GolfSixes Cascais: Steve Palmer's betting preview, lowdown & TV details

TV: Sky Sports Golf, 11am Friday

The GolfSixes has been moved from England, a shock decision given how popular and well attended it had been, but perhaps some football fans will fill the Oitavos Dunes gallery on Friday and Saturday before the Nations League concludes in Porto on Sunday.

England and Portugal are jostling for Nations League favouritism, but there is a huge gap between the two countries in the GolfSixes betting. Tom Lewis and Paul Waring are 6-1 joint-favourites for England, while Ricardo Gouveia and Pedro Figueiredo, numbers 572 and 526 in the world rankings, are 28-1. Only the female duos – Germany Women and England Women – are below the home side in the market.

Palmer's top tip
Ireland 8-1

The venue has changed, but the result may end up the same – defending champions Ireland can retain their GolfSixes title.

Only two of the 16 teams from last year remain unchanged and the best of them is the Irish duo of Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan, who gelled superbly 12 months ago and can represent their country with distinction again.

Moynihan had missed ten cuts in a row – eight on the European Tour and two on the Challenge Tour – prior to last year's GolfSixes. Teaming up with Dunne was just the tonic he needed, though, and gutsy Gav banked the biggest cheque of his career.

This time, Moynihan tees up in the GolfSixes with some healthy recent form behind him. He closed his 2018 Challenge Tour campaign with four top-40s, then finished eighth in the Andalucia Masters and 11th in the Mauritius Open. This term, 12th place in the Oman Open in March and 16th in the Made In Denmark last month have shown a 24-year-old who is becoming increasingly comfortable on the pro circuit.

And Dunne, two years older, more experienced and the senior member of the side, has got his act together just in time to lead Moynihan with authority again. The 2017 British Masters champion, who led the Open as an amateur after three rounds in 2015, closed with a 67 for fourth place in the Made In Denmark last time out. The flickering of form that Dunne showed with third place in the Perth Super 6 in February (the same length of matches he faces this week), and 12th spot in the Corales Championship on the US Tour in March, is threatening to become a full flame.

Oitavos Dunes, a short, firm, fast links, is a fantastic fit for Moynihan and Dunne, two players who have both excelled on links terrain, and the forecast wind just aids the cause of the Irish. Moynihan seems to relish irregular formats and the best result of his Challenge Tour career came with the runner-up spot in the 2017 Andalucia Costa del Sol Match Play 9 – nine-hole jousts on the Iberian Peninsula.

Neither Moynihan or Dunne were embroiled in the 36-hole US Open qualifier at Walton Heath on Monday – unlike 14 of the other 30 players who are competing at Oitavos Dunes – so they have both arrived in Portugal fresh and full of beans. They proved themselves in the greensomes format last year, comfortably handled the fourth-hole shot clock, and the Dublin-born duo have been handed a kind draw from which to work, housed in the same group as England Women.

Next best
Spain 6-1

The biggest dangers to Ireland are arguably Spain, a formidable unit deserving of slight favouritism playing so close to home. Jorge Campillo boasted incredible form figures of 2-2-20-3-1-3 prior to the US PGA – he won the Hassan Trophy then nearly followed up in China the week after – and missed cuts at Bethpage Black and the Made In Denmark are easily forgiven.

A hectic schedule caught up with Campillo, but he opted to skip the Walton Heath US Open qualifier, so has been recharging his batteries. The 14-day gap between cut-time in Denmark and go-time in Portugal means the Campillo who made the game look easy for a couple of months should return at Oitavos Dunes.

Nacho Elvira has also been in hot spring form, finishing second in the Qatar Masters, second in the Maybank Championship and sixth in the Indian Open. He was ten under par for 63 holes at the Belgian Knockout last week – 36 holes of strokeplay, then three matches – then seven under for 36 holes on Monday at Walton Heath, where he ended up as second alternate for the US Open.

Of course, nothing can be taken for granted in six-hole combat, but Ireland and Spain are the outstanding candidates for success. If they win all their matches, they will meet in the semi-finals, so two win-only investments are recommended.

Others to note
England
Lewis has gone off the boil and gave up the ghost at Walton Heath on Monday after opening with a 74. Waring is in better nick, but he blew his US Open hopes with a round-two back-nine wobble at Walton Heath, which was an untimely dent to morale. They both have a good record in Portugal and can edge Group A.

