The first round of the Paul Lawrie Matchplay is one of the busier days of golf on the European Tour. All 64 men begin their campaigns over the course of the two sessions of play up in Scotland all hoping that this is the first of six rounds they will play across the week.
All 32 matches have been priced up with 16 of them going off in the morning followed by 16 in the afternoon and now is the time to take a good look at them.
Morning Session
With the televised action not beginning until the afternoon most of the big names are in that session but there are one or two for the early birds to follow at the beginning of the day. James Morrison takes on Alvaro Quiros in one of the highlights in the morning. Richie Ramsay vs David Howell is another one that appeals.
Around those big names in action in the first stanza include Pablo Larrazabal, Peter UIhlein and Kristoffer Broberg but it is fair to say this isn’t the best session in the world. It isn’t the easiest session to bet on either and in fact I’m just going with the one to start with.
Marc Warren made it to the semi-finals last year and I’m surprised he is odds against to see off Jorge Campillo. Campillo’s only real matchplay history came in this tournament last year when he needed all 18 holes to see off John Daly before losing to Chris Wood in the second round.
Warren might not be in the best of form at the minute but he will be familiar with these conditions and he has a lot more matchplay experience. Not only did he make it to the semi-final in this last year but he has also played Seve Trophy and Royal Trophy events winning his singles matches each time.
Experience and these conditions should benefit the Scot and given that he is odds against here he looks like an excellent bet to get the better of the Spaniard in the morning session.
Afternoon Session
The big names certainly come out to play in the afternoon and there are a number of good matches on the schedule. All eyes are drawn to the Thomas Bjorn vs Matthew Fitzpatrick match where the Englishman has the chance to impress a Ryder Cup vice-captain.
Lucas Bjerregaard against the host Paul Lawrie is another match which catches the eye with Chris Wood against Brett Rumford another. Around those matches the likes of Mikko Ilonen, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren, Lee Slattery and Stephen Gallacher are all on the golf course.
There are two matches I like the look of in this second session and the first of those sees Alejandro Canizares up against the fast improving Frenchman, Mike Lorenzo-Vera. You have to say the professional matchplay records of these two are fairly limited. Canizares played in this last year and walloped Lucas Bjerregaard before losing to the eventual runner-up Robert Karlsson while this will be Lorenzo-Vera’s pro debut in this format.
Tee to green these two are quite similar. They both hit a lot of fairways and they both hit into the greens very well but it is clear to me that on and around the greens the Spaniard has a clear edge and that can be vital in matchplay. Canizares is one of the best putters on the tour and that putting dominance can seal him the win here.
The final match of the day interests me too as Renato Paratore takes on Stephen Gallacher for the potential right to face Alex Noren in the next round. Not only has Gallacher shown very little for almost 18 months but his 18 hole matchplay record is worse than terrible.
He has played 14 matches in his professional career in a variety of different tournaments and he has only won one of them. That isn’t a record that encourages much in the way of support at odds on to me.
Renato Paratore doesn’t have a lot of matchplay experience at this level but he is the better of the two right now and with the freedom of not having local people to entertain and the eyes not being on him I fancy the Italian could be worth a go to pile more misery onto the resume of the Scot.
Tips
WON – Back M.Warren to beat J.Campillo for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Betfred
Back him here:
WON – Back A.Canizares to beat M.Lorenzo-Vera for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Skybet
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Paratore to beat S.Gallacher for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bwin
Back him here:
