Hanson sets sights on Rory

Peter Hanson is hoping to make it back-to-back wins at this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions as he targets the Race to Dubai title (Hanson 30/1 – Tournament Outright with bet365).

The 35-year-old gave himself an outside chance of overhauling Rory McIlroy at the top of the European money list with victory in the BMW Masters on Sunday.

The world number one was second in Shanghai last week, and still has a 812,572 euros lead over the Swedish Ryder Cup star, but will play no part in proceedings at Mission Hills this week as he rests ahead of the Barclays Singapore Open.

Hanson has two European Tour wins this season, having claimed the KLM Open just before he was part of Jose Maria Olazabal’s winning side at Medinah, and the world number 17 would love to make it three to give himself a chance of catching the Northern Irishman (Hanson – 12/1 Race to Dubai Winner with bet365).

“I am moving closer to Rory in The Race to Dubai, and the fact he is not at Mission Hills this week gives me a chance to close the gap even more,” he said.

But Hanson knows that, even if he does manage to earn some serious cash this week, he will need to maintain his form right until Dubai with McIlroy showing no signs of slowing down.

“Hopefully, I can keep this form going and be up there again Sunday,” he added. “Because I will need to keep playing like I did last week to have a chance of catching him, given how well he is playing this year.”

Morgan commits to Middlesex

Middlesex County Cricket Club (13/2 to win County Championship Division One 2013 with bet365) have received a massive boost with the news that Eoin Morgan has agreed a new long-term contract with the club.

The 26-year-old England batsman is an established international in the one-day and Twenty20 side and has been part of the Middlesex set-up at Lord’s for close to a decade.

Morgan, who has battled himself into the reckoning for the England Test side and is part of the squad currently touring India (England 4/1 to win Test series with bet365), was awarded an ECB central contract for 2013 and also plays for Indian Premier League for reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

Now established as one of the best batsmen in the world, he offers a huge boost to Middlesex whenever he is available to them and the club are understandably delighted he has put pen-to-paper on the new deal.

Middlesex’s chief executive Vinny Codrington said: “With the exceptional talent he possesses Eoin is quite rightly regarded as one of the most gifted batsmen in world cricket today, and we are delighted that we can continue to call upon his services whenever he is available to us here at Middlesex.”

Morgan’s agreement to a new contract comes closely on the heels of Middlesex announcing that Chris Rogers will continue to captain them in the County Championship next season – they finished third in Division One last season.

Hanson relishing McIlroy battle

Peter Hanson (21/10 to win with bet365) says it will “be fun” as he attempts to hold off the challenge of world number one Rory McIlroy and triumph at the BMW Masters in Shanghai.

McIlroy fired a seven-under-par 65 to move into second place, two shots behind Hanson after the second round at Lake Malaren.

The Northern Irishman, who lifted his second major at the US PGA Championship in August, is aiming to top the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

He leads the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings and the US PGA Tour’s money list with the season coming to a close.

McIlroy (11/2 to win 2013 US Masters with bet365) is on 12-under, with Ryder Cup team-mate Hanson on 14-under after posting a 64 on Friday. Fellow Swede Robert Karlsson is in third on nine-under.

“It’s going to be fun. He’s going to be tough to beat and I’ll play 30 to 40 yards behind him, but hopefully I can give him a game,” said Hanson.

“It’s always nice to follow up a good 66 with an even better round. The greens are beautiful and the course is still pretty soft.”

Justin Rose, who could leapfrog McIlroy at the top of the European Tour money list with victory in China, posted a second successive 68 to lie four behind McIlroy and six off the lead.

The Englishman is in a group including Ireland’s Shane Lowry, winner of the Portugal Masters a fortnight ago, who went round in 64.

McIlroy happy to be in touch

Rory McIlroy was happy with his opening salvo at the BMW Masters but admitted that there is still plenty of improvement needed if he wants to successfully defend the title (3/1 Tournament Outright with bet365).

The world number one fired six birdies with one dropped shot to sign for a round of 67 and a share of fourth place at five-under-par the end of the first day at Lake Malaren.

There is still plenty of work to be done – with Jamie Donaldson (9/2 Outright with bet365) blazing a trail at the top of the leaderboard, following a course record 62 which has taken him four shots clear of the field – but McIlroy was happy to get off to a decent start and early contention.

