Kuchar And Ishikawa The Best Favourite And The Best Outsider

Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar will be all the rage to win the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, what was a team event with an individual component that has become an individual event with a team component.

Not often in professional golf does a course host two events in a row but that is the case for the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, with the highly rated Australian track staging the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf one week after the Talisker Masters that Scott won and Kuchar finished runner-up.

Scott fired rounds of 67, 66, 66 and 71 to end up 14 under par and finish two strokes clear of Kuchar, with Vijay Singh another two shots back in third position. Scott said that he felt that his win was a little bit ugly but that he produced enough good stuff to get the job done. The Talisker Masters was Scott’s second consecutive victory after the world number two had the Australian PGA Championship.

Punters will rush to back Scott, who is available at odds of 4.33 with Betfred to win the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf but taking out three successive tournaments is a monumental challenge and one should note two important things.

First, Scott did not so much win the Talisker Masters as Kuchar lost it. Kuchar led the Talisker Masters by two strokes with just four holes remaining but the American handed victory to Scott on a plate when he double bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker.

And second, Scott’s course form at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club is really not all that good. Scott competed in the 2011 Presidents Cup and he scored only two points from a possible five for the Internationals. Hot favourites in golf events need to be bulletproof to warrant support and there are sufficient reasons to swerve Scott at his short odds.

Arguably, Kuchar is a better ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf bet at odds of 8.00 with Ladbrokes. For 71 holes Kuchar was the best golfer in the Talisker Masters and it is a big positive that the American has not flown direct to Australia for the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf. Also, while Kuchar only scored one and a half points for the United States of America in the 2011 Presidents Cup at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, his performances were superior to those of Scott. Kuchar could have finished that team competition with a perfect record because the three rubbers that he lost went down to the wire, with his three defeats all being by one hole.

Jason Day is the other golfer whom bookmakers are quoting at relatively short odds to win the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf. Day has had a traumatic week having found out that eight of his relatives died as a result of the Philippines typhoon so heaven knows how he will respond on the Royal Melbourne Golf Club track. Day has said that he cannot wait to get out on the course and play alongside his good friend, Scott, but that may be wishful thinking on his part. Also, Day was off the pace during much of the 2011 Presidents Cup and he was lucky to end up with one and a half points.

Of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf favourites, Kuchar, who was seventh in The McGladrey Classic before his second in the Talisker Masters, is the pick at odds of 8.00. However, if one is looking for a bet at a much bigger price then Ryo Ishikawa may be of interest at odds of 51.00 with Unibet.

Ishikawa participated in the 2011 Presidents Cup at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club and he scored two points from a possible four – he sat out one session – including beating Bubba Watson three and two in the singles. Ishikawa’s recent form is pretty good as well, with the Japanese finishing second in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last month. Not many ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf competitors boasts both strong recent and course numbers so one could have a bet on Ishikawa upsetting the odds at 51.00.