March 31st 21.58 Just a quick post with a small bet for this weeks Champions tour event the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. Jim Gallagher makes his senior debut and he is lucky to be playing just down the road from where he lives and says he loves the course and probably has a greater knowledge than most. He may be a bit rusty and it's been sixteen years since he won on the main tour but stranger things have happened - managed to get £10 win 200/1 and £20 top 5 40/1 with Extrabet but 150/1 e/w is fine. March 30th 21.44 Just working on next weeks Masters and couldn't help but notice a past winner I tipped for an event a few weeks ago and is now finding some form - Trevor Immelman is still 125/1 at one book - Sportingbet.com.au had £25 e/w March 30th 14.09 The Hassan Trophy looks like a nightmare - a limited weak field pro-am played on two more or less new courses to most players - sounds pretty much impossible. I have gone for four American invaders - I expect one to go well but couldn't decide which one - hence going for all four! All of them play on the Egolf tour in the States which has been developing ties with golf in Morocco over the last couple of years - the tour is about the equivalent of the Euro Challenge tour with the win purses around the $40k mark. Phillip Mollica won the El Jadida Open earlier this month. Chris McCartin won the Samanah Classic the week before. Chris Baker played on the Egolf tour and qualified to play in last years Moroccan Classic on the European Challenge Tour and won it. Drew Weaver won the British Amateur back in 2007 and over the last six months has started to play better since his mother has recovered from cancer March 30th 10.52 The first Major of the year comes in the shape of the Kraft Nabisco from Mission Hills on the LPGA tour and there is absolutely loads of course form to go on. There are several reasons for liking Catriona Matthew - firstly her course form - in twelve attempts she can boast a 2nd, a couple of 5ths and a 7th and states that the course is a great fit for her game. She is in solid form this year finishing 8/8/29 and she is a proven Major winner having won the British Open in 2009. I have a feeling she will be inspired by the Scottish double win last week so at 100/1 or even 80/1 is a great bet. Karen Stupples was a big bet for me last year in the round one market and with a late tee time she did well to finish tied 3rd The reason for the bet last year was her first round course form and the case remains the same - even before last years placed effort she had been 6/11/1/5/1 and if you follow her on Twitter you will know she absolutely raves about Mission Hills. Last year she was devastated by her final round collapse when leading (so was I!!) so I have only gone for a small e/w bet on the outright. Back in a bit with full Hassan Trophy thoughts and then its a quick look at the Champions tour followed by full preparation for the US Masters. March 29th 20.35 Having worked for 28 of the last 48 hours i need a break and hear the pub calling so I will just put up my bets for "Europe" and the LPGA - reasons tomorrow Kraft Nabisco Cat Matthew - £20 ew 100/1 + £25 ew 80/1 Karen Stupples - rd 1 leader £20 ew 125/1 + £8 win 200/1 & £15 top 5 40/1 Hassan Trophy - the Americans are coming! Drew Weaver - £10 ew 300/1 Phillip Mollica - £10 win 570 + £8 top 5 65 Chris Ryan Baker - £8 win 485 + £10 top 5 60 Chris McCartin - £6 win 900 + £7 top 5 90 March 29th 10.20 Might as well get all the bets out of the way for the Houston Open as they are now placed. When looking at this event I concentrated on the last four years since it has occupied its position the week before the US Masters - it is also worth noting it has only been played on this course for the last five years.When looking at the ages of the winners the young pretenders have the upper hand - Kim 25, Casey 32, Wagner 28 and Scott 27. With the exception of Casey all winners have pretty good links with Texas - Kim lives there, Wagner was born there and Scott has a great record in the State. Jason Day is number one pick for me - a young Aussie like Scott who has also won the Byron Nelson. He has also been 4th at the Crowne Plaza and on his debut here in 2008 he was 8th improving with every round. I have a feeling he is going to have a good week and was quite happy to snap up the 66/1 £50 e/w Jhonattan Vegas - I had this event earmarked for the affable young Venezualan the moment he secured his tour card - sadly he beat me to it! His story is quite an amazing one and it was Texas where he first came to study and improve his game and it is here I believe he will feel most at home. In 2003 he made his first PGA tour start in this event playing on a sponsors invite aged just nineteen - expect to see a different player than the one we have seen the last few weeks in Florida. I can't say I like the bookie prices on him but have backed him on Betfair - £65 at 110 average. DJ Trahan - doesn't quite fit the mould of young with Texan connections but he had his best finish of the year last week when 12th at Bay Hill and has some great course form - 8th in 2007 and last year was 11th despite opening with a 78!! Again I don't like the book price but have invested £30 at 110 average. Last up is a player who owes me a favour after falling foul of the weather in Australia - Bobby Gates. He is the right age at 25 and went to University in Texas and lives in Houston, and reading his Tweets he seems to be incredibly excited about playing here. He struggled a bit on the two tough courses in Florida he has just played but interspersed those results with a 6th in Puerto Rico and 5th at Mayakoba so is clearly in good nick. I have invested £50 win 460 average, £20 top 5 65 average and £25 top 10 22/1. March 28th 21.01 The Hassan Trophy looks a nightmare tbh but I do have a small plan as to who to follow but will wait til tomorrow. In the Shell Houston Open I am looking towards young players with strong connections in one way or another to Texas and have so far plumped for Jason Day who has a fine record in the state - £50 ew 66/1 - back tomorrow. March 28th 12.47 Long time no post! - been away for a long weekend celebrating my wifes' 40th birthday - if you ever get the chance to go to Burgh Island - do - a wonderful place! Anyway - back to business - last week was poor all round sadly - back later today with thoughts on Houston Open, Hassan Trophy and the first Major of the year - LPGA Nabisco Championship. March 23rd 20.37 Time to tie up a few loose ends - first of all someone was asking for an update on how much profit I had made this year as I hadn't updated for a few weeks - at the moment it stands at +£4516 - this is just a rough guide as to what you might achieve following the bets as I do trade some of them on Betfair. Back to the Louisiana Open - Bateman would only be a small bet at the price being the local guy who has some good course form and it wasn't that long ago he won on the main tour. The main picks are - firstly Kyle Thompson - this is his level of golf on a tour where he won twice in 2007 which got him his 2008 main card, in that year he played Le Triomphe as he was struggling on the main tour and finished 2nd. He played well at the equally tough Panama event this year when finishing 10th and I think he will be up there this week. Fellow Gamecock Mark Anderson is my other pick - who I think made a very sensible decision at the end of last year - by finishing 60th on the Nationwide money list he got into the 2nd stage of Q school but decided that the best way he could get on the main tour was via this tour. He was 8th here last year having already been 4th at Panama and kicked off this year with a 13th in Panama. Now he has experience of the courses used I think he will kick on and at 100/1 he is well worth following. March 23rd 10.57 The one horse that stands out to me at the prices still for the Grand National is Tidal Bay. He is a quirky character to say the least but has class having won an Arkle and has also won twice at the Aintree Festival. He has to be kidded round but maybe the National fences will bring something out in him and he does give the impression he always holds something in reserve by the way he finishes his races - again a maybe but the distance might bring out the best in him. Anyway at 50/1 I am quite happy to take a punt - £40 e/w with 5 places for me. March 23rd 09.31 It looks like Haastrup has withdrawn from Andalucia as his wrist has flared up again - rather that than try and play injured! I have had a couple of bets for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open which are below - will explain later the reasons but want to have a look at Grand National now the latest declaration stage has gone Mark Anderson - £30 e/w 100/1 Kyle Thompson - £30 e/w 80/1 Brian Bateman - allowed £2 e/w 400/1 and 0p e/w at 300/1 ho hum!!! March 22nd 21.32 I must admit I have struggled a bit this week and had no great preconceived ideas who I wanted to back in either event - sometimes that isn't a bad thing. I really don't get the price of Zach this week compared to other players around the same price - he is a multiple tour winner who plays certain courses well and he has great course form. His play this year isn't that bad - his putter is behaving and he said on Twitter his game is coming together. Chad Campbell is a past winner here and has never missed a cut at Bay Hill - considering he always turns it on here he has to be worth a bet at three figures. Verplank has been really struggling with a wrist injury but with the price I got on someone who has a great recent history in the event I