Italy
Renato Paratore withdrew after booking a US Open spot at Walton Heath on Monday for a Major debut. Lorenzo Gagli has replaced him. His partnership with Edoardo Molinari seems unlikely to trouble form-horses Spain, who are in the same group. Italy can battle for runner-up honours with South Africa in Group D.

Australia
Wade Ormsby had his putter stolen from the locker room at the Perth Super 6 in February and his form has suffered since, although the plodder's chalk and cheese combination with powerhouse Scott Hend should progress to the knockout stages thanks to an easy group.

France
Australia and France can be fancied to fill the first two places in Group C. Romain Wattel played well at Walton Heath on Monday, while Victor Perez, a late replacement for US Open qualifier Matt Pavon, is a talented youngster.

Staking plan
Ireland
2pts 8-1 Betway, Coral, Ladbrokes
Spain
2pts 6-1 general

The lowdown

Course Oitavos Dunes, Cascais, Portugal
Prize money €1m (€100,000 to each member of winning team)
Length 1,971 yards
Par 22
Field 16 teams of two

Teams - Group A England (Tom Lewis & Paul Waring), Scotland (Stephen Gallacher & David Law), India (SSP Chawrasia & Gaganjeet Bhullar), Portugal (Pedro Figueiredo & R Gouveia); Group B Ireland (Paul Dunne & Gavin Moynihan), Sweden (Alexander Bjork & Joakim Lagergren), Thailand (Thongchai Jaidee & Phachara Khongwatmai), England Women (Meghan MacLaren & Florentyna Parker); Group C Australia (Scott Hend & Wade Ormsby), France (Victor Perez & Romain Wattel), Wales (Jamie Donaldson & Stuart Manley), Germany Women (Esther Henseleit & Laura Fuenfstueck); Group D South Africa (Brandon Stone & George Coetzee), Italy (Edoardo Molinari & Lorenzo Gagli), Spain (Jorge Campillo & Nacho Elvira), Denmark (JB Hansen & Jeff Winther)

Format Teams are split into four groups of four, competing in six-hole round-robin matches on Friday, before the top two teams from each group progress to the knockout stages – the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place playoff and final – on Saturday. All the matches are greensomes matchplay (both players tee off, the team select their best drive, and they play alternate shot from there). In the group stages, three points are awarded for a victory, with one point for a draw. If teams are level on points, 'holes won' differential will be used to settle ties. If this still does not resolve the tie, it will be decided by a one-hole playoff on the sixth. If the match is still tied after the first extra hole, it will be settled the second time out through a closest to the pin challenge involving both players on the two teams. The team with the closest of the four shots will win the match. The winners of Group A play the runners-up in Group B, the winners of Group C play the runners-up in Group D, the winners of those matches meet in the semi-final; the winners of Group B play the runners-up in Group A, the winners of Group D play the runners-up in Group C, the winners of those matches meet in the semi-final. The fourth hole is the 'shot clock hole', where players taking longer than 30 seconds to hit a shot will be given a one-shot penalty

When to bet By 11.04am Friday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 11am Friday

Last week - Belgian Knockout 1 G Migliozzi (90-1), 2 D Van Driel (150-1), 3 E Ferguson (150-1), 4 G Havret (125-1)

Course overview This is the third GolfSixes event, but the first outside England. Oitavos Dunes is widely regarded as the best course in Portugal and it has hosted their national Open four times – 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009 – with Paul Broadhurst, Pablo Martin, Gregory Bourdy and Michael Hoey the four champions. The six holes used for the GolfSixes are a 416-yard par-four, a 347-yard par-four, a 205-yard par-three, a 354-yard par-four, a 474-yard par-four and a 175-yard par-three. The course bills itself as a 'true links experience', with views across the Atlantic Ocean. The fairways are firm, lined by bunkers, pine trees and scrubland, and typically windswept.

Story of last year Team Ireland, consisting of Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan, beat France in the final at the Centurion Club, St Albans

Weather forecast Dry in the build-up, then sunny and windy for the competition days

Type of player suited to the challenge Experience of last year's event is an advantage given the quirky nature of proceedings. Strong breezes look set to be whipping across Oitavos Dunes throughout the event and neat, tidy, accurate, links-lovers should thrive on this short, fiddly assignment

Key attribute Accuracy

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