The Punter 
/ Steven Rawlings / 09 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Clearing the landslide on the 1st fairway
“Torrential overnight rain has flooded the course and even caused a landslide (pictured) on the 1st fairway! Play won’t start again until 2.00pm at the earliest but even that looks extremely optimistic.”
Torrential rain hits Castle Stuart and what was an ideal Open Championship prep has turned into a disaster...
11.10 - July 9, 2011
The Scottish Open has turned into a disaster, and not just from my point of view with none of my picks in with any sort of chance. Thorbjorn Olesen, who was by far my best chance after day one, was dreadful yesterday morning - shooting a woeful 74 in benign conditions when everyone else seemed to be shooting 64's!
I added Nicolas Colsaerts in-running at [44.0] and he's now just about my only chance - currently two shots off the lead held by Scott Jamieson, Peter Whiteford and Graeme McDowell on -11 but there's a long, long way to go, too far as far as the players entered in next week's Open Championship are concerned.
With two delays yesterday thanks to lightening some players still have 13 holes of round two to play. That wouldn't have been a problem had play resumed at the scheduled 7.00am this morning but torrential overnight rain has flooded the course and even caused a landslide (pictured) on the 1st fairway! Play won't start again until 2.00pm at the earliest but even that looks extremely optimistic.
It's a disaster for everyone and what was looking like an ideal prep event for next week is rapidly turning into an ordeal. Here are a few more pictures of the course. It doesn't look good at all and it's hard to envisage them getting four rounds in now. Indeed, you have to wonder whether three's even possible!
At the John Deere Classic, Steve Stricker has moved ominously into the mix and now trails halfway leader Chez Reavie by just two shots. I fiddled about in-running yesterday evening whilst waiting (in vain) for play to resume in Scotland and I managed to back Reavie at [26.0] for very small stakes. That's the good news.
I also backed Jhonattan Vegas at [16.0] and he's now four off the lead and a bit bigger in price but the real disaster was Paul Goydos. I took [48.0] about the veteran just before he teed off for his second round. He'd shot 59 here last year and after an opening five-under par 66 he looked poised to challenge again this year but it wasn't to be - he shot 75 and missed the cut. Oops.
01.00 - July 8, 2011
Day one of the Scottish Open, at the brand new Castle Stuart Links, was an overwhelming success and the cream is already rising to the top. The world number two, Lee Westwood, is tied for the lead on -7 with Chilean Mark Tullo and the world's number one, Luke Donald, is just two behind.
The venue is clearly vulnerable to low scores in calm conditions and rumour has it that the caddies have placed bets that there'll be a 59 there this week but my sadistic side can't wait for the gales to blow - it'll be as tough as it gets then.
From an aesthetic point of view, it's a stunning location with ever-changing scenery and I can see this becoming one of the most popular stops on tour. And it looks an ideal warm-up for next week's Open Championship.
It's probably too early to draw conclusions from the stats but so far they suggest that driving accuracy isn't that important, that the big hitters may have a slight advantage and that the key attributes could well end up being scrambling and putting.
I didn't have a great day with my initial picks and I had to wait until the end of it for any of mine to make an impact. Last of the eight to tee it up was Thorbjorn Olesen and he was by some distance my best performer - shooting an impressive six-under par 66 to trail Westwood and Tullo by just one.
I've added a couple of in-running plays, backing defending champ Edoardo Molinari at [28.0] and Simon Dyson @ [75.0]. Molinari caught my eye after a slow start last week in France and his record in Scotland is certainly not to be sniffed at. In addition to this title, he also won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles last year.
Dyson, thanks to the withdrawal of David Toms, is now in the Open field next week and he could be pepped up by the news. He's certainly not miles behind on -4 and with a nice early start he could get amongst the leaders.
It's been a disappointing start at the John Deere Classic too. I quite fancied Steve Stricker, Jonathan Byrd and Zach Johnson (in particular) but decided to let them all go un-backed. Jonathan Byrd only shot level par and looks out of it but the other two are bang there - both shot -5 and trail first round leader Kris Blanks by three.
Heath Slocum, my only pre-event pick, shot -1 and has to get his skates on. I've haven't done anything else as yet and I'm not in a mad rush to change that.
Barclays Scottish Open pre-event picks:
Robert Rock @ [85.0]
Thorbjorn Olesen @ [90.0]
Richie Ramsay @ [95.0]
Ryan Palmer @ [110.0]
Brendan Steele @ [120.0]
Shane Lowry @ [120.0]
Gregory Bourdy @ [140.0]
Thongchai Jaidee @ [270.0]
In-running plays:
Edoardo Molinari @ [28.0] during round one
Simon Dyson @ [75.0] after day one
Nicolas Colsearts @ [44.0] during round two
John Deere Classic pre-event pick:
Heat Slocum @ [55.0]
In-running plays:
Chez Reavie @ [26.0] during round two
Jhonattan Vegas @ [16.0] during round two
Paul Goydos @ [48.0] after round one
Steve fancies Castle Stuart could be right up Ramsay's street......
It's an agonising end to the Open de France as yet another monster-priced pick comes close but just falls short for the Punter......
With no broadband, it's been a quiet 24 hours for Steve but he's still in with a chance of a winning week......
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