While two men with their heads stuck up their arses who have lost all touch with the real world fight it out in a farce in Las Vegas, 28 pairs of players battle it out for the World Cup of Golf in Australia this week.
Team golf always produces a fascinating dynamic and that is sure to be the case this week as two golfers from 28 nations combine in fourballs and foursomes to battle it out for a title which should mean quite a bit to those involved.
Recent Winners
2016 – Denmark
2013 – Australia
2011 – USA
2009 – Italy
2008 – Sweden
2007 – Scotland
2006 – Germany
2005 – Wales
2004 – England
2003 – South Africa
The Format
The tournament is four rounds of stroke-play. The first and third rounds of the tournament are played in the fourballs format which means both players play their own ball. The second round and the final round is played in foursomes which means the pairs combine to play the one ball for those 18 holes.
The Course
We are back in Melbourne this week but the course being used is the Metropolitan Golf Club. The course is a par 72 which measures 7,308 yards but it could play a bit longer than that with a fair amount of rain due to fall on the opening two days of the tournament.
Bunkers are heavily in play on the course which makes the fairways and greens much narrower so accuracy is going to be a big thing this week. The wind is set to gust quite regularly so as with most Australian events we are looking for players who are comfortable in windy conditions.
The Field
There are some big players teeing it up this week with major champions and seasoned winners in the field. Martin Kaymer sets the standards in terms of a major winner but recent tournament winners such as Marc Leishman, Matt Kuchar, Abraham Ancer and Ashun Wu are all here.
There are various Ryder Cup players in the field as well in Thorbjorn Olesen, Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton are here as is former Ryder Cupper Thomas Pieters. Kyle Stanley, Cameron Smith, Adrian Otaegui and Joost Luiten are all among the class acts who will tee it up this week.
Market Leaders
The Australia pair of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith are the 4/1 favourites to win on home soil. They are worthy favourites with Leishman winning the CIMB Classic recently and Smith winning over this format at the Zurich Classic last year but they are plenty short enough in a competitive field and a quirky format. I’ll let them win if they are good enough.
England are the 7/1 second favourites with Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton teeing it up for them here. Both men are comfortable in the wind which will tick a lot of boxes and both are very good putters but they can be a little wayward in the long game which probably can’t be afforded this week. They look a few points short to me.
USA go into the tournament as 8/1 third favourites. Matt Kuchar won the OHL Classic in Mexico recently on an exposed windy track and that is excellent form. Kyle Stanley is a tee to green monster but he can struggle on the greens which might catch out the American pair in the fourballs rounds. At 8/1 they can win without my money too if they are good enough.
Belgium go into the event as 11/1 shots to progress with the title. Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry give it a good crack off the tee and have decent all-round games but you can see this being a pair where both are off at the same time and you can’t have that in this event. Waywardness in foursomes could be costly as well. It is 12/1 bar.
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Betting
If Paul Dunne was even competitive off the tee recently I’d be all over Ireland like a shot but as he isn’t my first bet comes on a France side who tick plenty of boxes to me. Alex Levy can pile in the birdies in bunches which will be advantageous over this week but Mike Lorenzo-Vera will partner him well. ML-V loves it on tough tracks as his two top 10s in Paris highlight. He can do it in the wind as well as back-to-back top 10s in Qatar and a play-off loss in the Rocco Forte Open can testify. There is never a lack of passion in the French players and if Levy can keep the ball in play this pair should go very close.
I always like to support a dark horse in this field and this year that is Italy. Andrea Pavan and Renato Paratore represent them and I quite like that pairing. Paratore can be wayward off the tee but the rough is being kept down this week due to the forecast. He makes plenty of birdies and he should be supported well by the Czech Masters champion Pavan who is an absolute monster from tee to green. It has been an outstanding year for Italian golf and these two might just crown it in some style. We saw when Paratore won the Nordea Masters that he can handle the wind. Pavan is good enough too. These two should go very close.
Tips
Back France to win World Cup of Golf (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-5)
Back them here:
Back Italy to win World Cup of Golf (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 46.00 with Unibet (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
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