Niall Lyons has pinpointed a bet in this week's Indian Open at New Delhi.
This year's Indian Open has moved venue from the Delhi Golf Club to the Gary Player-designed course in New Delhi. This isn't exactly welcome as the Delhi Golf Club was a simple classic layout which rewarded the straightest of driving. As a betting heat that was quite tempting so we will need to scrap those plans and study this new course. One thing evident is that it is a brute. Very long and still demanding off the tee. Water comes into play on quite a few holes so from tee to green this will be very demanding and those with a sharp long game will feature on the leaderboard over the weekend.
Anirban Lahiri fronts the market in his home Open and that is not surprising given he has won this event and generally played very well here down the last few years. The Delhi course really suited his game but I'm unsure whether the length of this obstacle will suit. He is in decent enough form with a top 15 posted last time out at the Honda so he can not be discounted. However around the 8/1 mark he is plenty short enough and I'd prefer to invest my money elsewhere.
We don't have to look much further for my best bet of the week. Some will no doubt be worried that I'm following this fella off the edge of a cliff, but not me. RAFAEL CABRERA BELLO has had his fair share of near misses in the last few years. Many steer clear from him for this reason and personally I'd have no qualms with anyone telling me I'm losing the plot for investing in him at 11/1. However, for me this will be a failure for Bello if he doesn't at least contend or win. My main reason for backing him is I've backed him at not much a bigger price in much stronger fields so the 11/1 to me is tempting enough.
He has missed one cut (Sawgrass) in the last 18 months which is an incredible record for someone who hasn't notched a win during that period. I hope this is the time and hope I haven't lost my marbles. His form the last two weeks at the Honda and the WGC has been average in Bello's terms but previous to that he had started the year fairly well. This is a long course and I believe his tee to green game should get him ahead of the rest. He won a number of years back at the Emirates in Dubai which is a 7300+ yards layout.
As ever, our bet will rely on him holing a few putts more than usual but I'm prepared to take the gamble he will. He is talking a good game this week and really he should personally feel he is the one to beat. He has got class above all those in behind. Peter Uihlein goes off very short every week and makes very little impact on the leaderboard over the course of a year. After that we have the inconsistent Coetzee and Aphibarnrat. Not a lot to concern ourselves with and the main dangers could come in the shape of Lahiri and Jordan Smith.
I was tempted to go with Jordan Smith this week as he looks to be developing into a top player. He has started the year quite well for a rookie and I wouldn't put anyone off having a small wager in a weak field. I don't like the look of the event in the States. The Valspar usually throws up quite a few nice bets with the nature of the course but unfortunately looking at the market I see little that appeals and when that happens I always feel it best to sit out and await better opportunities. With Cheltenham on the horizon no doubt a few will be happy with limited stakes this week! Best of luck.
