2 June
As promised, the continuation of reports on the Golf Bet Profits results.
Week 18 – Only one competition covered this week – the Players Championship at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. There were five competitors with each-way bets that could get a return by finishing in the top six. Lucas Glover had the best start with a seven under to make second place, one under in the next round to tie in third, but two over par scores in the next two put him down to joint 50th. Brian Davis started well but slipped in the next two rounds to finish tied in 26th. Sergio Garcia, the top bet, did finish best in 12th with a 65 in the last round, but all out of the money. There was a 72-hole matchbet between Luke Donald and Tiger Woods, but Woods had problems with his bad knee on the first swing and, two hours and 20 minutes later, after recording a six over par 42 on the front nine, shook hands with his playing partners and withdrew. The bet was declared void. A loss of 16 points on Week 18 – overall a profit of 35.42 points.
Week 19 – This week we were at the World Match Play Championship in Andalucía, Spain and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. In Spain, Charl Schwartzel made the quarter-finals, losing by two holes to Luke Donald, but our other bet, on Ian Poulter, went all the way, Poults beating Donald 2&1, the only time all week that he was not taken to the last hole. Two points to win at 18/1 made 36 points profit. In the US, Hunter Mahan finished best, tying in 10th position, with Rickie Fowler tying in 16th. There was a 72-hole matchbet in which Sean O’Hare beat Lucas Glover by two shots to secure another five points. A profit of 33 points on Week 19 – overall a profit of 68.42 points.
Week 20 – On then to the BMW PGA at Wentworth and the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. Only one small success this week when Nick Watney beat Dustin Johnson in a 72-hole matchbet in Texas by two strokes. Of the rest: at Wentworth Charl Schwartzel and Richard Green missed the cut, but David Horsey narrowly missed the places to finish joint seventh (he was tying on fourth after the second round). The 72-hole matchbet was won by Alvaro Quiros instead of our pick, Francesco Molinari, by six strokes and in the US Sean O’Hare and Andres Romero both missed the cut. A last round bet of five points win on Matteo Mannaserro (lying in joint first position) at Wentworth also failed after he shot a last round 75 to finish in joint seventh. A loss of 15.45 points on Week 20 – overall a profit of 52.97 points.
Total profit carried forward after 17 weeks = 52.97
Another rise in total profits (1.55 points), but bear in mind this review is taken over three weeks, not four. It is apparent that the service can stand total losses some weeks as long as the successes come intermittently. There is always that imponderable in the back of one’s mind: should I trade the price off when a player is doing well, or more to the point, improving during a competition when the price comes down, but how do you decide which players to trade off when there is a real chance one might win? Looking at David Horsey in the last week: He improved from 16th to 4th, so surely you would have kept the bet on then, but then moving to eighth and out of the frame – probably worth a trade? All the time you would keep glancing at the 150/1, or rather the 37.5/1 for a place on offer. Not a decision to be made lightly – I will leave that one with you!
Best Regards
Sergeant John
