Volvo Golf Champions 2013

Last Week

Well that was certainly an interesting one! After two restarts due to ferocious winds in Hawaii the Hyundai Tournament of Champions has finally been played. After being shortened to 54 holes Dustin Johnson came out on top which means of his now 7 seven wins on the PGA Tour, this is the 3rd coming by way of a weather shortened event.

Ian Poulter came a respectable T9 after his self-defamation on Twitter and it reinforces my new year's resolution that there is no such thing as a certainty in the betting world after feeling sure that he would be in for a bad week. At no point however did it look like my spread bet was in danger of being a loser and Dustin was always one step ahead.

The spread market for the 72 hole matchbet closed at -11 shots and therefore this gave a tidy profit of 10.25pts meaning all in all it was a good first week for the new blog!


Volvo Golf Champions

Into a new week and we have the European Tour's equivalent of the Tournament of Champions- The Volvo Golf Champions 2013. A field limited to 33 players is headed to Durban Country Club in South Africa which played host to the South African Open most recently in 2010- won by Ernie Els who also won here in 1998.

Due to the fact that there is not a great deal of previous form available for the course and we are coming off a break I feel that the key points to look for will be suitability for the course and also those players who are going to have the most motivation to get their season off to a great start.

The course is not the longest at 6,700 yards and is quoted on their website as being 'a shot makers course that you have to think your way round.' There are some great risk reward opportunities here and none more so than the par-4 18th offering one of the 3 hole-in-one prizes!

My first pick is going to be Paul Casey, who is coming off a torrid year due to injury while his former peers- Luke Donald et al.- have shot to the very peak of the game. When fit Casey was a world class player and has won at courses such as Wentworth which require the shot making and golfing brain it appears will be needed at Durban. With three top 10's in his last four starts at the end of last year as well as some low rounds, he has started to show his quality again and with a Christmas break that I am sure was spent chomping at the bit to go into 2013 fit, he is going to be more motivated than ever to get off to a great start. With odds of 26.0 on offer I feel this is great value.

My next pick is Thorbjorn Olesen who has improved greatly each year he has been on tour and managed to get his first win last year. This player was fancied a lot last season and many people feel that he has the potential to be a great player and is due to start winning. Having just signed with Nike he is going to want to shine, so couple this motivation for a name-making season and obvious talent I feel he is worth our investment.

My final pick has not been in the greatest form of late, but is the definition of a thinking man's player and is one of the world's best. Padraig Harrington knows how to turn it on when in great company and with 3 majors to his name and a top-10 in his last outing in Dubai he is certainly more than capable of a win. Available at 29.0 it is hard to pass up a player of this calibre, especially when returning to the course at which he made his professional debut 17 years ago, bringing fond memories for the Irishman.

The Week's Punts

• 1pt e/w Paul Casey at 26.0 (Coral, 888, BlueSq)
• 1pt e/w Thorbjorn Olesen at 23.0 (Various)
• 1pt e/w Padraig Harrington at 29.0 (Coral, Sportingbet)

Sidetrack!

With the start of Celebrity Big Brother comes a great opportunity to make a bit of profit from the ever predictable British public. Rylan Clark is riding the wave of recent X Factor success as well as coming across as a very typical winning personality and unlikely to be nominated in these early stages. Therefore I can only see that price getting shorter and this offers up a great trading opportunity on Betfair. Once that price has come in it can be safely traded off for a green book or free ride.

• 3pts Rylan Clark to win Celebrity Big Brother at 2.22 (Betfair)