WNB Golf Classic

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A move back to the States sees us arrive at the Midland Country Club in Texas for the 13th consecutive year for the WNB Golf Classic. Last year saw a slight alteration to the tournament schedule with the WNB being played in April as opposed to its usual September slot and the same obviously applies this year. It is a 7,380 yard track that is a tricky test due to the level of difficulty in finding the fairways and greens - typically only around 55-60% of players manage to avoid the rough each year while those who grace the top five positions are typically hitting over 70% of GIR. It is also apparent when looking over previous year's stats that Putting Average plays a huge role in determining the top of the leaderboard. Typically players who manage to post an average of around 1.7 find themselves pushing up into a challenging position. With four long birdie-able Par 5s, scoring on these holes will be key as Danny Lee showed in 2011 on his way to victory where he managed to record -11 over the 16 holes. In fact, looking over the last six years of results, the winner's average score on the Par 5 holes has been 8.5 under.

So this week my picks will all be selected on strong Driving Accuracy, Putting Average, GIR and Par 5 stats. It will be a bonus should a player have decent course form or form in Texas as the wind is likely to blow. There is no coincidence that Southern Hemisphere players have fared well here as they are used to challenging windy conditions so it would be advised to cast a keen eye over any that may be playing this week too.

Carlos Ortiz 1.5pts e/w @ 18/1 - Young Mexican Ortiz sits atop the Web.com money list after two wins and a third already this year. All these finishes came in Central/South America where the wind would have blown like it will this week so his adaptability to windy conditions will certainly help him despite the fact he is a course virgin as will the fact that he went to school in Texas. His stats are mightily impressive - 20th Driving Accuracy, 46th GIR, 11 Birdie Average, 29th Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders, 2nd in Scoring Average, 8th in Par Breaking, 2nd in Total Birdies, 1st in Total Eagles and 2nd in the All Round ranking. He is certainly a player in great form and this week he has the added incentive of being just one win away from an automatic PGA tour card. 

Mark Hubbard - 0.75pts e/w @ 66/1 - 24 year old Hubbard has had a great start to the 2014 Web.com season with only one missed cut and three top 10s in just six outings. Those three top 10s all came in Central/South America (Mexico, Panama and Chile) under what will be similar conditions as those found in Texas this week, gusty. He is 10th in Driving Accuracy, 32nd in GIR with 75%, 17th in Scoring Average 24th in Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders and a strong 17th in Birdie Average - in short he should have all the attributes to conquer Midland. The only worry regarding this young player is that this is his first time playing the course but my fears were easily allayed when looking back to 2012 winner Luke Guthrie who was also a course debutant.

Rod Pampling 0.5pts e/w @ 80/1 - The 44 year old Australian seemed an obvious choice to me this week as he has course form in as much as he finished 7th here last year, and his stats fit the mould. In 2014 he is 14th in Driving Accuracy, 18th in Scoring Average, 25th in GIR, 28th in Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders and what may be a useful 15th in Scrambling. He has been sharing his time between the PGA and Web.com tours and while he has only made one cut on three on the PGA, he has made both cuts he has played in on the feeder tour, finishing no worse than 47th.

Steve Wheatcroft - 0.25pts e/w @ 160/1 - Having missed his last two cuts on the Web.com I questioned whether to add Wheatcroft or not but was eventually swayed by his strong Par 5 Birdie or Better standing of 8th for 2014. He has played the Midland course before, finishing 66th last year so has experience of the track and his 46th ranking in both GIR and Birdie Average should also help.

 Total Staked - 6pts