15 – 18 JUL 2020

Euram Bank Open

GC Adamstal, Ramsau, Austria

CRAIG HOWIE (SCO) 80/1 – BET £5 PP paying 7 places

MARCEL SIEM (GER) 90/1 – Bet £5 EW William Hill paying 6 places

OLIVER LINDELL (FIN) 66/1 – Bet £5 EW William Hill paying 6 places

FIRST ROUND LEADER BETS :

NICOLAI HOJGAARD (DEN) 50/1- £2 EW various bookies

JOOST LUITEN (NED) 12/1- £3 EW various bookies

JOHN RAHM (SPA) 22/1 – Bet £5 EW William Hill paying 8 places

ABRAHAM ANCER (MEX) 50/1 – Bet £5 EW William Hill paying 8 places

BILLY HORSHEL (USA) 70/1 – Bet £5 EW Paddy Power paying 8 places

GARY WOODLAND (USA) 40/1 – Bet £5 EW Paddy Power paying 8 places

KEVIN KISNER (USA)  90/1 – Bet £5 EW Paddy Power paying 8 places

JOAQUIN NIEMANN (CHI)  66/1 – Bet £5 EW Paddy Power paying 8 places

TROY MERRITT (USA)-TOP 20 BET – 6/1 Paddy Power – Bet £10

Tournament information

Location               Ramsau, Austria

Established         2018

Course(s)            Golf Club Adamstal  Par         70

Length  6,476 yards  (5,922 m)

Tour(s) Challenge Tour

European Tour (2020)   Prize fund           €500,000

Month played   July

Tournament record score

Aggregate           262 Calum Hill (2019)     To par   −18 as above

Current champion    Calum Hill

The team just love this venue and you can see why. Stunning views in Austria at over three thousand feet above sea level.  Again this course will demand great club selection and being able to move the ball well from left to right. It was host to the Challenge Tour so the team have also looked into some form books of old here.

The same with the field from last week pretty much a lucky dip, but to see our good friend Marc Warren winning was a big surprise. The team spoke to him on the Tuesday and he said he couldn’t even hit a barn door with his irons, so we stayed well clear. Let’s hope to change that this week.

Tournament information

Location               Dublin, Ohio

Established         1976, 44 years ago

Course(s)            Muirfield Village Golf Club  Par         72

Length  7,392 yards (6,759 m)[1]

Tour(s) PGA Tour

Format Stroke play         Prize fund           $9.3 million

Month played   July

Tournament record score

Aggregate           268 Tom Lehman (1994)  To par   −20 Tom Lehman (1994)

Current champion     Patrick Cantlay

Of course we are still at Muirfield Village Golf club this week. From what the team have said it will be changed a lot this week to make it that little bit harder. So the rough has been left to grow an extra week, tee boxes with be moved to make a lot of holes longer. Finally the greens will play a lot faster than last week, so being able to adjust will be key here.
Previous Results
Year       Winner                 Country               Score     To par       Runner Up

2020

2019       Calum Hill            Scotland            262         −18            Ewen Ferguson

2018       Darius van Driel Netherlands      263         −17            David Law

 

Mike’s Picks

CRAIG HOWIE (SCO) 80/1

Loving this bet here this week with Craig, very much going under the radar of the bookies coming in at around 80/1 with about 12 bookmakers. Best price 90/1 Bet Victor only paying 5 places.

Let’s kick off with his stats the team gathered from his challenge tour season to date:

  • Driving Accuracy – 78.57 – Rank 1st
  • Driving Distance – 315.50 – Rank 9th
  • Greens in Regulation – 73.52 – Rank 6th
  • Putt per GIR – 1.80 – Rank 15th
  • Average Putt per Round – 28 – Rank 6th

History also tells me that the Scottish players seem to play well in Austria, as was proven last week with him managing a great tied fourth place. His last eight rounds have all been under par and what with him going bogey free in one of those which he has not done for quite a while, should be all lights green for this week.

Staying with a £5 EW bet at 80/1 with Paddy Power paying 7 places.

MARCEL SIEM (GER) 90/1

Marcel is a good friend of Mike and the team from GBT. I met him many years ago when my pal Roachy used to caddie for him so had many a night out when he used to play at the BMW at Wentworth.

We always follow and catch up with him and boy has he been putting in the work to get back to the descent golf we know he is well capable of. Coming of a lot of fitness and injury worries over the past years he looks like he is nearly back to full fitness, and what a welcome back last week finishing in 23rd position that will only boost his confidence.

Seasoned professional and well experienced against a much higher standard of field, so could be right up his alley this week. What the team did like about his play last week was his marked improvement in strokes gained tee to green. His last win was way back in 2014 but he reason why he could not go close this week. We will be flying the German flag for him this week, go get them Siem!!

Will bet £5 EW at 90/1 William Hill paying 6 places.

OLIVER LINDELL (FIN) 66/1

Talk about a player trending in the right direction with his first event back last week on the European Tour. He managed a top twenty five place shooting four rounds under par. So out of his last nine rounds he has managed seven of those under par.

The team walked with him yesterday and he hit every green in regulation, so we should see plenty more of this from him this week when we get started. His average on the Challenge Tour is 74% greens in regulation for the season. So I am sure will be setting himself up for plenty of birdies and could be going low. The putter is the big problem where his average is at around 33 putts per round.

If the putts decide to drop this week then he could be in the running.

Betting £5 EW with William Hill at 66/1 paying 6 places.

