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Posted Mar 7th 2007, 3:21pm
Westwood to end drought?
A large field assembles this weekend for the Singapore Masters, where Lee Westwood heads an unusually open betting market.
Several of the European Tour's established stars will be competing for the title with Westwood, including his Ryder Cup team-mates Darren Clarke and David Howell.
Nick Dougherty, the winner in 2005 and runner-up to Mardan Mamat last year, is among the front-runners, along with Simon Dyson, although the Yorkshireman cannot boast the best of records at Laguna National.
Jeev Milkha Singh, the reigning Asian Order of Merit winner, is available at 28/1 after a consistent, if unspectacular, start to the season.
Singh is playing solidly enough, and although there is a question mark over his driving, his stroke average of 70.5 suggests he is likely to challenge more often that not.
The narrow fairways at Laguna reward accuracy and Westwood is among the leaders in the tour statistics, where the name of Jose Manuel Lara also catches the eye.
Westwood has won over 30 events in his career but he is without a victory since 2003. Surely it his time for him to end his drought.
Mamat is a decent long-shot to retain his title at 100/1, where he is priced alongside Wang Ter-chang, who performed well at the Johnnie Walker Classic last week and finished in a tie for 13th here last year.
I will also be keeping an eye on the progress of Ross Fisher at 50/1. The young Englishman, who has sacrificed a little bit of driving distance this year in order to improve his accuracy, finished third here 12 months ago.
Posted Mar 5th 2007, 11:01am
Lifeless City in freefall
Watching Manchester City's pathetic performance against Wigan on Saturday made me worry. It also made me furious.
City's strikers have taken the brunt of the criticism for the team's lame displays and dismal goal return this season, but in mitigation they were not given any chances to miss at the weekend and that has been the story for some time.
Wigan dominated from the first whistle and City were over-run in midfield, despite playing 3-5-2. They were third to every ball until Joey Barton came to life in the second half, but by then it was too late.
This is not just a team that can't score goals, it's a team that can't create opportunities to score goals. The only hope of beating the shaky John Filan on Saturday was through Micah Richards' aerial presence at corners. How many goals has this tactic produced this season? None at all.
Stuart Pearce admitted afterwards that in the first half hour it was just a case of when Wigan would score, not if. So why do nothing to change things?
I should point out that I'm not embarrassed by losing to Wigan. I'm embarrassed by the manner of losing to Wigan. Again. Pearce said the performance in the 4-0 defeat at the JJB Stadium was the worst of the season, now he has a new yardstick.
Since adopting the 3-5-2 formation before Christmas in order to shore up a humiliating away record over the past 12 months, City have never looked like scoring at home, save for a 2-1 win over Everton on New Year's Day, when the Merseysiders were marginally more hopeless than City.
If Barton doesn't provide chances, City simply cannot score. Georgios Samaras and Bernardo Corradi look increasingly immobile up front, while Pearce's policy of selecting defenders to do his attacking at home is laughable. Tottenham, Bolton, Blackburn, Reading and now Wigan have all come to Eastlands to collect their easy pickings.
My chief concern until recently was that Pearce's team was boring. Defensive, negative and attempting to mask a lack of creativity by not giving away goals. Now I can't see where they will get the two or three wins they need to stay up.
If this awful team loses to Charlton then it's all over. And as for the FA Cup, I wouldn't take them to beat Blackpool at the moment, never mind Blackburn.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick was in the crowd on Saturday - for all our sakes I hope he quickly realised that Pearce is not the man for England further down the line.
Comments
Having a ticket on Row G last Saturday makes it really difficult to comment on where things went wrong for City (I couldn't see all that much being so low down) but Pearce's tactics did seem woefully inadequate.
Wigan bossed the first half, and should have been two or three in front before City had even begun to rally.