“Definitely a nice way to finish,” McIlroy said of his nine iron to the last. “I hit probably my best drive and my best iron shot of the day into the last, so always nice to finish like that.

“Jamie has shot 10 under, which is phenomenal scoring, and I was just happy to stay somewhere within touching distance.”

McIlroy heads the standings for the Race to Dubai and will have been delighted to open an early lead on title challengers Justin Rose and Branden Grace, who are one and three shots behind him respectively.

McIlroy concentrating on golf

Rory McIlroy insists he is just fully focused on winning the BMW Masters (9/2 – To Win Outright with bet365) at Lake Malaren in Shanghai this week, despite speculation over a new deal with Nike and his bid to surpass the achievements of Tiger Woods.

The 23-year-old Northern Irishman is one of four players currently occupying the top five places in the world rankings and 11 of the recent Ryder Cup heroes who will be on the hunt for glory in China.

It is an important event for McIlroy as he not only tops the world rankings this season thanks to his second major win, but he is aiming to emulate Luke Donald’s unprecedented PGA and European Tour double from last year.

He currently leads Justin Rose by more than £353,000 in the Race To Dubai (McIlroy 1/4 To Win Outright with bet365), but with a first prize this week in excess of £720,000 and four more weeks still to come the race could have twists and turns to come.

Therefore, McIlroy is not interested in talk of a possible £156million 10-year deal to leave Titleist for Nike or his long-term targets.

He said: “I’m just here to concentrate on golf this week and I’ve got enough to think about trying to get that ball in the hole, so no further comment on that.”

On the BMW Masters, McIlroy added: “It’s very important. That’s the one last big goal of the year. I’ll be giving it my all this week and trying to get another win.”

Van Pelt ready for Sunday showdown

Bo Van Pelt says he is prepared to fight for the Perth International on Sunday after moving one shot clear of the rest of the field with a third round 67 (Van Pelt 11/10 Outright Winner with bet365).

The American competitor holds a slender advantage heading into the final round after a fine back nine in Western Australia, shooting four birdies as he shot a 67 for the second successive round.

Van Pelt’s round, which included a 60ft birdie putt at the last, saw him move to 12-under overall, leaving overnight leader Emiliano Grillo in his wake.

The Argentinian went into Saturday with a four shot lead but ended the day back in third after a one over 73 saw him drop to 10-under overall.

Joining Van Pelt in the last pairing on Sunday will be Evens Outright favourite with bet365, Jason Dufner, who matched his compatriot’s round of 67 to move to 11-under.

Van Pelt says he is expecting to come under pressure from both Dufner and Grillo, while he isn’t ruling out the rest of the top ten yet either.

“Once in a while a hole just gets in the way,” Van Pelt told the European Tour website. “I felt like I hit a pretty good second shot, just carried about five yards further. I was just trying to get the ball down there and two-putt and get out of there, and lo and behold, it goes in the hole.

“There’s still a lot of golf to be played. It was just nice to finish with a birdie like that and hopefully take that into Sunday.”

Dufner looking for redemption Down Under

Jason Dufner admits he is looking forward to getting back to work at this week’s Perth International to draw a line under the disappointment of the Ryder Cup (Dufner 5/1 fav Tournament Outright with bet365).

The 35-year-old was part of Davis Love III’s US team that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Medinah, as Europe stormed back on the final day to claim the Ryder Cup by 14.5 points to 13.5 (Europe 4/5, USA 5/4 2014 Ryder Cup with bet365).

None of the 12 American players that left the Chicago area shell-shocked on September 30 have reappeared in regular events until this week, when Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk will tee it up at the McGladrey Classic on the PGA Tour (Johnson 11/1 fav  Tournament Outright with bet365).

Dufner took some time off before opting to make the long trip to Australia to line up in a decent-looking field including Charl Schwartzel, Bo Van Pelt, Edoardo Molinari and Paul Casey.

The Alabama resident admits that it has not been easy coming to terms with what happened on the final day of the Ryder Cup and he feels that this week’s event in Western Australia is just what he needs to try to move on.

“It’s been a tough couple weeks since the Ryder Cup for myself, and toughest thing about it is you’ve got to wait two years until you can play again.,” he said.

“But I’m looking forward to playing golf again and getting over it and moving past it a little bit.”

Clarke plays down Ryder Cup rumours

Darren Clarke admits it would be an honour to captain the European Ryder Cup team in 2014 but has denied that he has already been offered the job (Europe 4/5, USA 5/4 – Win Outright with bet365).

