The Punter 
/ Steven Rawlings / 21 May 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Nicolas Colsaerts – Still standing in Spain
“Jhonattan Vegas led Colsaerts a merry dance this morning but with the jam-stick in sight the Venezuelan lost his way and Colsaerts now meets McDowell this afternoon. Fingers and toes crossed.”
We're down to the last-eight at the Match Play and our man's pre-event picks are still alive...
12:30 - May 21, 2011
After two dull days, the Volvo Match Play Championship has come to life and it's been a great morning's entertainment. I've lost in-running play Ross Fisher, who went to the final hole one down to Charl Schwartzel this morning and then made eagle! One would assume that would have taken the match to extra time but it wasn't to be - the Masters champ showed his class by matching Fisher's eagle and he goes forward to play Luke Donald, who got the better of Johan Edfors at the first extra hole. Luke was poor and looked out of it when he was matched at a high of [70.0] but he was let off the hook when the big Swede put in a very scruffy finish.
Martin Kaymer didn't play brilliantly but overcame a poor Soren Kjeldsen and now meets Alvaro Quiros, who came from behind to beat Seung-yul Noh. I've added the Spaniard now at an average of [9.6]. Hopefully Kaymer won't improve this afternoon and the likable Spaniard can make it through to tomorrow's semi-finals.
It looked like I'd done exactly the right thing by backing Jhonattan Vegas when he led my pre-event pick Nicholas Colsaerts a merry dance this morning but with the jam-stick in sight the Venezuelan lost his way and Colsaerts now meets Graeme McDowell this afternoon. Fingers and toes crossed.
If he can wriggle past G-Mac he'll meet either Francesco Molinari, who has taken a serene passage to the quarter final, or my other pre-event pick, Ian Poulter.
There's an old saying in golf - two up with five to play never wins and it looked for a while as if that would be the case again. Poults was in that position before losing the 14th and 15th holes to Westwood but mercifully he straightened up and managed to birdie the last two holes to pip the world's number one by a hole.
I certainly can't complain about my book at present, though I may tweak it this afternoon.
Over in the States at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, I don't know what I'm more surprised about, the fact that they managed to get round two completed or the fact that David Toms backed up his superb first round 62 with another one!
Dan Geragthy, who picked out Toms before the off at [40.0], has a decision to make now and what a fantastic decision to have. Lay back some of his winnings or let it roll? Toms is now seven shots clear of a somewhat rag-tag bunch and trading at less than [1.5].
The way Toms is playing reminds me of the way he did when he demolished the field at the 2006 Sony Open, but the caveat is that that was his last success. It's hard to imagine him struggling given the evidence of his last six rounds (lost in a play-off at last week's Players Championship) but you just never know, it's been a long time since that win and he now has plenty of time to contemplate victory here.
Rather than lay Toms, I've backed Mark Wilson at [22.0] and Rory Sabbatini at [26.0].
21:10 - May 20, 2011
After two long days, in which we saw Miguel Angel Jimenez eliminated, despite battering Masters Champ Charl Schwartzel 6 & 5, Ian Poulter progress without winning a match, and the last five matches played out today, merely determining who plays who tomorrow - we've finally arrived at a point that the Volvo Match Play Championship can get properly started.
The Sky pundits have to commend the format but it's been a farce as far as I'm concerned. However, we're now down to 16 players and a straight-forward knockout which should provide some excellent entertainment over the weekend, especially tomorrow. And fortunately, my two pre-event picks have made it through...
Poulter isn't at his best and was lucky to get a draw against both Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie, and he'll need to improve considerably if he's going to get past world number one Lee Westwood in the last of the morning ties. He's the same price now that he was from the start and I'm not too confident but match play does usually bring out the best in Poults and he's sure to be revved-up for the clash.
My only other pre-event pick, Nicolas Colsaerts, has fared much better. He beat Retief Goosen this morning before easily overcoming Rory McIlroy in the afternoon, and he now faces the big-hitting Venezuelan, Jhonattan Vegas. Once it looked likely that Vegas would meet Colsaerts, I set about getting him onside at a big price too and I managed to do so at an average of [50.0]. Whether either of them can get past the next round is debatable but if they do I'll be in a strong position going into the semi's - especially if Poulter's the opponent waiting for them.
I've had a couple of in-running bets on the other side of the draw - one flop and one still alive. I took a gamble that Paul Casey would come back and get the better of Soren Kjeldsen this afternoon but it wasn't to be; it was well worth getting Ross Fisher onside though, as he made inroads into Ryan Moore's lead in their match this morning. He managed to turn that match around, winning on the final hole before losing to Luke Donald this afternoon but he was safely through anyway and the pair could well meet again tomorrow afternoon if they can get past Schwartzel and Johan Edfors respectfully.
The less said about the other European Tour event, the Madeira Islands Open, the better. I'd input a bet on halfway leader Simon Thornton at [80.0] on Monday but once Keith Elliott had tipped him up on his phone line I had no chance of getting matched. I felt [60.0] was too short about a 34 year-old that hasn't come close to winning yet, so I let him go un-backed. Suffice to say I'm not a happy chappy. I'm not backing him at less than [5.0] now though, if he wins he wins, I'll get over it...eventually!
Things haven't gone great in the States either, where play has just been suspended due to thunder. Zach Johnson started like a train last night and was matched at just [11.0] after he reached -3 after just five holes but he's stuttered badly after that.
I added Anthony Kim during the first round at [55.0] but he trod water soon after I had and the best of my pre-event picks is Brian Gay, but he's plummeting down the leaderboard at a rate of knots in round two.
I was tempted to get Rory Sabatini onside but I'm going to wait and gauge what the afternoon starters do this evening. Dan Geraghty's David Toms is carrying on the good form after last week's near miss at Sawgrass and he's threatening to run away with proceedings at present. If he carries on Sabbatini will lengthen, so I'm holding off for now.
I'll be back during play tomorrow to take a look at the last eight in the match play.
Volvo World Match Play Championship
Pre-Event Selections:
Ian Poulter @ [19.0]
Nicolas Colsaerts @ [80.0]
In-Running plays:
Paul Casey @ [50.0] during the group stage
Ross Fisher @ [50.0] during the group stage
Jhonattan Vegas @ [50.0] during the group stage
Alvaro Quiros @ [9.6] prior to the Q/F
Madeira Islands Open
Pre-Event Selection:
Joaquin Estevez @ [200.0]
Crowne Plaza Invitational
Pre-Event Selections:
Zach Johnson @ [27.0]
Ben Crane @ [28.0]
Brian Gay @ [46.0]
Pat Perez @ [55.0]
Sean O'Hair @ [120.0]
Stephen Ames @ [240.0]
In-Running plays:
Anthony Kim @ [55.0] - During round one
Mark Wilson @ [22.0] - After round two
Rory Sabbatini @ [26.0] - After round two
Our man has a good ole moan about this week's flagship event before plumping for an "almost legendary" match play exponent. He's also looking to back-to-back Zach for riches in Texas......
Choi joy for the Punter as the likable Korean caps a great weekend for our resident Man City fan......
Rain stops play at the Players and Wood looks poised for success in Spain......
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