The Africa Open gets underway on Thursday and it is South African Retief Goosen who is favourite with the bookmakers. Boylesports have Goosen as 5/1 ante-post favourite, with Charl Schwartzel slightly further back at 11/2. It is the third of four European Tour events to be held in South Africa and ensures the season continues to gather pace.
The event at the East London Golf Club is also part of the South African Sunshine Tour and has been dominated by South African players since the first Africa Open in 2008. Goosen won it in 2009 so he knows what it takes to win at this course and could well justify his 'favourite' tag at 5/1 with Boylesports. He missed last season's event to play on the US PGA Tour but will be back this time around and he has started the 2011 season in fine fettle after finishing second at the South African Open to his great rival Ernie Els. He lost out by just one shot after Els hit a stunning final round 63, but, with no Els at the Africa Open, Goosen will be confident of going one better. He had a solid 2010, he finished in the top six five times and the top ten fourteen times, but needs to break a barren spell of no tournament wins since the Transitions Championship in 2009.
Goosen will no doubt be challenged by defending champion Charl Schwartzel who comes in at odds of 11/2 with Boylesports.com. Schwartzel beat Thomas Aiken, who is 16/1 to win it this year incidentally, by one stroke after producing a final round of 67 last year and he always tends to be in and around the top of the betting at these South African events. The strong South African trio who head the odds for the Africa Open is completed by British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. The South African finished third in the South African Open in December after a disappointing finish to 2010. After winning the Open he had a poor slump in form but his performance before Christmas at the South African Open should give him encouragement for his debut at the Africa Open. Boylesports.com have shortened his odds to win this week from 10/1 to 9/1 on the back of his display last month.
It is the second time the Africa Open has been part of the European Tour and the return of European Darren Clarke has sparked plenty of interest. Clarke has confirmed his attendance here and is 33/1 to win, and he is also due to play at the Joburg Open next week. He looks good with Betfred to be top European here at odds of 8/1 after he finished second here in 2009 which sparked a return to form for him. He is currently 100th in the world rankings and will be hoping for some decent performances early in 2011 to get towards the top 50 and a potential spot at the US Masters in Augusta.
Furthermore, Schwartzel won a thrilling 2010 tournament by just one shot and the odds of another one stroke winning margin is a tempting 5/2 with Boylesports this year.
Africa Open Tips
Tip #1: Retief Goosen to win @ 5/1 with Boylesports
Tip #2: Winning margin of one stroke @ 5/2 with Boylesports
Tip #3: Darren Clarke to finish top European @ 8/1 with Betfred
5/1 Retief Goosen
11/2 Charl Schwartzel
9/1 Louis Oosthuizen
16/1 Thomas Aiken
22/1 James Kingston
22/1 Jaco Van Zyl
25/1 Robert Rock
28/1 Jbe Kruger
30/1 Gareth Maybin
33/1 Chris Wood
33/1 Darren Clarke
33/1 Branden Grace
33/1 Romain Wattel
35/1 BAR
Odds supplied by Boylesports.com bookmakers, who provide a variety of betting markets for the Africa Open.
Posted: Tuesday, 4th January 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: european tour, africa open, retief goosen, darren clarke, boylesports,
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