World No.1 Luke Donald and world No.3 Lee Westwood head a stellar 12-man field for the Nedbank Challenge at the massively long Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, South Africa.
The pair are vying for favouritism with defending champion Westwood just edging it with most firms, although Ladbrokes prefer Donald over Westwood at 3/1 and 7/2 respectively. They were to be joined by Thomas Bjorn but the Dane has withdrawn with a neck injury and his place in the field has been taken by Francesco Molinari, who is joined by former World No.1 Martin Kaymer and Masters Champion Charl Scwartzel. Graeme McDowell, Anders Hansen, Robert Karlsson, Simon Dyson, Kyung-Tae Kim, Jason Dufner and Darren Clarke are also out to pocket the $1.25m first prize.
With Donald likely to be a bit rusty on his first run back since taking paternity leave, the bulk of this week's golf betting bank is going on Westwood, who scorched home by eight shots 12 months ago. Granted, he doesn't win as often as he should for a golfer of his talent and he has blown a fair few leads on a Sunday, but this is a course that takes some knowing and it suits the long, straight drivers like Westwood as they can take advantage of the par-fives. Indeed, he has never finished worse than sixth in his seven visits here and that gives him a distinct edge over Kaymer, who is making his debut, and local man Schwartzel, who for some reason has never really contended for this event and, besides, was a big disappointment in the World Cup.
The early 4/1 has gone but Ladbrokes' 7/2 still looks a good bit of business in this limited field and it will be a surprise if he's not trading considerably shorter at some stage, giving us the option to trade out. As for an alternative, I'm struggling a bit as the two other golfers with previous here, Karlsson and Clarke, have been struggling of late, while emerging star Kyung-Tae Kim, who led last week's Australian Open after three rounds, could be feeling jet-lagged, unlike Westwood who arrives here nice and fresh having skipped last week.
Perhaps Dane ANDERS HANSEN will be the one to give Westwood most to do? He's certainly enjoyed another fine season, which included third place in the US PGA, and currently sits sixth in the Race to Dubai standings. Granted, he doesn't find the winner's circle that often but his last two wins have come in South Africa and he was going well here last year until a final round 76. Having used jet-lag as a reason for opposing Kim, it's a bit contrary to put up Hansen as he was one half of the Danish side (along with Thorbjorn Olesen) in last week's World Cup, but the pair were never in contention and the experience wouldn't have taken much out of him. Previously, he'd shown that his game was in good nick with a second round 64 in the Singapore Open, so the 16/1 on offer with Ladbrokes (1/4 odds, 1.2.3) looks fair each-way value.
Recommended Bets:
Lee Westwpood 5pts @ 7/2 Ladbrokes
Anders Hansen 1pt each-way @ 16/1 Ladbrokes
