The Chapman Report (7)

Jan 20, 2026 by Jeremy

The golfing year is up and running, the Australian Open is keeping tennis fans up all night, the Oscar nominations are revealed on Thursday, but the fight which might have enlightened us as to whether, in 21-year-old Moses Itauma, Britain has the next heavyweight champion of the world, has had to be put back from Saturday to March 28 because of a training injury.

In golf, we have the 2026 debut of the undisputed world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the American Express pro-am in California, and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy hoping to land his fifth Dubai Desert Classic on the Emirates course he adores.

On last week’s evidence when he played some shoddy, profligate golf at Dubai Creek he’ll have his work cut out. Yet he still had a winning chance with two holes to play. The excuse was he was breaking in new irons.

That will be no consolation to his army of Irish fans who had another setback when their shaky ‘second string’, Shane Lowry, double-bogeyed the last from the middle of the fairway with the trophy there for the taking. Now we know why he’s won only once in Europe since the 2019 Open.

Rather than either of them, I’d sooner back New Zealander Daniel Hillier each-way. He was just a shot away from a playoff on Sunday following two tip-top efforts in the Australian Open and PGA just before Christmas, and boasts stellar form on this week’s Emirates course where he was just a shot shy of a playoff last year with Tyrrell Hatton. He’s well worth a 1pt punt at 25/1 with Paddy Power paying ten places even in stronger company than last week.

As for the American tournament, I’m suggesting something scary – a Betfair lay of the hot favourite! Opposing the great Scheffler is normally the fast route to the poor house – he’s won 19 times since opening his account in 2022. But the AmEx is not one of them. His form at La Quinta reads (reading back from 2025) 11-17-13-missed cut-3.

He’s never won first time out either. And he’s yet to win either of the PGA Tour’s elite pro-ams, the AmEx or Pebble Beach. The slow format playing in fours on different courses over the first three days does not flatter his game. And remember that 50% of the last ten winners have not even been household names in their own household – Hudson Swafford (twice), Adam Long, Andrew Landry and amateur Nick Dunlap.

Who could be this year’s Scottie-slayer? One who won’t be frightened is Bob MacIntyre, the gritty Scot who has one advantage over the fave – he played in Hawaii last week and played well, fourth to Chris Gotterup. Another Ryder Cup hero, Ludvig Aberg, will be a danger too. I’ll just settle for a 2pt lay of Scheffler at 4.3. Somebody else must have had the same idea as the price was 3.9 when I played yesterday.

I’ve backed Amanda Anisimova at 50/1 to make all four Slam semi-finals – she and Elena Rybakina are my two improvers to follow this year – so it was a good start to see her seeded four in the final quarter in Melbourne where she should comfortably breeze through to the last eight. A serious test lurking there is Jessica Pegula if she fulfils her No. 5 seeding. Pegula has won their last three meetings but I’m counting on Anisimova having made considerable progress.

We had Golden Globes success with Erin Doherty at 11/10 for Best Supporting Actress on Television, my only bet, and I’m taking a small interest in Hamnet at 6/1 for Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s not an outstanding movie but just the sort the Academy voters like… Shakespeare, Hamlet, English countryside, great acting, good story, beautifully realised by Chinese director Chloe Zhao.

They say the long odds-on One Battle After Another is a shoo-in but they said the same about the “Gay Western” Brokeback Mountain in 2006 but those who took the 1/7 got burnt fingers when Crash, 14/1 early, zoomed past it. We shall see. 0.5pt Hamnet 5/1 for Best Picture. The rest? No chance!