I agree entirely about how City went about the game - every opportunity HAD to be turned into an aerial attack. I lost count of the number of hopeful/hopeless (delete as appropriate) balls lumped into the box. Latics were missing De Zeeuw and Hall (although at times, missing Hall isn't actually a bad thing) but still City couldn't get through.
To see Wigan dominate in midfield these days is a rarity. We are normally completely overrun in the middle of the pitch. Skoko battled for everything, and never gave City time on the ball. One other thing: Luis Antonio Valencia was dreadful, and if City cannot take advantage of that kind of weakness in an opposition team then they must be poor.
Fair play to Wigan though - we put in another gritty and determined performance, and it's battling to 1-0 wins like this that may well just keep us up.
MB
Wigan bossed the first half, and should have been two or three in front before City had even begun to rally.
I agree entirely about how City went about the game - every opportunity HAD to be turned into an aerial attack. I lost count of the number of hopeful/hopeless (delete as appropriate) balls lumped into the box. Latics were missing De Zeeuw and Hall (although at times, missing Hall isn't actually a bad thing) but still City couldn't get through.
To see Wigan dominate in midfield these days is a rarity. We are normally completely overrun in the middle of the pitch. Skoko battled for everything, and never gave City time on the ball. One other thing: Luis Antonio Valencia was dreadful, and if City cannot take advantage of that kind of weakness in an opposition team then they must be poor.
Fair play to Wigan though - we put in another gritty and determined performance, and it's battling to 1-0 wins like this that may well just keep us up.
MB
Posted by Matt Harrison, Mar 5th 2007, 4:16pm
Posted Mar 5th 2007, 10:41am
Wilson misses out
England's Oliver Wilson must wait for a first European Tour title after missing out in a three-way play-off at the Johnnie Walker Classic.
The 26-year-old, in his third year on the tour, finished in a tie with Anton Haig and Richard Sterne at 13-under-par for the tournament.
And it was 20-year-old South African Haig who won at the first play-off hole to become the youngest winner in the event's history.
Wilson had held off a strong field including Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Adam Scott, Paul Casey and Colin Montgomerie to lead from the second day.
However, he could not see it through and afterwards he admitted he had missed a great opportunity for a breakthrough win.
"I had my chances and didn't take them," said Wilson. "It was easy from the middle of the fairway both in regulation play and in the play-off on the 18th and I didn't get the ball within 20ft.
"I hit a great putt in the play-off but probably gave myself too much to do with Richard and Anton well inside me."
Comments
Posted Mar 2nd 2007, 3:26pm
Interesting, very interesting!
I was thinking earlier, for no obvious reason, of my favourite moments of football commentary. Maybe you can add your favourite snippets and together we can compile isporty's official and definitive list of the best commentary soundbites of all time.
I must insist, however, that there is no mention of Clive Tyldesley (and his ever-irritating 'gets his shot away') except for this one....
"Chance at the far post. Hinchcliffe 5-1."
City 5 United 1 (I also liked Tyldesley's "I could have scored that!" over the replay of David Oldfield's second goal.
For me, Barry Davies is the king of the commentary snippet ("Uses him by not using him,"; "And Leeds will go mad. And they have every right to go mad") but his crowning glory was his description of Franny Lee's goal for Derby at Maine Road.
"Interesting...very interesting! Look at his face, just look at his face!"
You can watch it again here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMmQk2lK_Ks - savour once again where Davies almost loses his voice on the second 'his'.
So, what else? (If anyone posts any Alan Parry I'll be complaining to the moderators.)
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Posted Mar 2nd 2007, 1:12pm
Goose looming large
England's Oliver Wilson leads after two rounds of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket, but the experienced figure of Retief Goosen looms large.
Wilson, 26, is in his third season on tour and has yet to win, so succeeding from the front over the weekend will be no mean feat with Goosen lurking just two shots behind.
As Wilson put together a superb second round of 66 - which included two eagles and a solitary bogey at the final hole - Goosen was carding a second successive four-under-par 68 for a share of third place.