will take the risk but it's more of a back to lay bet as he so rarely wins these days. I probably don't need to tell you who Sam Saunders is and his connections to the event - probably a throw away bet but you never know considering he was top 15 at Pebble Beach. Over in Spain I had to have a crack at Kjeldsen considering his form in Spain - it really is exceptional but to be honest I didn't want to take less than 50/1 as he isn't in tip top form. Peter Whiteford just seems a very big price to me - when you consider he was 2nd here last year and was 5th last week in Sicily. That finish last year secured his card for 2010 and I think he will improve now that the tour has hit the European mainland. Haastrup is a bit like Verplank in that he is recovering from a wrist injury but he has proved several times that he improves when playing a course for the second time and he was a solid 29th here last year. Gonnet is purely a bet at the price on Betfair for a man in form this season who was also top ten here last year though the bookmaker prices don't tempt me. March 22nd 19.03 Final list of bets for Bay Hill listed below - back later with full thoughts Zach Johnson - £50 ew 50/1 + £75 win 70 Chad Campbell - £25 ew 110/1 + £20 win 200 Scott Verplank - £35 win 350 average + £15 top 5 33/1 Sam Saunders - £15 win 1000 + £10 top 10 48 + £5 top 5 100 March 22nd 12.27 Still busy working on bets - I did add to my Zach bet with £50 ew at 50/1 when Coral went that price. I have listed below my Andalucian bets - back later with full thoughts Soren Kjeldsen - allowed £15 ew 50/1 and got £35 50 Peter Whiteford - £35 ew 105 average + £10 win 125/1 Mark Haastrup - £20 ew 150/1, £30 top 10 15/1 + £15 win 190 Jean Gonnet - £20 win 135 average March 21st 16.19 I have been a bit quiet on the betting fron the last few days - I got lucky by backing Gaunt and Sjoholm at 1000 and laying off at 34 and yy returns from Cheltenham were pretty good so I saw no point in pushing my luck. Today I have also spent most of my time snaffling bits of early value on the exchanges - the main one being Zach Johnson at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational - £75 at 70 will do nicely! - back tomorrow. March 19th 10.55 A very quick post - busy day at home - have looked at Transitions at the cut and one stands out like a sore thumb - how on earth can two time winner this season Mark Wilson be 45/1 on Betfair when bang in contention - £100 win! March 18th 20.33 A quick update on the week so far - it's been a funny kinda week - I have been having a crack at Cheltenham with a few e/w accumulators thanks to some tips from friends and if Tanks for That had won the last I would have been £4000 the richer - sadly it wasn't to be but £750 up is not to be sneezed at! In the golf two of my 1000 picks got up there at one time or another - I laid Gaunt at 33/1 and Sjoholm at the same price (fortunately!) and I have a guaranteed profit of £200 on the event with some big wins still maintained. In Florida it looks like Pettersson is my only hope but he is right up there and is still overpriced atm - been topping up a bit at three figures since he finished his round. March 16th 20.28 The LPGA Founders Cup is a bit of an odd event with no prize money but money is donated to the winners charity of their chosing. I have a feeling LPGA rookie of the year Azahara Munoz is going to have a big year and playing in Phoenix where she went to college could be to her advantage - a small bet of £20 e/w might reward at 100/1. March 15th 19.46 My final bet for the Transitions is outsider Matt Bettencourt. He already has a 5th at the Sony and a 6th at the Honda Classic to his name this year and has really kicked on since winning his first PGA tour event last year. When you consider his form at the Sony was 59/mc and at the Honda he had missed both his cuts then his course form here of 52/mc shouldn't really put us off. At the end of the 2008 Nationwide season he held his form well over a two month period finishing 5/1/c/18/2/1 so I expect him to maintain his form this week. Have had £30 win 220 average, £20 top 5 34/1 and £40 top 10 14/1. That's it for the main two tours for the week but tomorrow I will look at the LPGA tour which plays on US soil for the first time this year. March 15th 11.39 I might as well conclude my business in Sicily early as I haven't really added much to the 1000 selections on Sunday night. Personally I think it should be about 25/1 the field with it being fairly weak and the only player that interested me was Havret who I thought should be favourite. As a three time winner on tour and with a 3rd place finish in India on his last appearance he offers much more than most of the field, add in the fact his first European tour win came on at Is Molas on the "nearby" island of Sardinia which boasts a