Daily tips for August 1

Golf for August 1

World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational, Firestone Country Club (South), Akron, OH, August 1-4

Such is the strength of the golf calendar these days that barely two weeks have passed since Phil Mickelson was crowned Champion Golfer of the Year but the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone has already rolled around. It’s a superb event at a top-class venue whose practice facilities have been labelled the best in the world more than once, and it’s one limited to an elite bunch of golfers who’ve qualified by various means over the last year. The South Course at Firestone is a layout which has also received glowing reports over the years and rightly so.

Monstrously long despite containing just two par-fives, it’s a course that typically ranks inside the top-20 most difficult layouts on tour and one which definitely lends an advantage to long, straight driving. That’s what I see in the past three champions. Hunter Mahan, Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley all currently rank inside the top-15 in the PGA Tour’s total driving statistic and if asked to list the main strengths of all three, I’d put driving at the top each time. Indeed, both Mahan and Scott ended the season of their wins inside the top-five while Bradley was 11th. What’s also interesting about this trio is that each dropped a big hint the year prior to their win. Mahan had been fourth in 2009, Scott ninth in 2010 and Bradley 15th in 2011 having led at halfway.

• First on my list is a man who ticks all the aforementioned boxes, defending champion Keegan Bradley. Since starring for his nation in last year’s Ryder Cup, Bradley hasn't quite hit the heights we’ve come to expect of the second-youngest ever WGC winner and one of just a handful to have won their first ever major, two indicators of just how good he is. However, there have been some encouraging signs of late and a share of 15th in the Open Championship last time bodes really well for his return to what’s an ideal course. Bradley has gone close to winning both the titles he landed in 2011 again since. He was third as defending PGA champion and returned to the Byron Nelson earlier this year for a solo second behind Sang-moon Bae.

• Likeable veteran Steve Stricker, like Bradley, a former WGC winner and in these big events it often pays to focus on the truly elite players. His total driving ranking will never be good because he's not long enough off the tee, but at eighth in driving accuracy he's hitting fairways with a regularity rarely before seen in his career and that formula so nearly worked for Furyk a year ago. Stricker’s irons are dialled-in – nobody has a higher greens in regulation percentage than him this season – and at 13th in strokes gained putting he’s holing out close to as well as he has for the best part of two decades. A case can be made for Stricker targeting this event and not the following week's PGA Championship, which will be firmly on the mind of some of the younger players.

• He hasn't been at his best for some time, but 33/1 is a price you wouldn't dare lay about Rory McIlroy – least of all here. He’s won six times in the US over the past three years, including four times in 2012, and at his best he would be a clear second-favourite and perhaps even challenging Tiger at the head of the betting. McIlroy was eighth at Doral earlier this year, right after he'd walked off the course at perhaps his lowest ebb in the Honda Classic. It’s a demonstration that he can rediscover his form quickly given the right course and the right event. McIlroy is actually on a very similar run to Stricker in WGC events. Whether in good or bad form, he keeps turning up in these and is after a 10th consecutive top-10 finish in strokeplay WGCs, a run nobody on the planet can match.

• It goes against the grain to back two former winners of the event but Adam Scott’s share of 45th last year is easily excused given the fact that it came fast on the heels of his infamous capitulation in the Open Championship. Since then he’s not only won the Masters but has finished third in the Open Championship and the WGC-Cadillac at Doral, yet further proof that he's among the very best in the world when it comes to producing when it matters most. And given that Scott ranks 13th in total driving and 20th in greens in regulation, he arrives with every chance of adding to his top-level performances, which have coincided with his link-up with Steve Williams, who was alongside Tiger in his glory days here.

Suggested bets

Adam Scott (outright/each-way top 5) 0.5 units @ $15

Rory McIlroy (outright/each-way top 5) 0.5 units @ $26

Steve Stricker (top 10) one unit @ $2.75

Keegan Bradley (top 10) one unit @ $3.50

Cricket for August 1

Third Test: England v Australia, Old Trafford, Manchester, England, August 1-5 (play starts 7.30pm AEST)

Having collected in the opening two rubbers, I’m putting loyalty aside once again as the bookies have served up another gift for the Third Test starting at Old Trafford tonight. England are far from a perfect Test team, but they are vastly superior to Australia, as evidenced by the 2-0 lead they took in the series with a 347-run demolition job at Lord's. The hosts now head to the ground that perhaps above all others suits their spin-and-reverse-swing-based game plan: Old Trafford. While it’s not particularly recent history, and the square has since been rotated, England have won six of their last seven Tests in Manchester. Two of those wins have been by an innings, one by 10 wickets, one by seven wickets and another by six wickets. England's batsmen play spin and swing better than Australia's, and their bowlers are better exponents of the arts. This really shouldn’t be close. The remarkable thing is the scope for improvement England have in this series: they lead 2-0 without a major contribution from Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott or Kevin Pietersen.

Australia, in contrast, are struggling horribly despite their players performing for the most part as well as can be expected. Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris have both been excellent, but it's been to no avail. England can reasonably expect more from Cook, Trott and Pietersen; Australia are hoping for more from their batting line-up. The only player they can expect more from is Michael Clarke. James Pattinson has been a huge disappointment, and he's out of the series through injury. Australia will rely on full-time controversy and part-time batsman Dave Warner (Test average 39) to be their returning hero – not ideal. Even the weather forecast isn’t helping Australia, with the outlook improving and only scattered showers now expected. And it’s not like England need a full five days to beat this Australia side anyway. The first Test would’ve been done and dusted in four had Ashton Agar been given out stumped six runs into his 98; the Second Test was wrapped up in four and could’ve been sealed sooner had England felt it necessary.

