Brasil Classic

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Alexandre Rocha 0.5pts e/w @ 28/1 Various

Being in Brazil it would be wrong not to side with one of the locals given that so few of the Web.com contingent would have played in Brazil, let alone this course. The obvious pick for me was Sao Paulo born and raised Rocha who can be a little hit and miss but who most certainly has a top game on his day. The only Brazilian in the field who has made the cut at the US Open and not only the only Brazilian but more than likely one of the only players in this week's field who has a 4th place finish on the PGA Tour as recently as October last year. In the Latin American swing of the Web.com in 2013, Rocha has made every cut he played in and even finished 4th in the Colombia Championship so he knows how to play to the local conditions. He was born in the area and is still affiliated to the nearby local club Sao Fernando, has finshed 15th and 20th here in 2001 in the Brazil Open and Sao Paulo Open and will be eager to boost the exposure for Brazilian golf with the 2016 Olympics approaching. There is very little to go on in terms of stats for him this year but in two PGA Tour showings he has a GIR average of 70.63% so we will have to hope he can pick up where he left off.

Richard S Johnson 0.25pts e/w @ 50/1 Various

Weathered pro Richard Johnson has seen many a different tour on his travels and currently finds himself splitting his time between the European and Web.com. This week he returns to a course that he has actually played twice on the European Tour, finishing 11th in 2000 and runner up in 2001. This in itself is a definite reason to side with him as he will be one of only a handful of players to have had the privilege to navigate himself around the Sao Paulo track and admirably at that. However, looking past his previous course form we also note a viable candidate in that he not only comes here on the back of a very respectable 13th at the Louisiana Open, but comes here stat rich. So far in 2013 on the Web.com, Johnson ranks 5th in GIR at over 80%, 18th in Driving Accuracy, 3rd in Scrambling, 32nd in Ball Striking and has a Putting Average of 1.793. In Louisiana he hit 80.6% of Greens in Regulation and had a Scrambling % of 71.4 so his game is back on song after a brief hiccup. If the Swede can put all this together again this week and putt like he has consistently been known for on the European Tour in the past, then he will contend here.


Aaron Goldberg 0.25pts e/w @ 66/1 Paddy Power

The main statistical based selection for this week comes in the form of young Goldberg who is on his third full year on the Web.com Tour after what were two strong years previously. The Californian native definitely fits the profile this week in the sense that he ranks 1st in Driving Accuracy at 78.85%, 27th in GIR (76.39%) and 12th in Ball Striking. Through into the mix his Putting Average of 1.782 and 69.64 Scoring Average and we have a player who should be able to dominate this course. He has missed only one cut so far in 2013 (Colombia) but did manage a 9th in Panama which shows that he can acclimatise to the Latin conditions and altitude. While his 52nd place last time out at the Louisiana Open doesn't scream at you, he managed to shoot a second round 63 to ensure that he made the cut and in Chile he shot three of his four rounds under par.

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