Steve Palmer's Cyprus Showdown final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 9.30am Sunday

Best bet

Thomas Detry to win the Cyprus Showdown
1pt 17-2 Coral, Ladbrokes

Story so far

The unique format for the inaugural Cyprus Showdown is not everybody's cup of tea, but the two-cut event provided a thrilling end to round three, with pre-tournament favourite Thomas Detry sneaking through to the final round.

Detry, 30-1 market leader at the start of the week before going off a well-backed 25-1 chance on Thursday, cruised through the halfway cut on Friday, but looked in big trouble after posting an early 68 in round three. The Belgian's three-under-par effort came under pressure from Gavin Green and Richard Bland in the final Saturday threeball, but when Green missed his eagle putt on the 18th hole and Bland two putted for par, it meant Detry and the rest of the three-under-par finishers qualified for Sunday.

There will be 19 players going to post for the denouement at Aphrodite Hills - and all are tied for the lead after the second and final scores reset. Detry, having drifted to 25-1 in-running when it seemed three under par would not be enough to progress, is jostling with Sami Valimaki and Robert MacIntyre for market leadership.

Leaderboard (in tee-time order)
Par Matthew Jordan, Bernd Ritthammer, Johannes Veerman, Jamie Donaldson, Marcus Armitage, Niklas Lemke, Louis de Jager, Alexander Levy, Masahiro Kawamura, James Morrison, Jonathan Caldwell, Callum Shinkwin, Robert MacIntyre, Steven Brown, Sami Valimaki, Richard Bland, Gavin Green, Jorge Campillo, Thomas Detry

Best prices
8 R MacIntyre, 17-2 T Detry, S Valimaki, 12 M Jordan, M Armitage, C Shinkwin, J Donaldson, 14 J Veerman, 16 J Campillo, G Green, 18 M Kawamura, J Caldwell, 20 S Brown, L De Jager, J Morrison, 22 A Levy, 25 R Bland, 28 B Ritthammer

Final-round preview

Thomas Detry holed from eight feet for par on the 18th hole in round three and that gutsy conversion may prove pivotal in how the Belgian youngster's career progresses over the next couple of years.

Detry would have been fuming and heartbroken had a bogey six meant a missed cut by a shot - he hacked his way up the last when unsure whether a par or a birdie was needed for qualification - but he rolled his rock with assurance to salvage the situation and can approach Sunday in high spirits.

Suddenly, having doubtless spent a couple of hours sulking in the clubhouse as it seemed he was struggling to make the top 16, Detry has advanced in a share of 16th and may have done what a lot of players interviewed this week have said they were hoping to: "Save my best stuff for Sunday!".

Detry has played solidly enough - 66, 66, 68 with one dropped-shot per day - but he has not found top gear and will feel that he has a round in the mid-to-low 60s left in him.

Callum Shinkwin fired a Sunday 63 at this track last week before winning a Cyprus Open playoff a repeat of that would probably be enough for success this time. There is some breeze forecast for the Showdown's closing chapter, so even a 65 may have a chance, depending on the pin positions.

One of the main reasons for recommending Detry ante-post at 28-1 in Racing Post Sport was that he could forget about leaderboards for the majority of round four. Leaderboards have become an irritant for a maiden who has come mightily close to a breakthrough post-lockdown and the Sunday format means he can play his natural game - powerful and attacking - without worrying about jostling for position on the board. For the first 15 holes or so, Detry can put the blinkers on and gun for as many birdies as possible.

The way he qualified - and with the best Saturday scorers going out first - Detry is in the final twoball. This means he will know what he has got to do over the closing few holes to win - which could be construed as a good thing or a bad thing. It will add pressure but will help with shot selection.

At the odds, the Brussels boy is worth the gamble, and a press-up at 17-2 is advised. He is clearly one of the best players on the European Tour and his moment may have come. The genial Jorge Campillo, a fellow left-below-right putter, is a pleasant playing partner for Detry (8.56am UK and Ireland time) and he can be fancied to have a winning chance going up the par-five 18th.

The list of dangers is obviously long, with Matthew Jordan, Shinkwin and Sami Valimaki arguably the main threats.

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