Thomas Pieters
Volvo China Open
Richard Castka
Sportpixgolf.com
Gavin Green
Volvo China Open
Richard Castka
Sportpixgolf.com
Alexander Bjork
Volvo China Open
Richard Castka
Sportpixgolf.com
Connor Syme
James Kennedy
Sean Crocker
James Kennedy
Sami Välimäkl
Sami Välimäkl
Nacho Elvira
James Kennedy
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| Like Murfield Villiage on the PGA Tour last month, Celtic Manor will become the second resort this year to hold back-to-back tour events with the reincarnation of the much loved and missed Wales Open and it will be interesting to see how this week’s challengers fare come next Sunday.
Designed specifically for the 2010 Ryder Cup the Celtic Manor resort was conceived and developed by Sir Terence Matthews. In the late 1970s, Matthews bought a manor house and turned it into a small hotel. Sir Terence’s long-term vision was a golf resort and he employed the design skills of Robert Trent Jones Jnr and the Wentwood Hills course was opened for play in September 1999.
A bit of Augusta, a bit of Florida and a lot of Wales, was how they referred to Wentwood Hills, Trent Jones Jnr described the course as “a true championship course that combines a hilly landscape with the more traditional links-like features of an estuary.
In July 2007, the first course to be built specifically for the Ryder Cup opened for play. The “Twenty Ten”, was a collaboration between the European Tour, golf course architects and European Tour professionals, the objective was to create a unique Ryder Cup venue.
The new Twenty Ten course measures 7,493 yards par 71 and features nine new holes that have been routed through the Usk Valley, and incorporates nine holes from the former Wentwood Hills course, these have been extensively re-fashioned. The new design ensures that each hole is an exacting test but are also designed in a way to make each hole an amphitheater, offering spectators perfect viewing positions to see the action unfold.
For my course review and video click here
For another trusted Celtic Manor review click here
My tips to Win:
Well Thomas Pieters 11/1 – with Coral – certainly hit the ground running at the Celtic Classic at the weekend and it was only the second time he had played competitively over the Celtic Manor course. On this form and with what seems to be a weaker field this week I expect the ex-Ryder Cup player to be right in the thick of it again come Sunday afternoon.
I am sure a final round 63 that see Gavin Green 33/1 – with UniBet – climb up the leaderboard at the Celtic Classic should put him in confident mood and he will be looking to improve on that eleventh place finish this week. Gavin has only been outside the Top 25 twice in his eight starts this year on the European Tour and one of those was at the English Championship, which was his first experience of being in the bubble.
Each-way tips:
Like last week there are some great each-way tips so I am going with three of those again this week and I am going to stick with Alexander Bjork 40/1 – with SportingBet – who got his first taste of the 2020 course finishing just outside the Top 25 at the weekend firing final rounds of 66 and 68 and I am sure he will be looking forward to having another go this week to improve on his final finishing position.
Another player who I am going to stick with is Sean Cocker 50/1 – with SportingBet – and as I said last week Sean has progressed up the leaderboard each week since the restart making the Top 15 at the Hero Open and then the Top 10 at the English Championship, but his third round 73 at Celtic Manor cost him that progression, something I expect him to put right this week.
I hve tipped Connor Syme 50/1 – with OddsChecker – several times since the restart but he just couldn’t seem to put all four rounds together and the week I didn’t tip him he went into the final round leading! Unfortunately for Connor a final round 71 seem him drop a couple of spots, but I am sure he will take a lot of confidence from being right in the thick of the battle. I am sure he learnt a lot from his Sunday experience in the final pairing and playing on the same course he will be able to put all that experience and local knowledge to good use.
Outside tip:
It has taken Sami Välimäkl 100/1 – with SportingBet – sometime to settle back down to playing some good golf since the restart, I am sure the break didn’t help him after getting his first win on the European Tour in Oman which he followed up with a solid performance a week later at the Qatar Masters just before shutdown. Sami seemed to grown in confidence with each round at the Celtic Classic and his second round 68 was his first round under par since the restart. He then followed that up with rounds of 65 and 66, a sign that he started to believe in himself again and I bet he can’t wait for Thursday and especially being over the same course.
Longer odds:
Try Nacho Elvira 175/1 – with SpreadEx
As always good luck
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