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Ryder Cup preview

A bit slow off the mark with this, but we're not expecting prices to change too much on Day 1 anyway, so no harm being patient. Assessing the Ryder Cup for the blog are the experts at Priomha, @priomha, the Australia-based sports trading fund - regulated, transparent and profitable.

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RYDER CUP PREVIEW

One of the great fallacies of the sporting world is that the Ryder Cup is a "team" event. It is a team event in terms of who wins and loses (overall) and that you get to share beers with more than just your caddy, but in terms of execution of rounds it boils down to the individual and it is upon this premise that we have based our analysis and investments.

The foursomes (alternate shot) is the only format that has some dependence on your colleague - even this is a tenuous call at the elite level as it is not as if the pairings have a 16 handicapper and a scratch player where every second shot is from the rough. Worse case scenario is that the longer hitters maybe have to hit longer approaches as their partner is short off the tee (and vice versa). So ultimately we believe it comes down to who has the best golfers on their team and for this reason we think the USA represent great value at $1.80*.

*USA will probably drift a little bit after Day 1 so if you want to keep your powder dry until then do so, otherwise set and forget if trading is not your preferred method.

That is the broad brush summary of the Ryder Cup this year...now for a little detail.

Day 1 - expect a tight opening day with only a point separating the teams We expect the morning session of Day 1 (Foursomes) to go to the USA. They will start with familiar pairings and with typical Yankee bravado come out swinging. The afternoon session of Day 1 (Fourballs) will give the Europeans the opportunity to bridge the gap. Look for there to be only a point in it at the end of Day 1.

Day 2 - USA to win the day and the overall match to be all square or with the USA having a lead of 2 points

We expect the morning session of Day 2 (Foursomes) to go the same way as Day 1 with the USA taking the points. The afternoon session of Day 2 (Fourballs) will see the opportunity for the USA to change their pairings from Day 1 and in doing so will secure an improved performance from the previous day. For Europe to win the Cup they will need to be a 2.5+ points in front going into the final day. We can't see that happening.

Day 3 - USA to take advantage of their home ground advantage and more talent and win the singles

The USA have the stronger team and we see this being the day where they can assert their superiority.

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