Panasonic Panama Open

FINAL RESULT: 0-3; -3.00pts

Morales 42nd
Duke 16th
Quiroz mc

A week ago the selections were right in the thick of contention; this week they never even got a whiff of it!

Outright plays (1pt):

Wilfredo Morales to win 22/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Would have loved to include exciting young prospect, James Heath, but will not go below 20/1. Instead, I'm sticking with Morales who was a no-show last week. But given that he has only played in three tournaments on the Tour de Las Americas this season, it is probably not a cause for concern. He might not even turn up this week, but if he does then everything that was written about him last week is still valid. He still ranks 3rd in the TDLA Order of Merit when both players above him have played three times as many events. If he plays, he looks a very strong challenger.

Ken Duke to win 28/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Duke could very easily have been playing in the PGA Tour Q-School this week. He shot 68-68 at the Kingwood GC qualifier when poor weather forced the cancellation of the last two rounds. He was three shots outside the top-20 at the time and so lost the PGA Tour Card that he has held this year. As a player who competed on the PGA Tour this season, he is clearly of a different class to this field and can count a top-10 finish in the Reno-Tahoe Open three months ago. On top of this, he competed on this course last year and finished only one shot behind the winner, Charles Warren. He may be rueing not being at PGA West this week, but he certainly has the ability to win this event instead.

Alex Quiroz to win 100/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Quiroz finished 24th last week, which was a good performance in his home Open after having represented Mexico for the third time in the World Cup in Spain the previous week. He is already a winner on the Canadian Tour where he finished in the top-15 on their Order of Merit in 2002 and 2003, so he has been successful playing at a higher level than on the Tour de Las Americas and he also has three years' of course experience at the Coronado Beach & Resort. On his last visit in 2003, he finished 4th and really shouldn't more than half these odds.