Throwaway Thursday

There seems to be very little worth being excited about this week. The most exciting thing is that it's the US Open next week. Whilst I anticipate two thoroughly enjoyable tournaments to watch, firepower is in short supply, as is top class punting opportunity. I think we'll start closer to home this week, and then move stateside.

First up is the Lyoness Open, in Austria. This fiercely named tournament is unlikely to provide fierce competition for the viewers. Defending champ and last-time-out-winner Chris Wood is back out to stamp his authority on the European Tour. I've previously backed players from a combination of current and course form, what course form is better than 1st last year and what current form is better than 1st last time out? A potent mix that I don't see worth looking too much beyond.

Market topper Luiten has been disappointing of late, throwing away opportunities that for someone of his skill should have had little trouble converting in to wins. He does however have fairly solid form here, winning three years ago, runner up on his defence a year later, and 3rd in 2011. A fair lack of current form whisks me away from Luiten.

I am unsure what to make of the PGA Event really. The week before the US Open is not exactly gripping me. Dustin is famously bottle-y since the US Open last year and as I have mentioned before, needs only a confidence boost. He is an all rounder, and will undoubtedly win again soon, and will probably notch a couple of Majors. But he needs the confidence, and this sub-par-ish (no offence chaps) field could be his week, but I won't be betting on the outright until after the conclusion of play today.

What did start to grip me however is Dustin Johnson's first round. The big hitter started to score well and I thought it was high time to get a bet on. I had £20 on Dusto to be first round leader at 13/2. As if he sensed that I had bet on him, Dustin decided to start playing terrible. He bogied his next hole, and then put one in the water on the Par 3.

I was following the action on PGA Tour's leaderboard which has a built in shot tracker function, which is brilliant. Brilliant if your chappie is playing well. If he's playing badly however, it's just like watch a satellite image of your head exploding. Dustin swiftly found himself at plus two for the round and I swiftly found myself cursing his and my own existence.

Just as I was about to kick the chair away from underneath me, Dustin stuck his second shot on the par 5 to eleven feet. I stood awkwardly on the chair and loosened the noose slightly. Dustin holed the putt and I took the rope off. Dustin went on to birdie the next four holes before, you guessed it, knocking it in the water on the next Par 5. This was disappointing, I was expecting birdie, if not better there, and he dropped out of the lead. He then followed this up with a further two birdies and was looking good, leading at five under. Then from nowhere on the 9th (his final hole) he made bogey to drop back to four under, for a share of the lead. At the same time the young Korean Noh, tapped in his birdie at the 18th and overtook Dustin. I'd gone from perhaps having a dead heat to having absolutely nothing. Needless to say I found the rest of the afternoon a little less than fun.

Anyway, back to the European Tour after the first day. Adrian Otaegui has the first round lead. Two shots clear, the world ranker 625 is probably not quite sure what to do at the moment. He's never had a finish better than T6 on the European Tour, and seems unlikely to convert this lead. He's eight under and the next chap in the betting is Bjorn Akesson, two behind at six under. This is another heady world ranker who has posted a few Top 5s on the Tour, so could hold on a little bit. Having said that, I see the real lead as five under, shared by Zander Lombard and Gary Stal. I'm siding with Stal in that arrangement, having won in Abu Dhabi last year, and having won on the Challenge Tour before then. Stal is my pick of the tournament going forward, and looks to be a juicy price at 25/1.

The next pick I have in the Lyoness is Kristoffer Broberg. Not only does he possess an excellent surname (c'mon Bro), he also possesses the skill and the experience to win here. Broberg has a European Tour trophy in his cabinet in the shape of the BMW Masters last year, beating an impressive field including Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Danny Willett and more. Broberg is a big fish (Bro-eam - going too far?) in a small pond and should have little trouble triumphing here. Kris with a K is available at 22/1 and that's the kind of each way value we don't see a whole lot anymore. Snap snap says the hungry shark.

And better late than never is the PGA Tour. Headed up by Hoge, Noh and Stefani, we could be in for an action packed few more days. There are 67 players within 5 shots of the lead, which at this stage leaves the whole tournament wide open. Two reachable par 5s means that anything could happen. Large bodies of water could lend themselves to huge swings, so it's a bookies bonanza and a bettor's bitch of a line up ahead.

Big Boy Belter DJ heads the betting, and with good reason, as mentioned earlier. I imagine that this will finally be his week, and a course known for breaking maiden winners could be the right one to reignite DJ's career. However, at 3/1 with three rounds to play and such a wide open leaderboard, I am not rushing to back Dustin (or anyone, for that matter).

Hoge is world ranking 237 and hasn't won anything since 2011 on the Canadian Tour. Wide berth requested. Noh has a couple of wins on the European Tour and Asian Tour, as well as triumphing in the Zurich Classic two years ago, meaning that he knows what it is to win, but a two year drought may prove difficult to overcome. Shawn (with a W) Stefani is another high in the world rankings contender, with two wins to his name on the Web.com, a brace of second place finishes on the PGA tour in 2014, and nothing since. This maiden breaker course could come to force this weekend, and whilst unlikely, it is possible one of these chaps could win.

A much more likely winner is Colt Knost. Colt brings a string of good form in to this appearance, having missed only one cut in his last 19 starts on the PGA Tour. A smooth swinging, accurate operator who could be well placed to pop his cherry here. Colt finished T3 at The Players, another course which places a premium on accuracy. His drawback however is his lack of distance off the tee, which means that whilst he cruises around birdie-ing about, and being bogey free, one of the big hitters could start taking the course apart, with eagle opportunities abundant, Colt may quickly find himself a light-weight in a heavy-hitters field. Best prices of 14/1 aren't alot to shout about either.

Proven entity Jamie Donaldson is in good form at the moment, and much more reasonably priced at 25/1. I have mocked Mr Harrow for backing the Welsh wonder-man before, but perhaps he's finally recovered from nearly chainsawing his thumb off, and is ready to get Ryder Cup ready.

Another multiple time winner is Steve Stricker, who is thriving in his semi retirement. Quotes of 33/1 are available about this veteran, which hungry sharks will take up. Daniel Berger is hanging around and looking for his maiden win. I would be rushing to back this young man, were it that I didn't think he had a touch of bratishness about him. He responds to poor shots poorly, and seems to struggle to bounce back, which does not make a winner in my mind. Quite how he merits second favouritism in this tournament is beyond me, and his quotes of 14s makes Knost look appealing.

Retief Goosen has been threatening again of late. One of my earliest memories is of Goosen holing out and going on to win some tournament, which has always led to a sense of romanticism about the South African. Backing with the heart however is not for the profitable.

Italian Stallion Francesco Molinari is only three off the lead, and may look an appealing price at 50s, but don't be fooled, more than once old Franny has let me down on the final day, so my policy will be to steer well clear.

A final note on previous winners here. Fabian Gomez 150/1, Brian Gay 100/1, Dustin Johnson 3/1, Harris English 33/1 and Ben Crane 66/1 have all won here previously. Crane looks in best shape of the lot of them and is also most attractively priced. Brooks Koepka will also likely be in the mix come Sunday, though is not well priced at 25/1 given his current position, five shots of the lead. Finally, a wild card. Harold Varner III has been around a lot lately. This happy go lucky chappy is extremely popular on Tour, and could be set to burst through this weekend, so keep an eye out for him. 175/1, by the way.