News Sentinel Open

Subscribe

This week the tour heads to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Sentinel Open. Fox Den Counrty Club boasts long fairways, eight water features and 50 strategically placed bunkers. It also claims that its large greens are well protected and demand a tactical approach. In short, what I gather from this course is that accuracy will be of a premium and for this reason I will be making my primary focus ball striking. It is also apparent that the average winning score in the history of the tournament, has been around the 17 under mark and it is obvious that there is a premium on scoring and good putting so it might be worth looking for player who ranks highly in bogey avoidance and scoring average.

My picks are as follows:

Sam Ryder - 1pt e/w @ 28/1 -  It was between Ryder and Kyle Thompson this week as both are the same price and I have plumped for Ryder given the fact that he was runner up here last year and is already a winner on tour this year. He is 2nd in Ball Striking, 17th in GIR, 20th in Scoring Average and 3rd in the All-Around ranking. Im backing him to go one better this year.

Wes Roach - 0.25pts e/w @ 125/1- Roach has had a very mixed season so far with a host of MCscombined with three top 15s in the last two months. he comes here on the back of a withdrawal and a MC but he can be forgiven for those as his wife recently gave birth. I am hoping that the 'nappy factor' will come into play this week.

Corey Connors - 0.25pts e/w @ 100/1 - Has slightly lost his way on tour after an explosive start to the season but this pick is solely on his stats. He is 4th in Ball Striking, 1st in GIR and 25th in Scoring Average. He has played Fox Den before, finishing a respectable 13th with all four rounds in the 60s. A pure value play as he seems over priced. 

Darron Stiles - 0.25pts e/w @ 200/1 - A wily old verteran who will be making his first appearance this year at a course where he has previously won twice. It is a bit of a flier given his lack of competetive golf but he has always been an accurate driver of the ball and a strong putter. I am hoping that he is back to full fitness and able to rekindle his affinity to Fox Den. 

Total Staked - 3.5pts