Europe excellent value to retain Ryder Cup

Europe is overpriced not only to retain the Ryder Cup but also to do so by beating the United States of America outright at the Medinah Country Club, near Chicago.

Bookmakers are betting around 7-4 that Jose Maria Olazabal`s side flies back across the Atlantic Ocean with the most prestigious trophy in team golf having beaten Davis Love III`s side fair and square. One can get around 5-4 about Europe retaining the silverware by either a win or a draw.

Go for broke and back the underdog to win for it should not be any less than joint favourite. Europe has won four of the last five Ryder Cup tournaments and it takes four of the world`s top five golfers into this year`s 39th edition of the event, with Rory McIlroy (first), Luke Donald (third), Lee Westwood (fourth) and Justin Rose (fifth) broken up only by Tiger Woods (second), the only American in the top six.

Not only are the very best golfers in the world right now carriers of European passports but also the Europe team features much better match play competitors than its more fancied opponent. No fewer than eight members of Olazabal`s side boast winning Ryder Cup records. Westwood is 16-11-6, Sergio Garcia is 14-6-4, Donald is 8-2-1, Ian Poulter is 8-3-0, Graeme McDowell is 4-2-2, Paul Lawrie is 3-1-1, Rose is 3-1-0 and Martin Kaymer is 2-1-0. None of Love III`s team has a winning Ryder Cup record, not even the great Woods, whose numbers stand at a decidedly disappointing 13-14-2.

That is not to say that one should bet against Woods having a good Ryder Cup this year. He may well be one of the best performers in the United States of America side. He loves the Medinah Country Club. The private course does not host many professional events but, when it does, usually Woods wins them. He has taken out the last two tournaments there, both of them being major championships. Expect Woods to go well on a layout that will bring back very happy memories.

Because one expects Woods to shine and have, perhaps, the best Ryder Cup of his career, Steve Stricker is the lesser light among the United States of America team whose name sticks out in a wide range of exotic betting markets.

Love has picked Stricker as one of his wild cards because he has proven time and time again that he can play well with Woods, which is no easy task. It would be no surprise to see Stricker and Woods pair up in all four non-singles matches. So look to back Stricker in exotic betting markets such as the top United States of America wild card. He is up against Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker in that one.

Stricker (3-3-1) has a much better Ryder Cup record than Furyk (8-15-4), Dustin Johnson (1-3-0) and FedExCup winner Snedeker, who is making his competition debut. One can back Mr September at around 12-5 when really he should be the favourite at no bigger than 2-1 because of his likely partnership with Woods throughout the first two days.

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26/09/2012     © Frixo 2024