The brilliant South African, twice a US Open winner and with 14 European Tour titles to his name, will take some stopping as the tournament really begins to take shape on Saturday.
His little-known compatriot Anton Haig is alone in second at nine-under, with Australia's James Nitties sharing third, while Goosen is starved of famous company in the top 10.
Colin Montgomerie is still in the hunt, the eight-time Order of Merit winner is five shots off the pace at five-under.
On a personal note, the players I tipped on Wednesday had pretty ordinary first rounds but things picked up on Friday.
Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee is level with Montgomerie in 11th place after a fine 68, with Simon Dyson two shots back in a tie for 23rd after adding a 70 to his opening score of 71.
Shiv Kapur is a further stroke behind at two-under, picking up two shots on Friday, and he is not without an each-way chance if he can make up some ground on Saturday.
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Posted Mar 1st 2007, 4:30pm
Storm brewing in Phuket
England's Graeme Storm made a superb start at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket, where he outshone the hot favourite Ernie Els.
Storm fired a six-under round of 66 to sit just one shot off the pace behind early leader Brad Kennedy of Australia.
"It's been fantastic, it's the first time I've been to Thailand and I didn't expect it to be as hot as this," Storm said.
"Obviously my first aim is to make the cut, but I came here playing well and I hope to finish in the top 10. That was my goal at the beginning of the week, so who knows from here. I'll just keep doing the same thing."
Els made two double bogeys in his one-over round of 73, but that was still one better than world number four Adam Scott, who had to wait until the 15th hole for his first birdie in a disappointing round.
Retief Goosen could be the man to beat, though, the South African opening with a 68 to trail the leader by just three shots.
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Posted Feb 28th 2007, 12:16pm
Dyson can clean up
Ernie Els may be the short price favourite for this week's Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand but there are several good each-way possibilities in the field.
Els, well clear in the European Tour's stroke average statistics this season, is 6/1 to win in Phuket where he is seeking an eighth consecutive top 10 finish - it has been some return to form for the Big Easy following his knee injury.
The Blue Canyon Country Club course promises to be a real test, especially around the tight, undulating greens so Retief Goosen, whose putter has been hot this season, is well placed to challenge his fellow South African.
Course form can tell you a lot about how a tournament will go, but there is little evidence to go on here as the event returns to Thailand after a nine-year absence since Tiger Woods beat Els in a play-off in 1998.
Nevertheless, there are one or two players to look out for at longer prices beyond this week's big four of Els, Goosen (9/1), Paul Casey and Adam Scott (both 12/1).
Thongchai Jaidee's stats stack up well this year and the Thai can be expected to go well at 33/1 on home soil.
Already a winner on the European Tour, Jaidee has recorded top 20 finishes in five of his six events this season, including a third place finish in Hong Kong and a tie for 11th in Indonesia last time out.
However, it may be better to take a look at Jaidee's compatriot Prom Meesawat (80/1), who finished seventh in both Dubai and Malaysia and goes into his home tournament with his game in great shape.
India's Shiv Kapur was second in Jakarta, losing out to Mikko Ilonen by just one shot and he is an attractive proposition at 50/1 to continue his impressive form in his rookie season on the Tour.
Perhaps more appealing, though, is the improving Simon Dyson at 40/1. The Englishman has made great strides up the Order of Merit in each of the last three years and, more significantly, he is in good form.
Dyson has finished seventh, third and tied for 11th in his last three outings, proving his ability in top-class company with a consistent week at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Finally, Jose Manuel Lara enjoyed a superb run of success towards the end of 2006, including victory at the Hong Kong Open in the first event of the 2007 Tour.
His game has not been so hot since the turn of the year but some of the magic returned in Dubai, where he opened with a round of 66 before fading to a tie for 44th with a closing 76.
It's only a few months since he recorded three successive top 10s and he looks an outstanding outside bet here at 100/1.
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