2008 Ryder Cup Betting
RYDER CUP BETTING – 19th to 21st SEPTEMBER
The 37th renewal of the biennial battle between Europe and the USA takes place at Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky, in the third week of September. The Valhalla course, par 71 and 7496 yards in length, has a front nine that is links-style, while its back nine is more traditional. The signature hole is the 13th, a 350-yard par 4, requiring a tee shot to a small landing area, then an approach over water to an island green. There are 28 points to be played for, the first two days being made up of 4 four-ball matches and 4 foursomes matches, with 12 singles matches on the final day. Captain Nick Faldo and assistant Jose Maria Olazabal lead the European team, who have won six of the last ten Ryder cups outright, as well as retaining the trophy with a 14-14 tie at The Belfry in 1989. Importantly, three of those victories have come on American soil. Given their exemplary recent record the Europeans are favourites to win the Cup, at Evens with Paddy Power. The USA are 13/10, with the tie priced at 12/1, both with skybet.
Team Europe
Nick Faldo has expressed his satisfaction at the 12-man Ryder Cup Team that he will lead to Valhalla Golf Club. With the ten automatic qualifiers, Sergio Garcia, Soren Hansen, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson joined by English duo Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, Faldo’s “wildcard” picks, the European Captain is confident that he has readied a sufficiently gifted squad to win a fourth successive Ryder Cup against Paul Azinger’s USA team. Faldo readily admitted that selecting just two players from a host of talented and in-form performers was a well nigh impossible task. He essentially based his selections on performances in the Major championships, given his belief that the Ryder Cup takes players to “another level.” The Captain firmly believes he has a team with the right balance and dynamic to take Europe to only their fourth victory on American soil, since the establishment of the competition in 1927. It is essentially a veteran side, with just 3 debutants and the remaining 9 players boasting 19 Ryder Cup appearances between them. Faldo believes that each of his players has a unique contribution to make to the Ryder Cup effort. In particular he noted the outstanding achievements of Padraig Harrington and the passion that Sergio Garcia brings to his team. He has asked Lee Westwood to play a key role in supporting the rookie players. Asked if he thought Europe could repeat their nine-point winning margins from the last two Ryder Cups, Faldo responded, “14 will do me very nicely!” (A 14-14 tie would mean, as holders, Europe would retain the Cup).
Darren Clarke has called for an end to the sniping surrounding Ian Poulter’s selection as one of European captain Nick Faldo’s Ryder Cup wildcards. Faldo added the 32-year-old Englishman and Paul Casey to his team at Valhalla, ignoring the claims of veterans Clarke and Colin Montgomerie. There was some resentment over Poulter’s decision to skip a final chance of automatic qualification at Gleneagles, with Montgomerie claiming the Englishman had a “hotline” to Faldo. Although Clarke believes Faldo “changed his mind” on selection criteria, he does not believe Poulter should take any flak. “He’s a great player, ranked 24 in the world. Both Paul Casey and Ian Poulter are ahead of me in the world rankings. That’s the yardstick to which we’re all measured, and that’s the way it is. I do feel he’s been given a lot of stick, a lot of criticism through no fault of his own.” Elaborating on his belief that Faldo did not hold true to his original plans for his “wildcard” picks, Clarke added, “Earlier in the year, Nick stated that he wanted his players to be in form and wasn’t going to pay particular attention to the rankings. I thought I was in good form, my record this year has been a couple of wins and lots of top 10s, but unfortunately he changed his mind, and you know, I’ve got to bank with that. But I’ve never had a problem with Nick. I’ve played with him a lot over the years, and he’s been the best player we’ve ever produced. I have no personal issues with Nick whatsoever.”
Team USA
United States captain Paul Azinger completed his 12-man Ryder Cup team by selecting Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan, J.B. Holmes and Chad Campbell. Azinger, awarded four “wildcard” picks after the USPGA of America granted his request to alter the selection process, said he wanted players in form to make up his squad. Throughout the qualification process, Azinger has stressed that making the Ryder Cup team would be very difficult without winning a tournament. Ten of Azinger’s twelve players have done just that, the exceptions being Jim Furyk, who has played consistently well throughout the season and Ben Curtis, runner-up in the USPGA and in the top-ten at The Open. Stricker, Mahan, Holmes and Campbell join the eight automatic qualifiers, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley. Azinger will take an inexperienced team to Valhalla in two weeks, with only six of its twelve members with any Ryder Cup experience, and all of those with overall losing records.
Of his four choices, Azinger said Stricker, who finished ninth on the Ryder Cup points list, after being pushed out of the top eight by Ben Curtis’ late charge at last month’s USPGA Championship, had rubber-stamped his place first, while JB Holmes, a native of Kentucky, was another who had been catching his eye for a long time. “Steve has a little experience Presidents Cup-wise, he won a matchplay event down in Australia a few years back and statistically he’s a fantastic player. Had the selection process continued over the last few weeks, Steve Stricker would have actually made the team and so I’m really happy to have Steve.” JB Holmes led the USPGA at Oakland Hills after 54 holes before an opening triple bogey on his final round. Azinger said, “He’s from Kentucky, has a terrific Walker Cup record and won in Phoenix this year. I really like his personality, he fits matchplay and he knows Valhalla like the back of his hand so maybe that will help.” Azinger also sang the praises of Mahan, who in July saw scathing comments about his perception of Ryder Cup players as “slaves” published in an American golf magazine. Chad Campbell was perhaps the one surprise pick having finished 20th in the Ryder Cup points list. However, his previous Ryder Cup experience spoke in his favour.
Ryder Cup Betting Opportunities
In addition to the outright betting, online layers are offering various other bets related to the Ryder Cup. Betfair are the only layers offering Correct Score betting at the time of writing. They have Europe priced at 54/1 to win 18.5 – 9.5 (the winning score in the last two Ryder Cups), while the USA are 74/1 to win by the same margin. Perhaps more realistically, a 15-13 win is 11.5/1 for Europe and 12.5/1 for the USA, the same price as the 14-14 tie. Doubtless, the “traditional” online bookmakers will have prices in the immediate future. Betting on the Top Points Scorers for each team and overall seems to be popular with punters. All the leading online layers, such as William Hill, Ladbrokes, vcbet, skybet etc. have prices available. On the European side, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington dominate the market at 9/2 and 5/1 respectively, with skybet. Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk are joint-favourites to top-score for the USA, with skybet and Paddy Power respectively. Unsurprisingly, these four players lead the market for the overall top scorer, with Garcia the 9/1 favourite with skybet. A Hole in One occasionally occurs during the Ryder Cup and Paddy Power offer 4/1 about this eventuality. 888sport offer 1/6 about no aces at Valhalla. When the pairings and matches are known, prices will undoubtedly be available on all the Ryder Cup matches, including “in-running” betting.
In what is inevitably a fascinating and exciting three-day contest, the USA team looks particularly weak this time around. If recent form is any guide, the European side certainly look the value at Paddy Power’s Evens. Given that Europe are likely to win reasonably comfortably, it seems sensible to look at Nick Faldo’s troops for the overall top points scorer. Garcia and Harrington are obvious choices, but cigar-chomping Miguel Angel Jimenez is likely to play a fair bit, and provides some entertainment value at skybet’s sporting 33/1. Europe to win by 16 points to 12 makes some appeal at Betfair’s 12/1.
All odds correct at time of writing. Please click here for the latest odds
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