Suggested bet: England WIN (three units @ $1.74)

Other tips (from July 10)

Series Correct Score – England (3-1) 0.5 units @ $7.50 (now $6.00)

Series Correct Score – England (4-1) 0.5 units @ $8 (now $6.50)

Racing for August 1

Horse racing: Sale (Vic), Coffs Harbour (NSW), Rockhampton (Qld), Gawler (SA), Pinjarra (WA), Gosford (NSW). Harness racing: Gold Coast (Qld), Geelong (Vic), Kilmore (Vic), Northam (WA), Penrith (NSW), Tamworth (NSW). Greyhound racing: Albion Park (Qld), Angle Park (SA), Dapto (NSW), Grafton (NSW), Hobart (Tas), Maitland (NSW), Mandurah (WA), Sandown Park (Vic), Shepparton (Vic), Warragul (Vic), Warrnambool (Vic)

It’s an overcast day with the track rated a heavy (8) for the opening of the 2013-14 racing season and the running of the $80,000 Carlton Mid Coffs Harbour Gold Cup over 1600m. A good quality field has been assembled with runners from as far a field as Sydney and Brisbane. Bede Murray’s #3 World Wide looks well placed here but I’m going with the locally owned #6 Hour of Peril. Trained on the Gold Coast by John Nikolic and ridden by Larry Cassidy, the 6yo gelding was a last start winner of the Maclean Cup at Grafton on July 14 with the jockey change paying handsome dividends. He’s down 5kg on that run and will have plenty of time to find a good spot in the run from barrier 13.

Suggested bet: Coffs Harbour R7 #6 Hour of Peril E/W (two units) LOSE (U/P)

Other tips

Sale R2 #2 Bally Tambo (E/W) 2nd ($3.50)

Sale R7 #12 Pemba Nepali (E/W) 2nd ($3.00)

Sale R8 #12 Roxanne of Sydney (E/W) LOSE (U/P)

Gosford R3 #6 One Step Beyond (win) 1st ($1.90)

Gosford R5 #2 Master Gaze (win) LOSE (4th)

Gosford R8 #5 My Question To You (win) LOSE (U/P)

Coffs Harbour R2 #9 Slick Cookie (E/W) 1st ($10.00/$3.00)

Coffs Harbour R6 #3 Dinky Mink (win) 1st ($3.60)

Rockhampton R4 #3 Princely (win) LOSE (U/P)

Rockhampton R5 #4 Motorised (win) 1st ($2.00)

Harness racing tip: Kilmore R7 #3 Artoc (win) 1st ($1.80)
Greyhound racing tip: Dapto R6 #2 Sweet Melon (win) LOSE (4th)

MLB for August 1

Los Angeles Angels (48-57, 21-29 away) @ Texas Rangers (58-49, 31-24 home), Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX, Thursday, August 1, 10.10am

After breaking out of their slump against one of baseball’s hottest pitchers, the Texas Rangers appear poised to continue their turnaround when they face one of the coldest. The Rangers look for another big performance at the plate and a three-game sweep against struggling Jerome Williams and the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Following a two-run, ninth-inning rally to win the opener, Texas (58-49) had another thrilling win Tuesday by tying the game in the ninth and winning it 14-11 on a walk-off, three-run homer by Leonys Martin in the 10th. The Rangers broke through with six runs and 11 hits in four innings off Angels starter C.J. Wilson, who had won seven of his previous eight starts. The Rangers will try to continue that production against Williams (5-7, 4.85 ERA), whose 8.90 ERA since June 22 is the highest in the majors for any pitcher with at least five starts.

The right-hander dropped to 0-5 during a seven-start winless stretch after yielding four runs and six hits over five innings in a 6-4 loss at Oakland on Friday. Williams pitched seven innings and allowed two runs in a 4-2 home win over the Rangers on June 1, 2012. He hasn’t yielded a hit against them over five scoreless innings of relief this season. Texas left-hander Martin Perez (3-3, 4.37) will try to help send Los Angeles (48-57) to its first six-game losing streak since June 4-10, 2011. Perez was tagged for a career-high seven runs (six earned) and eight hits over three-plus innings in an 11-8, 11-inning loss at Cleveland on Friday. He’s 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in his last three outings. This will be the first start against the Angels for Perez, who allowed two hits in one scoreless inning of relief against them in a 6-2 loss July 31, 2012.

Suggested bet: Rangers WIN (3.5 units @ $1.66) WIN, game total +10.5 (1.5 units @ $1.94) LOSE (1-2)

Other tips

IL: Nationals @ Tigers -1.5 $2.60 WIN (1-11)

IL: Diamondbacks @ Rays WIN $1.56 LOSE (7-0)

IL: Yankees @ Dodgers -6 $1.82 WIN (3-0)

AL: Blue Jays @ Athletics WIN $1.65 LOSE (5-2)

AL: Astros @ Orioles -8.5 $1.98 LOSE (11-0)

AL: White Sox @ Indians WIN $1.64 WIN (5-6)

AL: Mariners @ Red Sox WIN $1.65 WIN (4-5)

AL: Royals WIN $1.88 WIN @ Twins +8.5 $1.97 LOSE (4-3)

NL: Reds @ Padres -7 $1.80 WIN (4-1)

NL: Cardinals @ Pirates WIN $1.95 WIN -7 $1.87 LOSE (4-5)

NL: Giants @ Phillies -8.5 $1.95 LOSE (9-2)

NL: Rockies WIN $2.61 @ Braves LOSE (0-9)

NL: Mets @ Marlins -7 $2.10 WIN (2-3)

NL: Brewers @ Cubs WIN $1.79 WIN (1-6)

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