EUROPEAN TOUR specialist Vince Blissett (@Vince_RFC) returns with three more fancies for this week's World Super 6 event in Perth.
World Super 6 | 16th–19th February 2017 | Sky Sports 4
No returns from the Maybank Championship last week although it wasn’t disastrous from the three picks; Thongchai Jaidee finished up in a tie for 12th, although was never in contention.
Admittedly I didn’t see any of the coverage but looking at the stats and scoring, Jaidee had a decent week without ever really clicking into a high gear.
Joakim Lagergen missed the cut by a shot whilst Soomin Lee had a good first round before tailing off slightly, ending up in a tie for 29th. He’s still one to keep an eye on for now.
World Super 6
Onto this week and we head Down Under to the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth to give it its full name – really rolls off the tongue nicely that one.
It’s a tri-sanctioned tournament between the European Tour, Asian Tour and the Tour of Australasia held at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth.
The course has hosted this tournament in its previous guise as the Perth International since 2012, except in 2015 when it wasn’t played in order to move the tournament to a February slot rather than October.
It would be safe to say the field isn’t very strong; most of the solely European Tour members have decided to give this one a miss with Alex Noren and Louis Oosthuizen being the big names to tee up and are well ahead of the pack in the betting.
The format is a little strange this week, normal stroke play is being played over the first three days with a normal cut at the halfway point but another cut made after round three with just the top 24 on the leaderboard coming back for Sunday.
This is where it gets a bit weird, Sunday will see five rounds of matchplay played over six holes. Just in case you’re thinking how a knockout with 24 players works the top eight after round four are seeded and automatically get a bye into the last 16.
The winner of the tournament is whoever wins the final 1v1 six-hole match on Sunday.
The betting
In terms of betting, the combination of the two formats makes it all a little trickier to figure out, although I’ve settled on treating it like a normal 72-hole tournament.
I’ve searched around a bit but couldn’t find any matchplay records for most of the field and scouring through past records doesn’t seem worth it. The first objective has to be to get into the top 24 and from there anything can happen so that’s the aim – get into the top 24 and see what happens from there.
In all honestly with a poor field and a different format it’s a difficult one to assess this week, anything could happen really. I’ve plumped for a few that I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while and an up and comer that could go well.
Peter Uihlein (25/1 Betfred)
First up Peter Uihlein at 25/1 (Betfred).
Around this time last year he went on a good run of form before a wrist injury ruled him out for most of the season.
On his two appearances at Karrinyup he’s finished fourth and ninth so comes with good course form and also arrives in Perth with two top-10 finishes from four starts in 2017.
I also noticed that he played in the inaugural Paul Lawrie matchplay back in 2015 where he won twice before crashing out to Danny Willet. I’ve been waiting about a year now to back him and this looks like the best opportunity yet.
Mikko Korhonen (50/1 Ladbrokes)
Next up is Mikko Korhonen (50/1 Ladbrokes), not to be confused with his fellow Finn and name sake of Floorball fame (think Ice Hockey but on a floor), who has been priced up at 50/1.
He started the year with a top-10 in South Africa, had a reasonable two tournament desert swing followed by a top-20 last week in Malaysia.
Like Uihlein he also has a good record around this course, finishing in the top-20 on the last two visits.
Last season Mikko finished with the seventh best GIR percentage on tour, consistently hitting around 75% of GIR, which is a great base to build on.
Last week in Malaysia he ranked first in putting which is never a bad thing so if he can carry on that this week hopefully he can find his way into the top 24 or even better.
Brett Coletta (90/1 Betfred)
Last up is Brett Coletta who is available to back anywhere between 50/1 and 90/1. Worth noting he’s 100/1 with 888 but they don’t seem to offer each-way terms.
Coletta is a 21 year-old Australian who has been tipped as having the potential to go a long way within the sport. He’s come up through the ranks with fellow Aussie Curtis Luck who has been garnering a lot more interest recently and as a result is a 60/1 shot this week.
I much prefer Brett for this one, especially at those prices. His last four starts on the Australasian Tour have thrown up results of 1st, 2nd, MC and a 6th and last week played Pebble Beach, he missed the cut there but the experience is a lot more important than the result in my opinion.
It’s a bit of a shot in the dark this one but there’s a chance he gets back on home soil invigorated and ready to make a name for himself.
If he can get to Sunday’s matchplay you never know what can happen and it may just play into the youngsters hands. Or he could arrive in Perth exhausted after a tough week and do rubbish.
Best Bets
World Super 6 – Peter Uihlein (25/1 each-way Betfred)
World Super 6 – Mikko Korhonen (50/1 each-way Ladbrokes)
World Super 6 – Brett Coletta (90/1 each-way Betfred)
