Luke Donald and Lee Westwood top the betting boards for the Nedbank Golf Challenge taking place at the Gary Player Country Club from the 1^st to the 4^th of December.

Ok time to find a few bets ahead of “Africa’s Major” so lets start with a look at the current Best Book and a few comments on the players.

Lee Westwood 4/1 with Betxchange

The defending champion has a great record at Sun City and although he is not in quite the same nick as he was when winning by 8 shots last year he is surely a massive runner. Like Donald he may be short of a gallop.

Luke Donald 21/5 with Sportingbet

Regulars to our forum would have seen me highlight Donald back in October at what looked very generous odds of 9/2. My expectation was that he would shorten and all was going to plan as he came in to a top price of 7/2. Sadly Donald’s Dad passed away a few weeks ago and on a happier note he and his wife welcomed their 2nd daughter into the world just days thereafter. Donald has not been in action for 5 weeks and given all he has been through his price is on the drift.

Martin Kaymer 6/1 with Voltbet, Hollywood, Bet.co.za, Ladbrokes

There was 14/1 on offer about the German upfront but after a poor 2011 by his standards his game has come together nicely with a stunning win in the HSBC and some good golf in last weeks World Cup. 6/1 does seem too short for a debutant at 1^st glance but truth be told this is not the strongest of fields and I certainly believe he will be course suited.

Charl Schwartzel 13/2 at Sportingbet

The lone South African in the field is on the drift after a disappointing final round in the World Cup. He was joint top scorer for the Internationals in the Presidents Cup though so he must have every chance this week.

Graeme McDowell 15/1 at Betxchange

Like Kaymer this debutant has hinted at coming back to form and if he can get into the thick of things he will be hard to shake.

Francesco Molinari 16.67/1 with World of Sport

The Italian is a late replacement for Thomas Bjorn who has pulled out with a neck injury. He is not quite in the form we saw in 2010 and part of this can be put down to his battling with a wrist injury this season. He has the game to go close but I have a feeling he will struggle this week.

Robert Karlsson 20/1 at World Sports Betting

A hard player to read these days as he is a bit inconsistent. He came closest to challenging Stenson back in 2008 and certainly has the length and accuracy to go well at the Gary Player and at 20/1 he is certainly worth a 2^nd look.

Anders Hansen 20/1 with Betxchange and Hollywood

I was almost hoping Hansen would not make the field this year having had a big strike on him at 5/2 to make the top 6 last year. He looked likely to run a top 3 but made 3 double bogeys down the stretch to finish in 9^th. I was on the verge of ignoring him this year but the fundamentals of why I backed him in 2010 remain (good record in SA, solid form) and I will look to include him in a few match bets.

Simon Dyson 22/1 at Hollywood

He has been on a good run but has shown signs of fading and was not at his best in last weeks SA Open. He makes his debut and I just can’t have him this week.

Jason Dufner 33/1 at Hollywood and Ladbroke

The lone American in the field had a good season on the PGA Tour. He looked set to win the final major of the year but faded over the closing holes to let a fast finishing Keegan Bradley. That aside I don’t really know what he has been up to the last few weeks but it is hard to see him challenging.

Darren Clarke 35/1 at World Sports Betting and World of Sport

The Open Champion has not done much since that victory and was downfield at last weeks Australian PGA. His best performance here was when beaten by Furyk in a 4 man playoff in 2005 and there is a sense that if he loses ground early then this weekend could be something of a party.

KT Kim 40/1 at Betxchange and Ladbrokes

I must confess to taking a nibble at the 60/1 with World of Sport over the weekend. Kim is a debutant and not well known in this part of the world as he plies his trade on the Asian Tour but he showed in the Presidents Cup that he can play good golf and is a brilliant putter. He followed up with a top 10 in the Australian Masters last week where he led after 54 holes before a disappointing final round and he also has a 5^th place finish in the Bridgestone and a 4^th in the Wyndham on the PGA Tour this season. I had lined him up at 33/10 for a top 6 and 13/10 to beat Clarke but in punting if you snooze you lose and those prices are gone.

BETTING ANGLE

I was very bullish on Donald and frankly put an insane amount of money on him to try and help me forget France’s defeat in the RWC final. Events have conspired against that bet and while I still have hope that he can win it I would certainly keep my stakes a lot smaller were I not already involved and in honesty at current prices I would probably look elsewhere. My money is down so I will sit tight and the dangers in my opinion are Westwood and Kaymer.

72 Hole Match Play

I may find a few more before Thursday but here are my early bets:

2 units Kim/McDowell at 17/10 with Betxchange

Both making their 1^st starts in this event and both showing some reasonable form of late. I can’t justify making McDowell such a big favourite which means to me Kim could offer value.

4 units Hansen/Molinari at 9/10 with Betxchange and World Sports Betting

I am starting to warm to Hansen again and I fancy he can beat the late inclusion Molinari.

To Finish Last

I was lining up a big punt on Darren Clarke but have decided to split my stakes a bit and include Molinari.

2 units Clarke at 5/1 with Betxchange – party hard Darren!

1 unit Molinari at 14/1 with World Sports Betting

Regulars to this site will know we have found some great exotic bets in markets such as low round of the week greater than or less than 65.5 or 66.5 as well as the number of shots between 1^st and last (line generally around 18.5) but as I write this there are very few imaginative exotics and we may be paying the price for hitting the bookies hard over the last couple of years. Hopefully I am wrong though and the exotics are on their way so keep an eye on Goodforthegame and the Forum where I and other punters will be posting our bets and sharing our thoughts.

BEST BET MAILING LIST – Why aren’t you on it?

I send out a weekly e-mail with my best bet as well as links to the major previews of the weekend. It’s a free service and can hopefully add some value to your weekend so e-mail me now at brent@goodforthegame.co.za with the heading “Best Bets” and I will include you.

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