The draw has been done for the first round of the British Masters where the 120 man field go out in threes for the opening stanza on Thursday.
With Sky putting some big resources into the event with eight and a half hours of excellent coverage we have been given some really strong groups to look at in the first round.
Tickets were given away free of charge for the opening day of the tournament so the galleries on the golf course on Thursday will be large and that should spur everyone inside the ropes to produce their best.
With this select field the opening tee time is later than usual. The first groups out go off at 7.40am with the final three leaving the first and tenth tees at 1.30pm. There are 40 groups out in all on the first day which gives plenty of betting potential for Thursday’s action.
The pick of the groups on Thursday is the one involving the tournament host Ian Poulter, last week’s winner Thorbjorn Olesen and the ever popular Miguel Angel Jimenez. They go off at 8.20am and just before that Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald and Tommy Fleetwood set off on their challenge.
The two main groups in the afternoon are the 12.30pm and 12.40pm groupings. At 12.30 Jamie Donaldson and Lee Westwood go out with the BMW PGA champion Byeong-Hun An while ten minutes later Thomas Pieters sets off with the two pre-tournament favourites Shane Lowry and Danny Willett.
The first group which catches my eye from a betting point of view is the 7.50 group off the tenth tee. Newly turned professionals Paul Dunne and Ashley Chesters are in this group with the more seasoned Gary Stal.
Chesters is expected to have a decent career and I’ve seen nothing to suggest that he won’t but I wonder if this tournament has come too soon for him. Gary Stal landed the Abu Dhabi title at the beginning of the year but has only cracked the top 25 once since the end of the desert swing so both look vulnerable to me.
Paul Dunne may only be in the second week of his professional career but he will be familiar with this course having won The Open qualifying around this place for the previous two years. He began his pro career well at the Dunhill Links last week and that form coupled with familiarity of this place makes him a good thing in my eyes in that group.
A little later in the morning Stephen Gallacher sets off with Alex Levy and Kiradech Aphibarnrat and I like the Scot in that group. I’m not sure what has happened to Levy’s form but it has completely disappeared in recent times. The Frenchman has only cracked the top 50 of a strokeplay event three times since the end of April so clearly all isn’t well with him.
I’m happy to eliminate Levy on that basis and have this between the other two and I fancy Gallacher to get it done here. I’m not convinced the claustrophobic nature of the driving areas on this golf course will suit the Thai and that has to be a concern. Gallacher has noticeably been driving the ball much better recently and if he drives it well here he’ll look good value in this match.
My final bet comes in one of the pick of the afternoon groups and it is the one featuring Lee Westwood. Westwood at his best would go well around here but I’m not sure he is anywhere near his best at the minute and that would be a big concern.
Jamie Donaldson has shown good signs in the last couple of weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go well here but he might need the round to get into the swing of things having been out of the spotlight for a while.
Byeong-Hun An has been in the spotlight for much of the year having bolted away with the BMW PGA Championship. He won that on a Wentworth track many describe as similar to this one so he should be confident around here. The extra juice in the course might help An as his solid ball striking should get him further down the fairways.
Neither Donaldson nor Westwood have a short game to worry anyone so as long as An drives it well here he should be in a position to land this group at a tasty price.
Back P.Dunne to beat G.Stal & A.Chesters for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Paddy Power
Back S.Gallacher to beat A.Levy & K.Aphibarnrat for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Betfair Sportsbook
Back B-H.An to beat J.Donaldson & L.Westwood for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Stan James
