The Ryder Cup might ultimately be a two-horse race but there are still any amount of markets to keep a keen punter happy.
One of the best events in the world of sport begins in Gleneagles tomorrow and we’re currently preparing ample space on the couch and an accompanying foot rest in JOE Towers because, bar occasional trips to the kitchen and toilet, we don’t plan on doing much moving between Friday morning and Sunday evening.
As well as watching the golf, we might place a wager or two just to heighten our interest in the battle between McGinley and Watson, Europe and America and McIlroy and
McDowell Fowler and here are some of the markets we’ll be keeping an eye on
over at Ladbrokes.
It’s a cliché we don’t have much time for in sport, but form often does go out the window where the Ryder Cup is concerned; Tiger Woods’ underwhelming performances at successive Ryder Cups is proof of that.
With that in mind, we like the look of Ian Poulter for top scorer in the tournament at 10/1 and there are a number of reasons for that. For one, he might overdo it a little bit at times, but ‘Poults’ loves the Ryder Cup and takes to it more than any other golfer we can remember in recent times.
Secondly, his Ryder Cup record is brilliant. In four years and 15 matches at the Ryder Cup, his score is 12-3 and at Medinah in 2012, he won four points and didn’t lose a single one.
Ian Poulter loves the Ryder Cup and the Ryder Cup loves him
Finally, he’s just an excellent match play player. The folks at Sky have collated the match play records of all the competing players at the Ryder Cup and Poulter’s is better than everyone else’s. He's won 49 out of 75 career match play records for a record of 68%, just ahead of Matt Kuchar on 67%.
We think it’s a bit of a cheesy moniker but there’s a reason Poulter is called ‘The Postman’ by his European colleagues; he always delivers.
If we were to pick any player from the opposite side to be leading the individual points charts come Sunday evening, it would have to be Rickie Fowler. His consistency on the big days so far this year has been nothing short of amazing and he could be worth a shot at 12/1.
Some players take to the Ryder Cup like a duck to water and there’s a very good chance that one of the six debutants playing this weekend will end up being hailed as a hero come Sunday evening.
Jordan Spieth, who looks like he has all the tools to become one of the best players in the world and has a temperament to match, is a decent bet to be leading debutant at 5/2, but we have a feeling that Stephen Gallacher could be inspired by his home crowd to produce the best performance of all the newcomers. He’s 6/1 to do just that.
The general consensus seems to suggest that this Ryder Cup is Europe’s to lose, but the last time the US won the Ryder Cup, in 2008, they weren’t fancied to do particularly well either, largely due to the absence of one Tiger Woods.
Because of Europe’s favouritism, the market for Day One leans heavily in their favour and if you’re confident they’ll come racing out of the blocks, you can back them to get five or more points from eight matches at 13/8, while the odds on USA doing likewise are 3/1. We think it’s going to be pretty close, however and like the look of 4-4 at the end of the first day at odds of 5/1.
Two years ago, Europe’s poor performance over the first two mornings nearly ended up costing them the tournament; the US team’s superiority in the team competitions last time around is often overlooked when some suggest that Europe’s team spirit is superior than their counterparts across the pond.
Chances are Rory and G Mac won't be teaming up this time around, but Europe could do with a better foursomes/fourballs performance than they delivered in Medinah
We have an inkling that Europe might be just in the ascendancy come the end of Day One and as such, might be having a flutter on Europe to win the fourballs and to tie the foursomes at 13/2.
What happened on the final day in Medinah in 2012 is known as either a miracle or a meltdown depending on which side you’re on and with good reason too. The result of 8.5 – 3.5 in Europe’s favour is unlikely to be repeated this time around, but if you believe in lightning striking twice, you can back it at 28/1.
A more realistic approach is to have faith in either side scoring seven points or more (Europe – 5/4, USA – 9/4) or them to split the points evenly at 13/2.
