The Punter's De-Brief: Young Matteo comes of age at sunny Wentworth

Manassero is the youngest winner of the BMW PGA Championship

With Steve Rawlings - aka The Punter - taking a well deserved holiday, Mike Norman is here to wrap-up last week's golf tournaments on the European and PGA Tours...

Matteo Manassero is the youngest ever winner of the BMW PGA Championship after eventually getting the better of one of Steve Rawlings' In-Play big-price picks Simon Khan at the fourth play-off hole, while at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, Boo Weekley wins on the PGA Tour for the first time in over five years.

Manassero was generally available to back at around the 100.099/1 mark pre-tournament, and was brilliantly picked out by Paul Krishnamurty at 67.0n/a on Betfair's Sportsbook product in betting.betfair's weekly each-way column.

The young Italian trailed overnight leader Alejandro Canizares by two strokes going into Sunday's final round but made his move towards the end of the back nine, making back-to-back birdies on eight and nine thanks to a holed bunker shot on the latter. He would play the back nine in level par, but his 10 under par total was enough to get him into a play-off with Khan and Scotland's Marc Warren.

Warren was eliminated at the first extra hole, but it wasn't until the fourth extra hole that Manassero eventually got the better of 2011 champion Khan.

On the PGA Tour Boo Weekley came from one shot behind going into the final round to beat Matt Kuchar by a single stroke thanks to a stunning exhibition of ball-striking. Weekley was matched at a high of 180.0179/1 to win the tournament.

Steve's Bets

I haven't spoke to Steve directly, but I'm pretty confident he will have made a good profit from trading on this week's event at Wentworth.

True, his pre-tournament picks didn't do great, but he wrote on Friday night that Manassero was the man he fancied most at the halfway stage, and on Sunday morning he detailed in his In-Play Blog why he wanted to get some players off the pace onside, hence backing Khan at 150.0149/1.

So with both Manassero and Khan contesting the play-off Steve will have done very well. In fact, he might even be in a position to extend his holiday for a while yet!

Steve also collected with his 15.014/1 In-Play wager on Weekley at the Crowne Plaza, which given what Steve said before and during the event was a cracking price for someone just one shot off the lead with a round to go. Well done Steve.

PLAYER to avoid

I've emphasised the word 'player' in capitals because put simply, there is only one player that deserves a mention in this section - the Worksop Wobbler, Lee Westwood.

And when I talk about avoiding him, I'm talking specifically when he's in contention and trading very low to win a big tournament. That might not afford many opportunities in the future but still, anyone who is willing to back Westwood at odds-on during the close of a big tournament probably needs to spend a few weeks in a padded cell!

We saw evidence of a vastly improved short game, and some much bolder putting from Westwood during the week, and to be honest, it was extremely refreshing. But at the point he took a two-shot lead after the fifth hole of his final round, the wheels well and truly fell off. And that can only be put down to the pressure of winning a huge event - something I now fear Westwood will never be able to handle.

From the middle of the fairway on holes six and seven he made back-to-back bogies - one virtue of a poor chip, the other thanks to a missed three-foot putt.

And when some wayward driving - something he'd hardly done all week - put more pressure on his putting on holes 11 and 12 Westwood came up short again, missing putts from inside four feet to make bogey and double bogey respectively. Another error on 14, another missed par putt, and Westwood was a spent force - five shots gone in no time for a man who was playing at the top of his game just two hours previous.

Don't be fooled by his post-round comments that he is struggling with his long game. The same play got him to -11 through 59 holes, yet as soon as the pressure taps were turned on he would then play the next nine holes in five over par.

Westwood traded as low as 1.392/5 In-Play and I have no doubt he'll trade low in a big event again soon.

By all means back him pre-tournament, but always remember to lay back if he gets into contention because the feeling is, despite winning over 30 tournaments worldwide, he just doesn't have the bottle to win a Major, a WGC event, or a big Tour event like the one at Wentworth this week.

What have we learnt for next year?

I can't comment much on the Crowne Plaza Invitational as I didn't watch it intensely enough, but I'm sure if there's anything of significance to bring to your attention - other than that third-round leaders have a poor record of converting - then Steve will do so in his weekly previews.

In relation to the BMW PGA Championship however it's perhaps a good idea to remember Steve's In-Play advice that players can come from way off the pace over the weekend, especially on the final day, at this prestigious event.

Khan started the final round five adrift of the leader before shooting a magnificent 66 to get into a play-off, while Miguel Angel Jimenez - also five back at the start of the day - finished just one shot shy of the lead.

Wentworth is a venue that can offer a lot of birdie opportunities, especially when the pressure of winning isn't so great, but it's also a venue that can trip you up if you're trying to protect a lead, or indeed playing under a lot of pressure to stay in contention. In other words, it's an ideal catch-up course if you're starting the day four of five shots back and a few hours ahead of the 'spotlight' groups.

One last simple thing that we've learnt for next year if you're planning to visit Wentworth for the duration of the tournament is this. Don't forget to pack a woolly hat, sun cream, a raincoat, shorts, a thick jumper, an umbrella, a t-shirt, boots, flip-flops, gloves, and your sunglasses!

You'll be pleased to know that Steve will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday to preview this week's two main tournaments, the Nordea Masters and the Memorial Tournament.