There’s been more bottom lips than a Bryson bogey this week at Club 20 after our worst week of the post-covid sporting season.

From Wales to Boston, Perth to the Adelaide Oval, a larger than usual betting card resulted in almost sweet f*ck all return for punters who saw quite a lot of their post-covid winnings flushed down the Adelaide Crows toilet.

Tensions have been pretty high this week around the pub, best highlighted by avid keno-er and serial Club 20 pest Robbo losing his shit after eating some stale jatz at the bar.

Apparently the little yo-yo pushed quite a few chips in on Wolff at the Northern Trust and after Wolff’s third round, the lack of freshness in the aforementioned biscuit was enough to put him over the edge, resulting in a massive poop crack / walk out.  He’ll be back of course (guy love his free jatz and cheese), but the mood has been somber now for a few days. 

Even at the usually carefree Club 20 pool deck, splashes just were not as splashy. 

But one of the best things about having a few punts on sport each week is that, even after a really rough week, there is always more sport just a few days away to turn fortunes around.

So like a surfer with severe level 10 chafe walking up the beach to the baby powder / vaseline in his car, our steps towards putting on some bets this week have been comically slow, a little painful and very emotional.

But we got there!

PGA TOUR - BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

Dialing it back this week at Olympia Fields CC for the penultimate event of the shortened 2020 PGA season with three guys at the each-way and one first-round leader play. 

A relatively long par 70 that looks extra penal off the first cut of fairway, Olympia Fields is predominantly defended by quick, undulating bent greens – that is where this event will be won and lost. 

No cut this week with all 70 playing the weekend, so the first assignment is making sure you don’t have a tree in your way on approach, second job is sinking the putt. 

Tempting to take Club 20 favourite Rory McIlroy but after that triple on the second hold on Saturday (and losing over 6 strokes on the greens!) we just can’t pull the trigger even at inflated odds. 

First on the card is the largely disrespected Adam Scott who is sitting below plenty of guys he is just far better than. Missed soooooo many 4-6fters last week which masked a pretty solid tee-to-green game, expect he turns around the flat stick form and contends. 

He is outside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup so every shot counts for Scotty this week if he wants to be at Eastlake next week. 

Next on the board is a guy we almost never take but the odds compel us here with Sungjae Im drifting out to crazy prices on the back of a missed cut at the Nothern Trust. 

He lost almost 3 shots around the greens in Boston in the opening round on his way to a 75 but his second round of 67 was much more encouraging and should have him buoyed for a bounce back this week. There has been a noticeable improvement in his irons over the last three weeks so we’re happy to take the odds here in a reduced field where there is no cut for him to worry about.  

Last each-way play is reigning US Open champion Gary Woodland who has gone off the boil in recent weeks (mostly putter). This course demands accuracy off the tee and sharp accurate approach play just to have a look at a birdy, that is Woodlands game. 

Dual motivations of making it to Eastlake (he is currently just outside the top 30) and getting another week of blissful bubble life away from the twin toddlers should ensure Gary’s course management is spot on – but largely this is an odds play, the guy is capable of winning in this reduced field at over 10x the odds of DJ. Crazy. 

Throwing in Rory for a First Round Leader bet just in case he starts birdy birdy tonight and something inside him just flicks over to domination mode – hopefully he has a middling finish and starts 3-4 shots back at Eastlake then we’ll be all over him like a Crow on a wooden spoon.  

BMW Bets

• Scott, Im and Woodland EW (top 5)
• McIlroy First Round Leader

EUROPEAN TOUR – UK CHAMPIONSHIP

“In other sports you choke, in Golf you throw up”. 

That quote from ‘A Good Walk Spoiled’ recounting the Ryder-Cup winning efforts of Davis Love III approach shot on the 18th at the Brabazon course in 1993 has been in my mind all week in the lead up to this final leg of the ‘UK swing’ of the Euro Tour. 

The field has been injected with plenty of top-end class which is where the winner looks likely to come from, but as I sit and envision the course with its gettable par 5’s and reachable par 4 10th hole, I keep asking myself the question ‘who won’t throw up on themselves’ because for two weeks now on the Euro Tour our guys have been walking off the course with carrot chunks on their polos! 

Gavin Green led the field in approach stats last week at Celtic Manor but just kept making momentum-sapping bogeys, even when just 2 back on the turn on Sunday, he bogeyed the 10th and could not birdy 11. 

A T8 was the best he could manage at the Wales Open but his play hinted at a much bigger upside so we’re sticking with him one last time – he should get good looks at Eagle on the Par 5’s here with his length and approach accuracy, just need him to clean those dropped shots up to contend.

Taking a chance on local Wolverhampton lad Aaron Rai at big odds hoping that ‘home game without the crowd pressure’ theory helps him sink those birdy putts, and we cannot jump off the Calum Hill train now after a solid T8 last week. 

Euro Tour Bets: Gav Green, Aaron Rai and Calum Hill all EW (top 5)

AFL – HAWKS v BOMBERS

Pretty good conditions in Adelaide this afternoon, good for goal kicking especially if you are an Essendon forward up against a Stratton/Sicily-less Hawks backline. 

With Stewart and Daniher getting Frost and Hartley, the likes of Stringer and AMT should see excellent matchups and look well worth taking for a couple of goals.

We’ve settled on Jake Stringer who seems to have been overlooked in betting markets after a quiet game against the Tigers last week and Daniher returning, but McDonald-Tipungwuti appeals almost as much.

We also don’t mind the prices about Liam Shiels to find the footy this arv, with no JOM, no Stratton (Shiels armband?) and coming off a quiet 16-touch game against Port, Shiels will push himself to every possible contest against the old enemy. 

AFL Bets

• Liam Shiels 20+ / 25+ / 30+ Disposals

• Jake Stringer 2+ / 3+ / 4+ Goals

• Multi: Shiels 20+ into Stringer 2 Goals @ 5.10

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