US Masters 2014 Preview by James

US Masters 2014.  Leave your ego at the door. Spread betting’s about making money, not tipping winners.

Spring is in the air and that can mean only one thing for golf fans – The Masters is here. We may have lost Tiger to injury this year, but let’s be honest; he’s not the Tiger of old. There was a time when the mere sight of his name anywhere in the first 10 of a leaderboard would put the wind up the guy at the top but not so anymore. Despite his failure to dominate on the course like he used to, nobody can seem to generate the same buzz around an event (especially a Major) the way Tiger still does.

So, no Tiger. Where does that leave us? It leaves us with the most open Masters in years, some would say. McIlroy reckons that not just the Masters , but golf in general is wide open at the minute. I think McIlroy should just concentrate on his game and nothing else, because if he did that, then he wouldn’t be making statements like ‘the game is wide open’ because it wouldn’t be. He’d be dominating the game and maybe then just the race for second would be wide open. When you’re at the top and enjoying yourself, there are few things that will make you change…..money is one of those things. But who could blame the guy, after all, that’s exactly what we’re going to do with McIlroy in the Masters – make money.

We have 24 debutants this year and some of these as you would expect, will struggle on a course that just does not forgive. However, I do expect a few of the ‘new breed’ to cope alright and two in particular to do quite well; Jordan Speight and Patrick Reed. Both these guys have the right attitude as far as I’m concerned and have PGA tour wins under their belt. Reed also has experience at Augusta while a student at Augusta State University. Maybe they won’t have the same debut impact as Jason Day, but we will make money out of them this week.

There are a number of players we can dismiss as winners straight away, but don’t dismiss them totally……I know, I know, that doesn’t make sense. Well that’s the beauty of spread betting; you can still make money by predicting a bad performance. So let’s start right there and first up it’s Justin Rose, current US Open Champion, sorry Justin, it’s not happening. There’s a lot of extra baggage that comes with winning a major and you can’t handle it, but even more importantly, you’re not playing well enough at the minute. When your Major reign ends after the US Open then you’ll lose a bit of that baggage and the game will begin to improve again but until then, no can do. Next up Sergio Garcia, World number 6, finding form at the right time. Will he win the Masters? No chance. Too erratic but more importantly, as we say over here ‘No liathroidi’. Lastly my old buddy Ian Poulter, World number 20, 2 top 10 finishes in the last 4 years. Pack light this weekend Ian, because you won’t be around after Friday. Just the two pink shirts needed.

So who can win? Stats will point to a top 10 in the World rankings. We’ve dismissed 3 of those already and injury rules out a 4th. Personally I think we need to look as little further than the top 10, but I fully expect the 2 Aussies to perform. Anyway, apart from being able to say ‘Oh I tipped the winner’, what benefit are you getting? I’m doing the bets below and whether I pick the winner or not, I’m not bothered. For me it’s about money and not the ego.

Bets:

Sell Rory McIlroy on Leaderboard 100 Index at 18
Buy Jason Day on Leaderboard 100 Index at 15
Sell Sergio Garcia on Leaderboard 100 Index at 12
Sell Justin Rose on Leaderboard 100 Index at 9
Buy Ian Poulter Unlimited Finishing Positions at 40
Sell Jordan Speigh Unlimited Finishing Positions at 33
Sell Patrick Reid Unlimited Finishing Positions at 38

• Any spread prices quoted are indicative and as always prices are subject to fluctuation.
• Please note the opinion, views and forecasts above are of the author and not of Star Spreads.