certain resemblance to this weeks course and you can see where I am coming from. I got £50 on Betfair at 35 average but I think I will leave it at that and hope to trade some of my biggies in running. I have one more I am considering for the Transitions - will post back later today March 15th 10.55 I had better put up bet number three as the price is crashing although for me this is a back to lay and I got on yesterday. Charles Howell III is not a player I would normally consider as he rarely gets the job done but I got £80 on at 65 with a view to trade.He has been pretty consistent all season and simply let down by his putting but his scrambling figures have been really good and you need to be a good scrambler round the Copperhead course. He has been 2nd and 6th here since the event moved to March and has even putted well so will happy to see him go low at some point to trade for a profit. March 15th 09.38 With prices coming out in a rather staggered fashion I have to follow suit with my bets so time for number two in Florida! Stephen Ames is known as a Florida specialist and accepts that his early season starts are only a warm up and his season starts proper when the tour hits Florida. I think if he had had a better round three in Puerto Rico last week he would be a lot shorter in the market as he would probably have won instead of finishing 3rd. He started with a double bogey on Saturday and struggled to recover but fired a six under on Sunday and his GIR and putting stats were great. He has played here seven times, never missed a cut and was a best of 6th last year. With thee wins already in Florida I can easily see him adding a fourth and at 66/1 has to be a decent bet. I was still awake on Sunday when someone put up £25 at 100/1 so snapped that up and have added £60 ew at 66/1. March 14th 23.01 Books have been very slow to price up this week with a new course being used in Sicily and the Tavistock Cup havin a bearing on prices in the Transitions (not sure how!) it's been a pretty quiet day. I have had one bet in Florida on a price which won't last and won't be beat. Both Goosen and Choi have won this event twice so why can't Carl Pettersson? Not only has he won here but he has been 8th twice as well. He tends to pop up when least expected and has already been 4th at the season opening Champions event. I was surprised to see 110/1 and had £25 e/w. March 13th 23.01 A completely blank week in the end and looking at next week things could be pretty quiet but did have to nick a few prices for Sicily on Betfair - not sure what the layer was thinking of to be honest. Oh and good luck to the guy trying to lay Lundberg for a million pounds at 1.01! Thorbjorn Olesen 1000 £11.00 £10,989.00 Daniel Gaunt 1000 £11.00 £10,989.00 Mark Tullo 1000 £11.00 £10,989.00 Joel Sjoholm 1000 £11.00 £10,989.00 Andreas Harto 1000 £11.00 £10,989.00 Romain Wattel 1000 £11.00 £10,989.00 March 13th 09.56 It looks like one of those weeks where I put my hands up and say - I got it tiotally wrong and move on to next weeks events. Everytime Schulz made a move he made back to back bogeys, Arizabaleta got to within two of the lead and imploded and is now twelve back! In Puerto Rico Every is the best placed but will be extremely fortunate to scrape a place and at Doral Furyk has made his pre event price look positively miserly! The only bet I have had since Friday was on Adam Scott who I felt was overpriced at 70 on Friday night and had £40 on - tbh I still think he is overpriced at 25 but it is a tight leaderboard full of trophy dodgers if you get my drift!! Time to finish off the research on the Sicily Open and Transitions Championship. March 11th 09.52 Not a good day at the office yesterday with the exception of Arizabaleta in Columbia but there is a long way to go. I have added a player who I considered before the start for Puerto Rico - Alexandre Rocha - had £20 win 185 and £25 top 5 25/1 on Betfair - out early today so you don't have much time to get on. March 10th 19.46 Whilst waititng for play to get restarted at Doral I have gone through the Masters again and decided to have another antepost bet on a player whose odds will continue to fall with another good week. My favourite player of all time (from a betting perspective) is YE Yang and he is in great form and has a solid Masters record. With a Major under his belt already I started trying to back him a few weeks ago and I got £25 matched at 175 average - that has all dried up and today had to bite the bullet and take £50ew at 100/1. March 9th 22.08 Given up waiting for other prices so very limited as to what I can get on in the Euro Challenge tour Columbian event so have just had some small bets on Alvaro Arizabaleta £6 ew 125/1, £7.50 ew 100/1 and £2.50 ew 80/1. He is a talented young player who won US college events and was 2nd twice on the TLA last year in Columbia including on this course.  