Golf Central

Hop in the boot love, i've just had the seats cleaned

Colin Montgomerie has had a speeding charge against him dropped after a mistake by Surrey police. On February 24th he was accused of driving his Lexus at 88mph on the M80 near Falkirk, but as a summons was not issued within six months of the offence, he has avoided prosecution under Scottish law.

This is the second time that Monty has dodged a speeding charge; in 2004, he was accused of driving at 96mph on the A3, but in this instance, one of the arresting officers failed to turn up for court and the case collapsed.

Is Monty at the centre of an illegal road-racing gang with the Surrey police force in the palm of his hand? Nothing as exciting as that unfortunately, as his solicitor, Nick Freeman, is well known for getting celebrity clients out of speeding fines on technicalities. As for the road-racing thing, that's also doubtful, he was probably just in a rush to get home for Emmerdale or something.

As Oliver Fisher is something like 50th reserve and unlikely to play in this week's Mercedes Benz Championship, the task of fulfilling the pun based portion of our betting preview has fallen to his namesake, Ross Fisher. Ross won the KLM Open three weeks ago and at 66/1 is at a good each way price to win and 25/1 to finish as the top GB player.

66/1 To Win

25/1 To finish as top GB player

Odds courtesy of Paddy Power

Last week, Graeme Storm was the only one of our picks to make the cut, with the Swiss mountain air doing nothing for Fasth and Jimenez.  This week, in Germany, our picks have been made with cold, clinical, precision to provide you with the most efficient betting preview this side of The Berlin Wall (if it was still there.) With some big names at attractive prices, we're hoping for a little more success.

Bernhard Langer @ 25/1

As the joint promoter of this event, Bernhard would dearly love a win here to make him the oldest European Tour champion ever. He has won here before and in his last European Tour event, the KLM Open, he came third; 25/1 looks like a pretty good each way bet.

Nick Dougherty @ 25/1

Dougherty has finished in the top six in his last four appearances at the Gut Larchenhof G.C and finished as runner-up two years ago. Came second on his last time out at the Scandinavian Masters and will be looking to get off to a good start in the Ryder Cup qualification race, having missed last week's opener.

Colin Montgomerie @ 25/1

Our third pick at 25/1 had a good showing at Gleneagles two weeks ago, is in similar form to Dougherty and also has the benefit of a week's rest.

Odds courtesy of Paddy Power

What's that you say Franz? There's not a single picture of Ken Green on Getty Images?

On this day, in 1988, Ken Green won the Greater Milwaukee Open by six strokes over Jim Gallagher Jr., Donnie Hammond, Mark Calcavecchia, and Dan Pohl.

Ken Green, born in 1958 in Connecticut, was never the most prolific player on Tour but was certainly one of the most controversial. Although he only won five events, Green gained a notoriety and infamy as he was fined over two dozen times by the PGA for offences ranging from sneaking his pals into the Masters in the boot of his car and drinking on the course to signing autographs while playing and swearing at and criticising officials. Famously, in 2003, he jumped into a canal to save his dog from the jaws of an alligator.

Also on this day, in 1997, fed up with England's strict policies on battered Mars Bars and Special Brew, Scotland voted to establish a devoluted Parliament.

Meanwhile, in 2001, the September 11th attacks destroy the World Trade Centre and part of the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people.

And it's Bashar al-Assad! As they say in Syria, to; fat comedian, Johnny Vegas (36), thin musician, Moby (42) and der Kaiser, Franz Beckenbaur (62). Today would also have been D.H Lawrence's 122nd birthday, had he not died of Tuberculosis 77 years ago.

So, did we give those Yanks what for or did they kick our tea-sipping asses?
The latter, it was a close run thing though. It was level after the first day at 6-6 but the Americans won a hard fought contest 12½-11½ in the end.

That was close, how did it go down?
After a very even day of play on the Saturday, the U.S won all four of the morning foursomes on Sunday. It was an uphill struggle for GB and Ireland to get back in it and their 5½ to 2½  singles win wasn't quite enough, as an eagle by Jonathan Moore clinched victory for the U.S.

An 'uphill struggle', surely that's too much of a cliché even for you?
Umm OK, how about: they faced a task of Dawn French-esque proportions.

Terrible. Go back to the tried and tested clichés I think.
OK, Rory McIlroy, Rhys Davies and Lloyd Saltman all put in a sterling effort and chalked up three singles points early doors before Danny Willett sunk a blinding 20-foot putt on the 18th to grab a last-gasp draw with Colt Knost. The U.S snatched a famous victory however as Jamie Lovemark and Johnathan Moore secured the two points needed.

Too many clichés now...
How about this one then? After GB & Ireland's comeback fell just short, Peter McEvoy, the ex-captain said:  “I've never seen such naked courage on a golf course.”

Naked courage? What's that?
Dunno. But it's a shame they didn't have more of it as the U.S.A's win took them to a 33-7 lead in The Walker Cup series.

33-7? Now that's an uphill struggle...