Nationwide Childrens Hospital Invitational

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This week we find ourselves in Ohio at the Ohio State University Golf Club and at the half way point of the Web.com Tour. The Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational is now in its sixth year and has the tradition of inviting some of the best college golfers to compete. Impressively, twice during the last six years, an amateur has won. Daniel Summerhays of Brigham Young won in 2007 and last season Harris English of Georgia won as an amateur. I don't think it is impreative to solely look for an amateur this week as most bookies have slashed their odds on the youngsters based on this stat. For me, this week I will be mainly focusing on Total Driving as the fairways here are long and tight and since the Jack Nicklaus' revamp in 2005/2006 there are more strategically green protective bunkers in place. For this reason I am also going to look for players who rank well in sand saves and scrambling should they miss the fairway/green.

My picks are as follows.

Morgan Hoffmann - 22-year-old Oklahoma State University graduate has the advantage of having already played in two Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitationals in his short career, finishing 9th and 8th. So far this year on the Web.com Tour he can boast progressive finishes of 58/56/35/4/9 and throw a 29th into the mix at none other than the US Open. This young guy has obvious talent and despite his short price I want him on my side solely for this reason. However, on closer inspection it gets better when looking at his stats with Hoffmann sitting 4th in total driving, 15th in scrambling and 2nd in par breaking. He should be built for this course. 1.5pts e/w @ 28/1 SkyBet

Peter Tomasulo - There aren't many stats to look over this year for Tomasulo as he has only played three events on the Web.com Tour due to injury. However, quite impressively the youngster from Florida has one win and hasn't missed a cut in those three appearances and looks back to his best when he was widely touted as a future star. What really stands out to me, other than his obvious return to form, is Tomasulo's record here in Ohio 56/6/17 when he has been carrying injuries and a 5th in the Chiquita Challenge also in Ohio. He was 22nd in scrambling on his last outing and hit well over 50% of all fairways and Im willing to take a chance on him. 0.5pts @ 66/1 Stan James

Kent Jones - My big odds pick this week is veteran Jones who seems to tick all the required stats for this course. He ranks 36th in DA, 80th in sand saves, 28th in scrambling and 34th in GIR. He has no course form to speak of and his best result to date this year is only a 10th at the Louisiana Open but he has been plying his trade on the PGA in his last two outings so the step down may suit him. 0.25pts e/w @ 200/1 Various

Total staked - 4.5pts