One other quick point - if you want to know when updates are posted I notify them on Twitter at SBIdotcom March 9th 14.20 Onto this weeks smaller tours - still waiting for more prices on the European Challenge Tour event from Columbia so I have gone through the Champions Tour Toshiba Classic and one player at a big price really grabs my attention. Ted Schulz made his Champions tour debut here at Newport Beach last year finishing 33rd. In the Summer he got better as his confidence and performances improved and he won in California at Pebble Beach - this is his first return back to California where he also won the second of his PGA tour wins. He has improved on each start this season and I really don't see why he is 150/1 - managed to get £30 ew on. March 9th 11.13 When looking at the Puerto Rico Open this week I looked for a link between the first three winners and whilst on the face of it there doesn't seem to be one it is rather obvious when you read interviews with the players after they won - quite simply it's Florida - all players said it reminded them of playing there. Greg Kraft - lives and studied there best other PGA finish 2nd Doral Open Michael Bradley - born and lives there won Doral Open Derek Lamely - born and studied there This does give us rather a long longlist but I narrowed it down by looking for players who had at least two of the born/studied/lived there categories or a good finish at Doral with one of these factors. I mused on the Doral factor last year - the fact it is played the same week as the big event in Florida could be an inspiration - last year Elkington fell into that category and finished 7th. Brett Wetterich - Florida resident who has a 2nd place finish at Doral along with numerous other top 10 finishes in that state. After returning from long term injury last year he has played pretty well and if he takes to the course as I think he will at least we know he has the ability to close the deal having won the Byron Nelson before. Matt Every - has never left his home state of Florida. He was a pick last week on the Nationwide Tour for me where he finished 2nd in the rain shortened Columbia event. He reminds me quite a bit of last years winner Derek Lamely and has stated he is playing some of the best golf of his life at the moment. Lee Janzen - resides and went to college in Florida and fits rather more into the gnarled veteran category like Kraft and Bradley. He has popped up three times in the top five in the last two years and improved in his two starts here 28th/13th. Billy Horschel - like Every he hasn't left his home state. A top college player - he suffered a serious wrist injury after getting his card at Q school in Florida for 2010 and got it back at Q school at the end of last year. His results aren't great but he was 13th at Mayakoba a couple of weeks ago - just have a hunch he will go well this week. Looking at the Challenge Tour event in Columbia - got the winner last year - Vanegas at 200/1 - this year he is 14/1 favourite!! March 8th 19.35 Time has rather got the better of me today so I will quickly outline my two from leftfield for Puerto Rico and be back tomorrow with full preview Lee Janzen - £25 ew 125/1 + £35 top 10 29/2 Billy Horschel - £20 ew 200/1 + £5 400/1, £35 top 10 22/1 average, £6 top 5 70/1 March 8th 12.58 Prices have been slowly appearing for the Puerto Rico Opne and I have bet my two at the "head" of the market - which is good as I have to go out for a couple hours! Matt Every - £60 e/w at 66/1 Brett Wetterich - £30 ew 80/1 £20 ew 70/1 March 7th 15.04 I might as well put up the golfer I have already backed for the WGC Cadillac Championship as I know the books won't get anywhere near the price I got on Betfair. I just couldn't see why Jim Furyk was 70 this morning. I am taking a risk that his poor West Coast form is a blip but he hasn't been playing well on that side of the States for a while now whereas on the East Coast he is "different gravy". When this was a standard PGA event at Doral Jim Won and was 2nd and in its current format he has been 2nd and 3rd. Last year he won three times and won the Fedex Championship - anyone looking at his price would be forgiven for thinking he may have lost one of his "eight arms". I took £100 at 70 - not so worried about the place as he is the sort of player that shortens when in contention giving me the chance to cash in whatever the final result. All the best prices here March 7th 10.58 Just a quick update - I will probably only be having one bet on the WGC Cadillac and concentrating on the Puerto Rico event and the smaller tours this week. After last weeks better week profit for the year now stands at +£5160 so nicely sitting at the £500 a week mark. March 6th 20.18 In Bogota they got 36 holes in but a new