The opening round of the British Masters takes place on Thursday with the 120 man field all teeing it up and getting to grips with the Walton Heath Old Course for the first time in competitive play this week.
There is a decent first prize this week and indeed the entire prize pool can do some damage for those who need the cash to secure tour cards and the like so I’m expecting a competitive round of golf where conditions should make it exciting to watch.
Offer includes selected international friendlies and Nations League matches!
First Round Leader
One of the better markets to look at when we preview the opening round of any tournament is the first round leader market and in this event it is a little easier to bet on because we have an accurate forecast, a condensed field and one which is split into morning and afternoon waves for us to try to whittle the field down a little.
The wind is actually going to be a constant throughout the day but there could be some overnight rain so the course might slow up a touch until the wind dries it out so I’m leaning towards the afternoon starters, many of whom will watch the coverage and gauge conditions. One man stands out.
Haotong Li posted on twitter a couple of weeks ago that he went and recce’d the course and we might well see the fruits of his labour in the opening round here. A number of players will be seeing this course for the first time given that it is more than 20 years since the last European Tour event was here. Li is out just after 1pm and we know he can handle the wind after his high finish in The Open last year. At 40/1 I think he ticks enough boxes for a bet.
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Thursday 3 Balls
The 120 man field are split up into groups of three for the opening two rounds with a couple of marquee groups out in the morning and the afternoon. The pick of the morning groups sees the tournament host Justin Rose out with two former champions in Matthew Fitzpatrick and Paul Dunne while the Ryder Cup captain and vice-captains Thomas Bjorn, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington will get plenty of coverage too.
In the afternoon it is all about the Ryder Cup trio of Francesco Molinari, Tommy Fleetwood and Thorbjorn Olesen who go off at 12.25. The Andrew Johnston, Danny Willett and Ross Fisher group will carry a large crowd around with them as well. I’ll go with three other groups for bets over the course of the day.
Jaco van Zyl/Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano/Hideto Tanihara
Match tees off at 07.40 BST
The first group out onto the golf course gets my attention from the get go with the South African player Jaco van Zyl out alongside the Spanish star Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Hideto Tanihara of Japan.
I wouldn’t say that this looks like a penalty kick for Tanihara but he is a worthy favourite in my eyes. Van Zyl is coming back from injury and hasn’t really shown much in the way of form since he has returned while there is nothing in either the form line of Fernandez-Castano or the statistics that suggest he’s going to go well here either. Tanihari produced top six finishes in Switzerland and the Netherlands last month and it wasn’t much earlier than that where he was in the top five in Germany. He’s in decent nick and can win this three ball.
Oliver Fisher/Andy Sullivan/Matt Wallace
Match tees off at 08.10 BST
One of the more appealing groups in the morning session away from the marquee ones is the threesome featuring Mr 59 himself Oliver Fisher, the ever popular Andy Sullivan and the man who has won three times this year in Matt Wallace.
Fisher made a huge name for himself when he shot that 59 in Portugal but the fact he could only come seventh in that tournament and hasn’t pulled trees up either side of that doesn’t really bode well for him here. Sullivan is coming into better form but he’s only broken 70 in the first round twice since the Open de France in July which makes me think that Wallace could be a good thing. He has good memories of this course having qualified for the US Open here earlier in the year and his last four opening rounds coming in here have been 68 or better. He’s the class act of the trio and can come out on top of it.
Richie Ramsay/Ricardo Gouveia/Ashley Chesters
Match tees off at 13.35 BST
The final group off the first tee sees one of my outright bets in Richie Ramsay out onto the golf course. He partners the Portuguese player Ricardo Gouveia and Englishman Ashley Chesters for the first two rounds.
I highlighted the love that Ramsay has for this course in my outright preview and against two players who are no better than him overall I think he is worth chancing on Thursday. Gouveia had a good week in his homeland just before the Ryder Cup but his form prior to that has been average at best. Chesters has been in much better form and should put up a decent challenge to Ramsay but I can’t ignore the Scot’s record on this course and he is suitably priced to take in this three ball.
Tips
Back H.Li First Round Leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back H.Tanihara to beat J.van Zyl & G.Fernandez-Castano for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back M.Wallace to beat O.Fisher & A.Sullivan for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Coral
WON – Back R.Ramsay to beat R.Gouveia & A.Chesters for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
Back them here:
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