Keeping Karma

By Harry Emanuel Last updated: 15th June 2010

If you believe in Karma all deeds are viewed as actively shaping past, present and future experiences or in laymen's terms performing positive actions results in good experiences and negative actions result in bad effects.

As I walked out of the newsagents this morning I saw an old lady struggling to get off the bus and with Royal Ascot and the U.S. Open on I could use some good karma so I was quick to give her a helping hand.

Unfortunately the effects of Karma can be immediate or delayed and delay can be in next life.

It seems that players who perform well at Wentworth are somewhat luckier and take that good Karma onto the U.S. Open not only in this life but in the same year.

Golf's mental doctors who follow the players around might call it form or confidence but whatever you call it supporting Wentworth's top performers at the U.S. Open (each-way) has persistently yielded decent returns over the years.

In 2009 Ross Fisher was second at Wentworth and fifth in the U.S. Open, in 2008 Robert Karlsson was third at Wentworth and went onto finish fourth at Torrey Pines, in 2007 Angel Cabrera was fifth at Wentworth and went onto win the U.S. Open, in 2006 Padraig Harrington was sixth at Wentworth and claimed fifth place at Wingfoot.

Going further back the results are just as impressive. In 2005 Michael Campbell was eighth at Wentworth and won the U.S. Open, in 2004 the U.S. Open winner Goosen was 11th at Wentworth, in 2003 Ernie Els was fourth at Wentworth and fifth at Olympia Fields and in 2002 Nick Faldo finished fifth at the U.S. Open after claiming fourth place at Wentworth.

This year's contenders from Wentworth and their prices for the U.S. Open are: Simon Khan 1st (300-1), Luke Donald 2nd (33-1), Padraig Harrington 6th (28-1), Ross Fisher 10th (125-1) and Lee Westwood 10th (12-1).

It's no surprise there is such a strong correlation as Wentworth feels like a major, there is a strong field, the course is very testing with long rough, players have to drive the ball long and straight, display a tidy short game and sure putting stroke and it comes just three weeks before the U.S. Open.

It has proved just as profitable to follow Wentworth's top performers in the more specialist U.S. Open betting markets such as Top European Player. Last year Ross Fisher took the spoils at a tasty 33-1.

As my loyal twitter followers (all 42 of them) will know I suggested backing Luke Donald at 80-1 two weeks ago and now he is best priced 33-1 it may prove best to support him at 10-1 to be Top European.

He has played well at Pebble in the past, is the form of his life and tops the PGA scrambling stats which will be the deciding factor this week as the greens at Pebble are very small and players will constantly be scrambling for par.

As you know I'm always keen to look at the specialist markets at the Majors and picked out Miguel Angel Jimenez to finish as Top Continental European at 14-1 at this year's Masters and he duly obliged.

The Top Asian Player market with Blue Square which does not include second favourite Vijay Singh makes plenty of appeal.

KJ Choi and YE Yang are short priced favourites but neither is setting the world on fire at the moment. The ever consistent Thongchai Jaidee who finished in front of both them last week is better value at 10-1.

Wiser men than me have been snapping up the 20-1 for Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita whose has been on fire in his homeland recently finishing 1-2-3-27-2 and has a decent shout.

But with much of the talk this year about young golfing prodigies such as Ishikawa, Fowler, Manassero and McIlroy I'm plumping for teenage sensation Seung-yul Noh who has just turned 19 and beat Choi in the Malaysian Open earlier in the year.

He was a creditable 13th at Wentworth and at 14-1 in a 13 runner market with a payout down to third place he could still show a profit if he misses the cut!

Pebble Beach will present a slightly different test this year as at only 7040 yards it is some 500 yards shorter than recent U.S. Open courses. This should bring in some of the shorter hitters who have struggled to contend in recent years.

Tim Clark fits the bill and is high on confidence after winning The Players. He has decent Pebble (10-4-12-m-22-10) and U.S. Open form (13-3-m-17-48-40) and at 66-1 he won't to be far away.

It's seems a long time till kick off on Thursday afternoon so I'm going to dust off the Top Hat and head to Royal Ascot and hope some good Karma comes along for the ride.

Harry Emanuel