FIRST LD LEADER TIPS

NICOLAI HOJGAARD (DEN) 50/1- Markets to open

JOOST LUITEN (NED) 12/1- Markets to open

Previous Results
2009 Tiger Woods 276 Jim Furyk 277
2010 Justin Rose 270 Rickie Fowler 273
2011 Steve Stricker 272 Brandt Jobe 273
Matt Kuchar 273
2012 Tiger Woods 279 Andres Romero 281
Rory Sabbatini 281
2013 Matt Kuchar 276 Kevin Chappell 278
2014 Hideki Matsuyama 275 Kevin Na 275
2015 David Lingmerth 273 Justin Rose 273
2016 William McGirt 273 Jon Curran 273
2017 Jason Dufner 275 Rickie Fowler 278
Anirban Lahiri 278
2018 Bryson DeChambeau 273 Byeong Hun An 273
Kyle Stanley 273
2019 Patrick Cantlay 269 Adam Scott 271
Mike’s Picks

JOHN RAHM (SPA) 22/1

Here we go then backing the big Spaniard all the way here this week. For me he is trending at just the right time since his return after the Covid break. Before lockdown:

  • Hero – 2nd
  • Sentry – 10th
  • Farmers – 2nd
  • Waste – 9th
  • WGC – 3rd

He has made three straight cuts now following a tied 27th last week on a course he is still finding his feet on. But hold on he shot an amazing 64 on Sunday to climb up the leader board. The team stayed watching Jon after his front nine where he carded five birdies going out in 32, they thought the magic number was on, but then a bogey on ten saw the end of that. He then followed that with an eagle and a further three birdies. So the putter is hot, the driving is hot and his iron play is even hotter.

I might even look to do a bet to win outright and cover an each way bet as well. Top ten is around 3/1

ABRAHAM ANCER (MEX) 50/1

Our next pick comes from sunny Mexico. Lots to like here since his return he bagged a fourteenth place at the Charles Schwab, came close to winning at the RBC Heritage and then his last showing at the Travelers he finished in a tie for eleventh.

So some of the most important factors to winning at the Memorial has to be strokes gained around the green and scrambling. His scrambling is a high 67.36% and even better reading from the rough at 76.47%.

His worst round of golf since returning is 70, his combined scoring average over his past 12 rounds is 66. Scoring average ranks as the third most important around Muirfield to win. Yet to win on the PGA he will get a win soon I feel. Fingers crossed his consistent play continues.

Sticking with a £5 EW bet here.

BILLY HORSHEL (USA) 70/1

Billy for me is the sort of player that when he finds his grove he normally goes on a roll for a few weeks at least. After having two missed cuts back to back he followed that last week with a very good tied seven finish.

The other positive with his play is when he does make the cut he normally finishes strong and shoots low on Sunday’s which could be good for us if he is the picture Sunday evening.

Pervious course history does mean a lot playing at Muirfield and that was proven last week with him, but we also like the that he has managed two top twenty’s here and a top ten finish here last year. I believe at this price he goes ahead of the other player the team had in Kevin Streelman around the 70’s mark.

Same bet here £5 EW. 70/1 in many places paying 8. William Hill / PP / Bet Fair

GARY WOODLAND (USA) 40/1

It’s a Major type feel this week with everyone at the party. Great buzz around the whole place and the world’s best are on show and with the return of the great man Woods, you can see why. I feel with his first event back for Tiger he will not be match fit so gone for a larger value pick in Gary this week.

He will be licking his lips at the course changes for this week compared to the Workday Open. He started slow last week but then rounded of in style closing his last three rounds with 68/66/69 to manage a top five place.

Driving distance will be more of an advantage this week than last, so not much better in the field than Gary averaging 307 yards sitting inside the top twenty on the PGA Tour.

Birdie machine averaging over 4.5 a round, despite an overall poor driving accuracy, he still manages a high 72.47% greens in regulation. Also the team pointed out he is trending his best ever strokes gained putting for a long time.

If everything clicks and he can get off to a much better start than last week he could be flying away at the top of the leader board.

Betting £5 EW – I am going with William Hill 40/1 paying 8 places – Bet365 have 45/1

KEVIN KISNER (USA)  90/1

Kevin has won us a lot of money over the years. I think this could be the best time to play him for 2020. When this guy is in top form he keeps that style of play up for weeks. I backed him against the best players in the world before at the WGC Match play 2018 at 125/1 picking up £760.

This could be his time again. We know he found something with his overall game at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, he admitted that himself and said he really feels the next win is not that far away just have to keep doing what he is doing.

He is also coming back to a course and set up he likes, with two top ten finishes here in the past five years. Three time winner on the PGA Tour and a top 40 in the world rankings over the past three years, plenty of pedigree and should go well.

Going with a £5 EW bet with William Hill 90/1 paying 8 places.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN (CHI)  66/1

So my last pick of the week falls to Joaquin Niemann. The break has done him good his game was all over the place pre lockdown. Since returning he has made every cut he has played in and finished 32/5/63/31.

What stands out for us when watching him on the practice ground this week has been his overall ball striking on trackman? It is clear to see why his strokes gained tee to green has improved and his approach to the green stat massively since the return.

I think he will be up to around 75% greens in regulation this week like he was at the RBC Heritage, purely down to the set up here will be good for him. He also has good stats around here finishing 6th in 2018 and 27th here last year.

I feel he could be adding to his PGA Tour titles this week if he sticks to a game plan.

Will be going for a £5 EW bet with Paddy Power at 66/1 paying 8 places.

TROY MERRITT (USA)-TOP 20 BET

6/1 PADDY POWER BET £10 – RETURN £70

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