Is this the week when the International team finally ends a run of nine straight defeats in the Presidents Cup, and provides the flagging competition with a much-needed boost?
A succession of easy wins for the USA back in the day threatened the future of the Ryder Cup, until Seve Ballesteros and a generation of European superstars started putting it to the Yanks.
The Presidents Cup – which has seen the Americans win 12 of the 14 matches so far, and finish all-square in another – desperately needs to become more competitive if it is ever going to capture the imagination the way the Ryder Cup does.
And to be fair, the Internationals have put up a decent fight on the last couple of occasions when they have enjoyed home advantage.
They lost by just a point in Korea in 2015, and threatened a shock in Australia four years later before going down 16-14.
And I’ve got a sneaking feeling the Internationals could win for the first time since 1998, at decent odds.
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Golf tips
Jim Furyk’s USA team are 9-4 ON to make it ten in a row, while Mike Weir’s Internationals are quoted at 11-4.
That is tempting. But let’s face it, if the home team do win, it is going to be by a small margin. So the 6-1 on offer for the Internationals to win by 1-3 points is the one to be on.
Weir, Canada’s greatest golfer, will set up Royal Montreal so it frustrates the hell out of America’s big hitters – just as Europe did in Rome and Paris when they defied their status as massive underdogs.
Montreal is a tight, fiddly course, anyway. So it would be no surprise if Scottie Scheffler and company have another week when their big reputations count for precious little.
Predictably, Scheffler is the 9-2 favourite to finish as the top USA points scorer. But I like the 7-1 odds for Collin Morkawa, who has been ultra-consistent this year – not a quality you usually associate with the two-time Major champion.
Hideki Matsuyama is 5-1 favourite to top the International points list. But his dodgy back may not stand up to five matches, and there is a strong case to be made for 7-1 second favourite Sungjae Im, one of four Koreans in the International line-up.
Im could end up playing four matches with countryman Si Woo Kim. They teamed up to become Asian Games champions last year – and at 9-1 Kim is a slightly more attractive proposition.
It may be worth having a saver on Christian Bezuidenhout at 12-1. The South African is a brilliant putter, and is also razor sharp around the greens.
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There is a surprisingly strong field for this week’s Spanish Open, mainly because Jon Rahm leads a powerful contingent of LIV rebels into action in Madrid.
Rahm has won his national title three times. So it is no wonder he has been installed as a best-priced 100-30 favourite, ahead of the English duo of Tyrrell Hatrron and Tommy Fleetwood, both 10-1 shots.
But Rahm could only manage a share of ninth last year, as Matthieu Pavon romped home by four shots, with a list of big-priced journeymen chasing him home.
Pavon is competitively priced to retain his title at 28-1 – the same odds as Matteo Manassero, who looked like giving us a 35-1 winner at the BMW PGA last week until he stumbled over the finishing holes.
I am reluctant to desert Manassero, and 14-1 shot Aaron Rai, who also gave us a great run for our money at Wentworth. But Pavon’s course form, and a sparkling rookie season on the PGA Tour, make him the pick of that trio.
Ewen Ferguson is another player with course form, after finishing in a share of ninth with Rahm last year. He played better at Wentworth than his finishing position of tied twentieth. At 50-1, he is a decent each way contender.
And among the three figure prices, a trio of Englishmen stand out. Dan Bradbury, sixth here last year, can be backed at 100-1, while Eddie Pepperell and Joe Dean showed enough at Wentworth to make 200–1 worth a small interest.
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