Jacob's Creek Open

Outright plays (1.5 units):

Nick O'Hern to win 12/1 e.w. @ Centrebet
Not many firms pricing up this event, so no getting rich quick this week, particularly as the three selections head the market at single figures with SkyBet. With a third of the field starting their season this week and four of the top-five places filled by home players last year, there should again be a strong advantage for the home players. Kooyonga had previous hosted the Ford South Australian Open and is a narrow tree-lined course that has also hosted five Australian Opens. Accuracy off the tee and course knowledge have been important factors behind this week's picks and O'Hern can combine that with excellent form. He was 8th in 1999 and 3rd in 2000 and finished 2nd in the ANZ Championship a few weeks ago. His 38th place finish in the Johnnie Walker Classic two weeks ago was the only time in the last six events that he has finished outside the top-20. After a week's rest, he should be back to his best.

Peter O'Malley to win 14/1 e.w. @ Stan James
O'Malley has had a slow start to the season, yet for a 2nd round 75 in the difficult Friday conditions in the Johnnie Walker Classic, he would have finished very highly in that event. With his game returning and coming back to a course on which his worst finish has been 11th in five previous visits, this looks to be O'Malley's best event of the year so far.

Jarrod Moseley to win 16/1 e.w. @ Stan James
Moseley can't match O'Malley for driving accuracy and greens in regulation stats, but he is not far behind in these important categories this week. He won the Australian PGA Championship at the end of last year and was a top-5 finisher in the ANZ Championship earlier this month, so looks in good shape for this event. Difficult to envisage none of these securing a place finish.

Matchup play (1.5 units):

Peter O'Malley to beat Andre Stolz -118 @ Centrebet
Stolz may have finished 2nd (by 10 shots!) to Els last week, but he has not really impressed on the Australasian Tour over the past three months and his course form is patchy at best - two missed cuts, two further finishes outside the top-50 and 11th last year. This is a much tighter course than last week and O'Malley, as shown by his course form, should come to the fore.

Mid-point update:

O'Malley/Stolz Leads by 3

O'Hern 15th
O'Malley 4th
Moseley 6th

Very good chance of a decent payout over the weekend. Having the Thursday am tee-time was important as the wind does get up in the afternoon on this course and it was important to have a good start to defend. Moseley was the first-round leader, but will gladly have all three tucked in behind the leaders at the halfway stage.

Final update:

Matchups: 0-0-1; -0.11 units

O'Malley/Stolz Tied

Outrights: 0-3; -4.50 units

O'Hern 19th
O'Malley 6th
Moseley 19th

Frustrating blank from a promising event. Moseley collapsed in the final round having started it in 3rd position and O'Malley looked like catching Ogilvie having been in 2nd place on his own on the back nine. Three consecutive bogeys would mean he finished one shot of a place win and four shots behind Ogilvie.