After tipping the Open winner at 28/1 last week, golf expert Ben Coley returns with selections for the Cazoo Classic.
- Ben's selections are over 1500pts in profit since 2016 - click here for golf tipping record and to follow on twitter
Golf betting tips: Cazoo Classic
2pts e.w. Richie Ramsay at 25/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
2pts e.w. Thorbjorn Olesen at 25/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1.5pts e.w. Alexander Bjork at 33/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1pt e.w. Frederic Lacroix at 90/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
0.5pt e.w. Oliver Farr at 200/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
0.5pt e.w. Laird Shepherd at 500/1 (Betfred 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
| |
The Cazoo Classic is not to be confused with the Cazoo Open, but it's easily done: the latter followed last year's Open Championship, when Nacho Elvira beat Justin Harding in a play-off. If there's an easy way to remember it then that was in Wales, and this is an English tournament. Simple, you see. Although in 2021 it was won by a Scotsman, Calum Hill, who is unable to defend his title this week.
One way to avoid such confusion would be to remain at the same course, but with the greatest of respect to London GC, we're getting a big upgrade here as Hillside returns to the schedule. If that rings a bell, then Hillside made its return to the DP World Tour – it was the European Tour back then – in 2019. You remember, don't you? Yes, it hosted the, erm, British Masters. I think need a holiday.
So does the tournament favourite Robert MacIntyre, who was runner-up here during his rookie season. "This is four events on the spin I've played," he told after another cut made in a major championship. "I've got to work out what to do from here. But I need a break. I've played quite a lot of golf in the last week. Some's been good, some bad, but it's definitely going in the right direction."
That last part is encouraging and you can see MacIntyre light up when he talks about working with a new coach, the unfortunately named Simon Shanks. He also revealed that the reason he's here is in fact the course, one where he didn't have to drive the ball as well as he can to push Marcus Kinhult all the way, so there are positives to mitigate concerns that he's put his heart and soul into the last couple of tournaments and with little reward.
Ramsay can outshine young compatriot
At just 12/1, he's ultimately straightforward to bypass and the same is true of Thriston Lawrence, one of several others who have been busy of late. He's bidding to emulate fellow South African, Harding, who followed a good Open performance with a play-off defeat at Celtic Manor, but the market has caught up with how well he's been playing and at 20/1 he makes no appeal.
Instead, I'm really keen on the idea that RICHIE RAMSAY will turn up here with a bit of fire in his belly and given all the other positives, he rates one of the standout options at 25/1.
Judging by his twitter timeline, Ramsay barely missed a shot of the Open Championship and as a Scotsman, he'll have watched it with mixed feelings. Clearly, failing to qualify and therefore being a spectator rather than a participant will have hurt, especially as it was the 150th edition and took place at St Andrews, where Ramsay made the cut back in 2015.
One of the more philosophical characters on the circuit, Ramsay is a master of self-reflection and it was after a phone call with Rory McIlroy in 2012 that he won his biggest title so far up in the Swiss Alps. Four years earlier, his first Challenge Tour win came a fortnight after he'd blown a huge opportunity in Northern Ireland, and his first DP World Tour win came weeks after he'd had a good chance back at the Home of Golf in the Dunhill Links.
He should've won already this year, making a mess of the final hole at the Belfry to finish third, but if anything he's built on that in the way he's played since. Four cuts made have all shown promise and I can forgive anyone for withdrawing from the awful spectacle that is the Porsche European Open, where the emphasis is on making good players look bad with absurdly long holes and water everywhere.
Since a top-10 finish at nearby Lytham in 2012, Olesen had struggled to make an impact in England, but that largely reflects how badly he struggles at Wentworth. The Belfry was plainly more to his liking and his eagle-birdie finish to capture the British Masters there was a reminder of how capable he is.
Unsurprisingly given what had happened over the previous two-and-a-half years, Olesen struggled to back that up in subsequent weeks until putting his way to eighth place in the Irish Open, where he finished with a flourish but just missed out on earning an Open start.
Bjork doesn't often go to the well four times in succession but he did have a nice break following the Scandinavian Mixed, and a missed cut at St Andrews means he's hardly overcooked.
That performance was encouraging, too, as he got close to making the weekend for the first time in a major despite it being a bad course for him. Bjork has never been that effective at St Andrews in the Dunhill Links, and I can scarcely think of worse circumstances for one of the shortest drivers around than a string of driveable par-fours.
No doubt, the over-achievers last week were generally big-hitters – Dean Burmester in 11th, Trey Mullinax in 21st – and Cameron Smith did particularly well to overcome two of the very best drivers on the planet. That tells you everything and explains why Bjork, who would be among the worst drivers on a top-level tour, was never going to be effective.
This French rookie has climbed the ranks with relative ease, winning three times on the Alps Tour and cruising through the Challenge Tour. When I spoke to French journalist Alex Mazas at the beginning of the season, he told me that Lacroix has a heck of a lot of self-belief and that it's only increased since working with Mike Lorenzo Vera's brother, Franck, who coaches a number of the top French players.
Whatever they've been working on, it's helped Lacroix establish himself as one of the most promising iron players on the circuit, and as well as being inside the top 50 in strokes-gained approach, he holds a similar position in the strokes-gained putting statistics. This marks him down as similar in some ways to Olesen and Bjork, albeit longer and less erratic than the latter, and the nature of Hillside should therefore play to his strengths.
It's fair to say we don't have much links experience to go at (though we do have an Alps Tour victory by the coast) but 24th place in the Dutch Open rates a good guide, and so might 21st place at the Belfry. We are still learning about Lacroix, ultimately, but having been fourth at halfway in far stronger Irish Open last time, he'll be a factor if bringing that form with him to the west coast of England.
Welsh winner isn't so Farr fetched
Another angle I'm keen to pursue in some way is experience here in the Amateur Championship, won by Bryden Macpherson back in 2011. Thomas Detry alluded to it as he found himself in contention, while Matt Wallace tied for second alongside MacIntyre and Eddie Pepperell and he too had been involved in that event.
I count a dozen players who have that sneaky bit of course experience and among them, OLIVER FARR gets my speculative vote at a big price.
Farr made the last 16 along with fellow Shropshire man Ashley Chesters, and he also made the cut here in 2019 when not only was he operating on the Challenge Tour, but he'd only played in two tournaments all year. That was a big disadvantage in what was a significantly better field than the one we have here, yet Farr did what he does and ranked fifth in accuracy as he eased to the weekend.
Hitting fairways is very much his main strength, again like Chesters, and he's been doing it lately, ranking inside the top 10 in driving accuracy four times in six starts. Unfortunately, that strength was never going to carry him far in the Open Championship and he missed the cut at St Andrews, but the fact he qualified at Hollinwell is a source of encouragement.
Shepherd is so far famous for winning last year's Amateur Championship in remarkable fashion, recovering from eight down through 17 holes to win in extra holes at Nairn. That helped earn him starts to go with the notoriety and for the most part he's struggled, except for when producing a gutsy second round to make the cut in this event last year.
Further support and information can be found at and .