualify for this tournament. Whilst the draw is now set and those outside of the top 116 will have to re qualify for their cards, there is still the knowledge that a top 20 Money List position earns automatic entry to The Open Championship, and a top 15 gets a player into the US Open. With a first prize cheque of 666,666 Euros, these positions are just about within reach of all the players in the field. In addition, there is still serious business to be done at the top of the table, and either Colin Montgomerie or Michael Campbell will be fighting it out to win the Order of Merit. A win for either would be good enough although Monty holds the edge, to the tune of 153,486 Euros. We decided it was worth looking at how Montgomerie has done at this event, in similar circumstances in the past. Considering he has won the Order of Merit on seven occasions, we suspected his record was to be impressive and have not been proved wrong. The Scot has been an ever present since 1988, and along with Bernhard Langer is the only man to have taken the title twice. The first year that he won the Order of Merit, in 1993 he took the trophy and has also performed well under pressure on other occasions. In 1995 for example he was runner up and this kept him ahead of Sam Torrance for another Merit victory. Astonishingly, in his last fifteen visits to the Volvo Masters, he has registered eleven top tens, and he has 12 top tens in the current campaign. We consider it quite likely that this could become Monty's 38th European title this week, and see 16/1 as an attractive price. His last three events have seen him win the Dunhill Links Championship, come 3rd at the WGC-Amex in USA, and then 8th at the Open de Madrid with his final three rounds being of 66, 65, and 66. Valderrama is a venue he enjoys visiting, and back in his natural habitat of the European Tour, there is nothing the 42-year-old relishes more that showing the young guns how it should be done. The Ryder Cup legend also loves the head to head battle, and the situation with Campbell should bring out the best in him. The line-up for the tournament is superb as always, and the absence of the injured South African stars Retief Goosen and Ernie Els from the entry, only serves to make this feel more like a strictly European affair. Only two of the top fifteen on the betting list do not come from the continent, and one of these is Campbell. A victory for the New Zealander would ensure that "an outsider" won the Order of Merit for the fifth successive year. Due to the high quality of the field, the odds table has rather a compressed look to it, with around 18 players priced at 40/1 or shorter. Ian Poulter won last year, his biggest title to date, and is priced at 40/1. However, his form has been poor, with no finish better that 18th in his last seven outings. Other former champions taking part include Padraig Harrington (28/1) but personal reasons have meant that 2005 has been a season to forget and the Irishman has been uncharacteristically inconsistent. At 16th on the Money List, Bradley Dredge is in line for the best finish of his career (he was 18th in 2002), and his sights will be firmly set on securing places in the two Majors mentioned above. The Welshman has been playing well for some time, and not missed a cut since the Scottish Open back in July. Only one title has even been won by the 32 year old, the modest Madeira Open in 2003, but has several runners up cheques to his name, including two this term at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, and the Telecom Italia Open. In his last nine starts there are also three further top five's in his results column. In addition to this excellent form, his record at Valderrama is pretty good, with 34th last year the worst effort, but 13th in 2003, and 3rd in 2002. 40/1 is a good price and very much an each way selection. Several players have had poor seasons, and one of the worst considering his high standards, has been Paul Casey. A win at the TCL Classic back in March suggested that it may be a fruitful year for the English Ryder Cup player, but he endured real problems with his game following this. The summer saw the low point, with the cut missed at six successive European events, form that was as shocking to him as it was to his followers. There is much speculation that his drop in form came after meeting the American galleries last spring for the first time since some ill advised comments apparently made to the press, relating to his apparent hatred of the nation. Considering his superb record when on the student circuit in the states, and the fact that his girlfriend is American these reports always seemed unlikely, but the public latched onto them none the less. Anyhow, his game was in a mess, but we have seen plenty in the past month or so to suggest that these struggles are behind him, for the time being at least as he is not likely to tee up a ball in USA until March. The Omega European Masters was the turning point where 3rd place was claimed and this has been succeeded by results of 7th at the Linde German Masters and 23rd at the Dunhill Links. This little surge in form ensured qualification for the Volvo Masters in 41st place on the Money List, but a good week would see him jump up further. He was not entirely comfortable on his first two trips to Valderrama, but successive results of 13th and 9th in the last two years show that this is no longer the case. 33/1 can be found, and if his game is back to near its best as we suspect, this price must be taken. Betting Verdict 2 pts Colin Montgomerie to win at 16/11 pt Paul Casey each way at 33/11 pt Bradley Dredge each way at 40/1