thunderstorm rolled in and whilst they started the third round they rolled back to the 36 hole score to declare the winner with my picks Every finishing 2nd and Etulain t3rd. In the end it's been a good week but you do kind of wonder what might have been - back tomorrow with WGC Cadillac Championship and Puerto Rican Open. March 6th 11.11 Sadly Chitprasong had a poor final round - no great surprise but he finished 4th so not bad for a 150/1 shot! The situation in Columbia is very interesting - luckily the rain stayed away yesterday and Every moved up to 2nd and Etulain t3rd. The end result all depends on the weather - there are lots of players still to complete 36 holes - they probably need about four hours play to do that and then that would be an official result. I guess its Catch22 for me - if both players are still placed after 36 holes I guess the payout would be quite nice. They would need a further six hours play to get to 54 holes - both mine could fall out the places - quite a dilemna! - only time will tell. March 5th 11.03 A quick Saturday morning update on how we stand - the best news comes from far flung Brunei where 150/1 late pick Chitprasong leads by three with a round to go. In Panama things look poor weatherwise and I can see them being lucky to complete 36 holes as the course is waterlooged and more rain is forecast. At Palm Beach Gardens the course has been winning and the best placed of my original picks is Jimmy Walker who fired a great 67 yesterday - the event is still very much wide open. March 3rd 22.14 If you can bet with Skybet have a few quid e/w on the Brunei Senior Masters on Jamnian Chitprasong at 150/1 - probably find max bet is £5 ew and sadly they are the only book up! March 3rd 14.44 Following the Honda Classic and boy is it playing tough!! Typically last weeks big bet JJ Henry is ticking along quite nicely so have added him to this weeks portfolio with £25 at 135 average March 2nd 21.03 First of all this evening a quick extra bet for the Honda Classic in the first round leader market - Michael Connell was joint leader here twelve months ago and was second after round one of the Sony Open this year - with an early tee time I will risk a cheeky £10 ew at 125/1. Back to the Bogota Open - the key will be hitting the small greens protected by deep bunkers on the short course which sits at over 8,000 feet so the ability to play at altitude will also be important. Matt Every has made his last six cuts on the PGA tour and dropping down to the lower tour was 18th last week in Panama. Whilst he didn't play here last season two of his best performances have been in Mexico at altitude and the winner of the 2009 Tour Championship should feel at home in Bogota. Scott Dunlap has plenty of success playing high up - he has won the Peru Open no less than three times. He was a solid 20th last season and is the same age as last years winner Steve Pate and as he always sits atop the Nationwide GIR stats don't be surprised to see him up there. Julian Etulain is a promising 21 year old Argentinian who won twice in Bogota last year - one a local event and then the following week the Columbian Open. Later in the year he won again in Chile and secured the Tour de Las Americas money list. He was tied with Dunlap at 20th last season and is a far better and more confident player now so think he is overpriced this week. March 2nd 11.26 I have just finished putting my bets on for the Nationwide Bogota event - will just list them for now and explain why later Matt Every - £50 ew 40/1 Scott Dunlap - £5 ew 100/1 + £15 ew 90/1 Julian Etulain - £5 ew 200/1 + £20 ew 150/1 March 1st 16.20 Just a quick post - Ben Crane has surprisingly withdrawn from the Honda Classic - currently working on Bogota Open and even the European Seniors event! March 1st 12.50 My bets for my last two picks are now in place so here we go - one is an informed hunch and the other is way from leftfield. Trevor Immelman - according to David Leadbetter he is swinging the club as well as he ever has and has improved on each start this season. The last three winners have all been non Americans and two have those have been Florida based so he fits the bill there and I just get the feeling he is very bullish ahead of the 2011 season - £20 ew at 150/1 and £20 win 195 average. Whilst looking for past similarities between the four winners I did find one link between Yang and Villegas - they had both won the Tokai Classic in Japan. Interestingly there is one other player in the field who has won that - not one of the Japanese but Brandt Jobe albeit back in 1997! He has made four of five cuts this season and seems to be at his best on tough courses these days and in 2009 was 22nd here with all four rounds at par or better. I took the 1000 on Betfair for £60 with a view to trade + top 10 £15 45/1 and £15 30/1.