Longshot and Ryder Cup stars to excel at Alfred Dunhill
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The European Tour may have suffered a blow after its participants slid to defeat against Team USA in the Ryder Cup, but a good number of those players can get back on track personally at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Half of Darren Clarke’s side will be in action for the pro-am tournament, which shares rounds between St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in Scotland and mixes celebrities from outside golf with the game’s stars.
Unsurprisingly, Thomas Pieters is the shortest price option of those that were on show at Hazeltine, where the big-hitting Belgian was the leading point scorer on either team with four wins in five matches.
Aside from the 16/1 shot, Danny Willett, Martin Kaymer, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Lee Westwood are all available at prices ranging from 20-40/1.
The natural betting reaction to seeing that many Ryder Cup players so soon after the adrenalin-filled frenzy in America may be to avoid them. However, history suggests otherwise.
In the five editions of the Alfred Dunhill to have directly followed a Ryder Cup, nine Team Europe members have finished inside the top 10 from 34 participants.
Kaymer won the event after the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, Rory McIlroy finished with the silver medal as recently as 2014.
Away from the Alfred Dunhill, Lee Westwood lost a play-off in the British Masters in the week immediately following the 2008 Ryder Cup, while Luke Donald came sixth at the WGC Amex in 2006.
Along with strong performances from Ryder Cup stars, three-figure betting chances have also fared well in this tournament.
Four of the last five winners have gone off 125/1 or better, with Thorbjorn Olesen the most recent of those when winning at 200s last year.
With that in mind, the 150/1 about Scotland’s Marc Warren should appeal. He’s made the cut in seven of his eight appearances at the Alfred Dunhill and has a best of fifth in 2011. The world number 218 also has three top-20 finishes in his last seven starts.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