The Northern Irishman was one of Jose Maria Olazabal’s assistants at Medinah a couple of weeks ago as Europe staged a final-day comeback to beat the USA by 14.5 points to 13.5.

The dust had hardly settled on the amazing contest before thoughts turned to who might succeed the Spaniard when the match moves to Gleneagles in Scotland in two years.

Clarke and Irishman Paul McGinley were the two names immediately linked with the post and both have made it clear they would relish the opportunity to take on the Americans at some stage.

Opinion is divided as to when it would be best for Clarke to be handed the reins, with Lee Westwood favouring the 2011 Open champion at Gleneagles and Rory McIlroy admitting that he feels Clarke should do the job when the Ryder Cup returns stateside in 2016.

It seems inevitable that the jovial 44-year-old will captain the European team at some stage in the future but he was quick to point out on Twitter that he has not been approached about 2014 just yet.

“To clarify, I have not been offered the Ryder Cup captaincy,” he tweeted. “It’s not decided by the committee until January but it would be a huge honour if asked.”

Clarke’s form has dipped appreciably since he claimed his only major at Sandwich last year but he will tee it up in this week’s Portugal Masters on Thursday (Clarke 140/1 – Outright Winner).

A couple of Ryder Cup heroes are also in the field, with Martin Kaymer (16/1) and Francesco Molinari (14/1) set for an outing, while South Africa’s George Coetzee (20/1) has been tipped for a big week at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course.

McIlroy and Woods with it all to do

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods both lost their opening matches in the lucrative Turkish Airlines World Golf Final to mean their much-anticipated showdown later in the week could be meaningless.

McIlroy was well beaten when losing by six shots to Matt Kuchar after struggling from the 15th hole, while Woods lost by just one to Charl Schwartzel after a final bogey on the 18th from the American star.

The world’s top two players are scheduled to play against each other in the final match of Group One on Wednesday afternoon, but if they lose to Schwartzel and Kuchar in the morning, the pair would not be able to reach Thursday’s semi-finals anyway so their clash would be nothing more than a friendly showdown between who many believe are the world’s best two golfers.

“I was playing pretty well until the 15th, then hit a loose tee shot there and was messing about in the trees and making seven,” said McIlroy afterwards, who is 4/7 to beat Schwartzel (5/4) on Wednesday.

“Then I hit it into the hazard on 16 and was just trying to get the round done. I lost a bit of concentration, went a few behind and gave up a bit.

“If it was a different format and a different tournament it might not have got as out of control as it did, but that’s just the way it is.”

McIlroy insisted his focus would be back for Wednesday’s action as he chases a share of the huge £3.2million prize fund while Woods said he was concentrating on his morning match with Kuchar (Woods 4/7, Kuchar 5/4) before thinking about taking on McIlroy.

He said: “I have to take care of my match and we’ll see in the afternoon. We have to both win in the morning.

“We’re the two highest ranked players in the world right now and it will be a fun match either way, but it will obviously be a lot better if we both win in the morning.”

In Group Two, Justin Rose saw off Hunter Mahan by four shots and Lee Westwood overcame Webb Simpson by one after the US Open champion could only manage a bogey the 18th.

McGinley keen on skipper role

Paul McGinley (10/11 – European captain 2014 with bet365) has put his name into the hat to become the next European Ryder Cup captain following the success of Jose Maria Olazabal last weekend.

Team Europe pulled off one of the most exciting comebacks in the history of the prestigious competition, as they overturned a four-point deficit during Sunday’s singles against the USA to retain the title.

McGinley was a vice-captain to Olazabal at the Medinah Country Club and the Irishman has received the backing of players Rory McIlroy and Peter Hanson to take over from the Spaniard.

The 45-year-old has been flattered by the backing and would be interested in taking the job for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles (Europe 4/5 – Ryder Cup 2014 outright with bet365).

McGinley told Sky Sports: “Listen, it’s a great honour for anyone who becomes Ryder Cup captain, there’s no doubt about that and I’m not going to say otherwise. But ultimately it’s not up to me, it’s for other players to decide.

“Rory came out the other day saying it (backing me), but we’ll just have to wait and see how things evolve over the next few months and down the line.

“All I can say is, I’ve captained Great Britain and Ireland twice before and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”