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The fact that you questioned my apparent desertion of Grace and my confession that I did fancy him but had swerved him for the above reasons, did grate away at me, so I did go back and a have a smallish wager on him as a saver.
So thanks for reducing the agonizing stomach churning pains I would be having right now, though I'm still kicking myself for not having a proper bet on him like I did last week.
Nice work Flash, I'm in the top 6,000, so trailing a little, but it's early days, sighhhh
I was also confident of my picks last week and this seemed to be enforced by the two online tipsters I check out (Sportinglife and GolfBetting System), who between the two of them put up all 4 of my picks in europe, priced between 50/1 and 100/1 and one of my 40/1 picks in the USA.
I exclude Matthew Baldwin from that list as at 300/1 he was never going to get any attention, though for much of the tournament he was actually threatening to generate a profit for me.
I always like to go with my own fancies, before reading the pro's picks, but I have to say that I seem to have developed an uncanny loss making knack of coming up with the same picks as the pro's.
Perhaps I've built up a memory bank and ability to read the form like most people, but am focusing too much on the hard facts.
It's hard not to see Rory winning this week, I'd even talked it through with Neil and was going to come over to the dark side and lump on the favorite, but I've already missed the best price and at 7/2 I'm not sure I can pull the trigger.
I guess some credit should also go to Spanky for the picks
Who are you on this week Spanky?
Dubai Classic
I can't argue with Neil and his opinion of Rory this week, in fact I agree with him, but just like my teenage son, who doesn't always listen to my good advice, I've gone and done my own thing.
There's still time for me to add Rory, but for now I've kept it simple and just gone for 3 players who I picked out during the Qatar Masters;
Byeung Hun An, 1 point ew 80/1: Three of the last 4 tournaments he has played have been in this region, he finished 4th in Dubai at the Challenge Tour finale, 12th in Abu Dhabi and 5th last week in Qatar.
Looked very impressive last week and from what I saw if a few more putts had dropped instead of a host of near misses, he would have won.
A bit more luck on the greens this week and he might just get that first win on tour.
Gregory Bourdy, 1 point ew 125/1: played some high quality golf last week in finishing 5th, yet surprisingly for putts per GIR was ranked a lowly 64th of 74 players.
Bourdy was ranked 29th on tour for putting last year and I've always thought of him as a player you can trust with a putter in his hand.
Going with the theory that some players struggle to adapt to the greens at Qatar, going with the fact that tee to green last week he was top 4 and top 6, going with the theory he has played the Desert Swing well and is a 4 time winner on tour who is due his next win.
Benjamin Hebert 1 point ew 150/1: I highlighted him as a player to look out for this year and after last weeks 10th place finish to follow up his win at the Challenge Tour finale in Dubai its clear he enjoys the conditions of the desert Swing.
I was going to say he looks great value for this week and maybe he is, but if he doesn't finish top 5, then I'll admit Rory was better value.
European Tour Starting Balance = -31 points
Qatar Investment = 6 points
Balance Carried Forward = -37 points
Tournament Outright
Hideki Matsuyama, 1.5points ew 33/1, He had a great chance to win this event last year, but I remember thinking at the time, that the realization that the win was on got to him a little over the closing holes.
A few months later he did get his first win and has continued to prove himself to be a top class player, if he gets into contention again this Sunday, the added experience should help see him over the line.
Gary Woodland, 1.5 points ew 33/1, In a field of Watson, Speith, Kuchar, Fowler, Woods, Mickleson, Reed and Haas, Gary Woodland feels like a bit of a 'dark horse' this week and I really like his chances.
His first outing of 2015 was 2 weeks ago at The Sony Open, an event where he was yet to make the cut, this time round he finished 3rd. Though it was 10 shots behind winner Jimmy Walker, that result was eye catching from Woodland.
In 2011 he finished 5th here, shooting 4 rounds in the 60's. Two time winner on tour, wins coming in 2011 and 2013, timing is right for a win in 2015.
Nick Watney, 1 point ew 70/1, former world top 10 player, struggled for much of the last 12-18 months, in fact I believe last year was his worst year on tour.
He took a longer than usual winter break (10 weeks) and returned last week with a 14th place finish, which was his best result for some time, most encouraging was his second round where he took just 20 putts, as its the putting and short game rather than tee to green that deteriorated last season.
He has course form here, so if he can build on last weeks first outing and return to form, Nick Watney could make the 70/1 on offer look like a gift.
PGA TOUR STARTING BALANCE = -30 Points
Humana Challenge Investment = -8 Points
Balance Carried Forwards = -38 Points
Belated picks for the Desert Classic....
Grace...normally plays well in spells (how wrong can I be) 25/1
Willett..top 50 in World now, time to perform in some big name events 40/1
Rock..too good to stay in doldrums forever, has gone well on this course before 150/1
Got em on before the off, wish I hadn't made it in Graces case......
Good luck everybody
Malaysian Open Investment = 8 points
Balance Carried Forward = -45 points
Last week was his third tied 10th in 4 events and encouragingly he looked to be getting back to the old Sned's with the putter.