Australian Masters 2011

With things being all quiet in both Europe and the USA, the focus moves down under and the highlight of the Antipodean swing -the Australian Masters. The event has attracted World No. 1 Luke Donald, as well as leading players Ian Poulter, Robert Allenby, John Senden and defending champ Stuart Appleby.

Dates - Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th December

Course - Victoria GC, Melbourne, Australia.

Players - Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Geoff Ogilvy

We take a look at the markets offered by the two big spread firms and sniff out the value...


1. 72-Hole Match Bets- This index awards 1 pt for every shot won by, doubled if one player misses the cut and calculated at that point.
Every time we see John Senden play on the US Tour we wonder how he doesn't win! He strikes the ball as well as anyone on tour. That is why we have chosen him against fellow Aussie Greg Chalmers who will be intent on following up his victories in the Australian Open and PGA last year. In his Open win he held off a charging Senden -this time may play out differently. Buy Senden over Chalmers at 2.

Another matchbet that caught our eyes was the ever-reliable Marcus Fraser to beat a very inconsistent Steven Bowditch. The man from Melbourne Fraser very rarely has anything less than a good day and is trying every step of the way, whereas you're never quite sure whether Bowditch is going to shoot 70 or 80. Buy Fraser at 1.5

2. Challengers Index- Nine players.(50 pts for Win, 30 pts for 2nd, 20 for 3rd, 10 for 4th place)
A player who is definitely in good form is Brad Kennedy (8-11). He won the 2010 WA Open and the 2011 New Zealand Open and we see nobody in the Challengers Index that he will be worrying about. Buy Kennedy at 13.

3. Big Guns Index / Super Index - (50 pts for Win, 30 pts for 2nd, 20 for 3rd, 10 for 4th place)
Melbourne's own Robert Allenby (11-14) is a two-time winner of this tournment and 13-time winner on the Australasian Tour. He always produces a good performance at what he classes as his home tournament. He played in the recent President's Cup -chosen as a captain's pick by Greg Norman (who thought him to be a specialist on melbourne courses) Buy Allenby at 14