World Cup of Golf set to begin

Colin Montgomerie returns to Mission Hills in China where Scotland defend their World Cup of Golf title this weekend.

The 45-year-old looked in decent shape for two days during last week’s Hong Kong Open where he opened with rounds of 68 and 65 en-route to posting a top-20 finish.

After 54 years of disappointment, Scotland finally got their hands on the prestigious trophy 12 months ago when they fended off the United States in a play-off.

Over the previous half-century Scotland had finished second a remarkable six times but shrugged off the tag of bridesmaid to claim the $1.6m first prize.

Whether or not the Scots can claim back to back wins remains to be seen, but it won’t be easy.

Let’s take a look at some of the runners and riders…

 England: England are represented by Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter and World Cup debutant Ross Fisher. Undoubtedly this is one of the strongest pairings of the event with both players showing some decent recent form. England are a best price of 5/1 with Sportingbet. 

 Sweden: The Swedes have an arguably even stronger team with two Ryder Cup players in Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson. Karlsson won the final European Order Of Merit with a brilliant run of form towards the end of last season and Stenson has a great record in this event finishing 2nd in 2005 and 3rd in 2006. The Swedish team are 4/1 with Totesport, Stan James and Canbet.

 Germany: The two-time winners have a solid partnership in Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka. Germany, champions in 2006, have posted five straight top-eight finishes in the event. Sky Bet are offering odds of 16/1 for the Germans to lift the cup.

 Scotland: Reigning champions Scotland have gone for a change in half of the personnel on show with Alastair Forsyth replacing Marc Warren in partnership with Scottish stalwart Colin Montgomerie, who is playing in the event for the tenth time. If you fancy Scotland to retain the title then you will be rewarded with odds of 25/1 from Paddy Power. 

 India: The Asians will field Jyoti Randhawa, an excellent player who has seven victories on the Asian Tour to his name and Jeev Milka Singh who has two victories on the European Tour, including the Bank of Austria Open in 2008. 22/1 with Bet365 looks good value about this team who both have winning experience in Asia. 

 Denmark: Close friends Soren and Anders Hansen will be hoping to improve on last year’s 10th place finish. But do they have enough in the bag to produce the win? Odds of 11/1 with Sky Bet are probably worth an each way punt.

 United States: The most prolific nation in World Cup history has not won the trophy for eight years – their longest wait ever. However, they must not be discounted and in Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker have put together a pairing more than capable of lifting the title for a 24th time. The US are a decent value bet at 12/1 with Bet365.

The Caddy’s tip // Get behind those English boys!

Watch all four days of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Sky Sports.
Live coverage starts on Thursday from 3.30am on Sky Sports 1.

Interview: Anirban Lahiri

When Ian Poulter pulled out of the Singapore Open, the repercussions for one man were massive. Anirban Lahiri was the first reserve, and when Poults decided not to participate, Anirban got the call. We caught up with the young Indian and found out a little bit more about him…

Hello Anirban, first of all, just how excited are you about participating in the Singapore Open?
I am super excited about being here. It means a lot to me to be competing in an event like this and it’s great to be rubbing shoulders with the best in the business.

Where were you when you found out that you would be playing at Sentosa?
I was actually back home in India when I received a call saying that I was first reserve. I was in the midst of shifting into my new house and I took the next available flight down to Singapore. 

I came out in the morning and I asked the Asian Tour office what the situation was and was told that I was still the first reserve. 

I then went back to my room at 3pm as I was really tired and went off to sleep and then had a ‘wake up’ call when the tournament office called to say that I was in the tournament after Ian Poulter pulled out.

I was fast asleep and groggy and then almost hit the ceiling after being told the good news!

You preparation can’t have been great, considering how late you were called up, so what are your aims for the remaining days?
I was certainly under prepared and it showed in my first round. Mentally as well as the course intricacies are concerned. 

You played your first round with Phil Mickelson, how was that?! Was he helpful?
It was great playing with Phil. He is generally quiet and goes about his business professionally. Its been a great learning experience.

A lot has been made of the theft of Ian Poulter’s driver, from a pro’s point of view, just how important are your own clubs?
Ones equipment is very personal and no two clubs can ever be the same. Poulters descision is personal, but I respect a player descision to only play with equipment he is comfortable with.

Since turning Pro in 2007, how have you found it? Obviously it’s a big step up, but you seem to have coped well enough!
I am still coping with the fact that I am a professional now! Its only been a year so its a learning curve for at least another 12 months before I can feel totally comfortable and relaxed.

How big is golf in India? Where does it rank compared to other sports?
Golf is not very big in India because there is only one sport there – Cricket. Fortunately though, Tennis and Golf are fast gaining momentum and our local tour ‘The Professional Golf Tour Of India’ is becoming a force that will soon be recognised worldwide.

We already hosted a Co sanction event with the European tour last year and steps are being taken to take the sport to a higher level all the time.

Your home course is the Eagleton Golf Resort in India, do you get to go back there much?
I stay at Eagleton so my home course is also my home, literally. My coach for the past 5 years, Vijay Divech, is based there and I try to spend as much time there as possible.

At what point did you realise that you were good enough at golf to make a career out of it?
In 2006 I played in the Eisenhower Cup (Amateur World Cup) and then followed that with an Asian Games silver medal for India in that December.

In 2007 I played the Asian Championsips and performed well. I had decided to turn pro this year, but the decision was forced on me October 2007 because I started winning Amateur events in India regularly and by big margins of 9 and 13 shots at times.

I figured that I did not want my game to stagnate as I was not motivated to play Amateur golf. Hence the transition.

Do you have a role model when it comes to golf?
Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els have been my role models of mine.

Where would you like to see yourself in, say, ten years? What does the future hold?
10 years is a long time. God knows what the future holds. But I hope to keep progessing as a pro and moving up the rungs – Asian Tour then Japan Tour, European tour and then end up in the states. (That’s if the banks have recovered by then!)

And finally, what’s your favourite club, and why?
I love my clubs. All of them. But my favourite has got to be my putter. Its like my girlfriend! Upset most of the time but when you sort it and get it right, it makes you feel great.

Thanks a lot for your time Anirban, and good luck in Singapore from everyone at The Caddy!

Poults driven out

In the Chinese year of the Rat, someone made off with Ian Poulter’s driver at the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, leading the Englishman to pull out of the £3.2m Singapore Open.

There were posters all around offering a reward for Poulter’s Cobra driver. While the thief, whose back view was captured on camera, whipped the club from outside the players’ lounge before heading for the professional’s shop where he had a few swings.

Heaven knows what kind of punishment might attach to pinching a driver in those parts. But whatever it might be, it would surely pale into insignificance against what Poulter would like to do to him!

Organisers of the Singapore Open have drafted on India’s Anirban Lahiri as Poulter’s replacement.

But what of Poults decision to pull out? He told BBC Sport that “It’s disappointing, as I did not come all this way not to play, but with so many world ranking points at stake, if I played badly I may have lost ground.”

Fair enough, perhaps.

But is Poults being a little pretentious? Should the loss of his driver really affect him in such a way? Personally, I think that it’s a load of nonsense. You would have thought that he should have been able to get a driver with similar attributes in time for him to play! I mean, I would have lent him my Cobra if he was that desperate…

However, on the other hand, if his head is not right, then poor golf will ultimately follow suit, and with world ranking points at stake, you have to respect his decision.