The Kemper Open

The rain-delayed finish to the Memorial has left an already weak field diminished even further. When the top-three ranked are Els, Lehman and Leonard [Flesch is not on the starting sheet], then this must be a weak field. Els has just one missed cut here and was erratic at best last week; Lehman has no course form and disappointed last week; and Leonard ... well, the jury remains out until it is seen whether Byron Nelson's coaching has made a real difference to his game.

The event has a history of surprise winners, no less than the 500/1 shot Rich Bee last year! But equally a history of people avoiding victory at all costs, noteworthy in this category is Fred Funk who is local pro and has his own fan club 'Funk's Punks'. Nuff said! The course itself is long for a par-71 [just over 7000 yards], with undulating Bentgrass greens and over 150 acres of rough - well above the average.

Will have matchup plays available later this evening.

72-hole plays:

Stuart Appleby to beat Robert Allenby -125 @ Easybets
Four consecutive top-20 finishes here for Appleby, including being a winner in 1998; first-time for Allenby and has struggled since maiden victory Tour a month ago

Greg Kraft to beat Rich Beem -111 @ Easybets
Won last year after run of poor form & missed cuts. Same thing again this year for Beem, but too much to expect history will repeat itself. At least Kraft is in run of decent form and excellent odds for such a matchup

Bill Glasson to beat Jerry Kelly -120 @ Olympic
2nd last for Glasson, but much depends on his fitness - this will be his fifth event in six weeks. If he feels good, definitely one to side with

Jonathan Kaye to beat Andrew Magee -111 @ SIA or Ladbrokes
Decent current form and a great prospect, Kaye should win this matchup four weeks in every five

Jonathan Kaye to beat Blaine McCallister -111 @ Easybets
Same against McCallister who has impressed of late, but doesn't have a great record of reaching the weekend

David Toms to beat Paul Stankowski -125 @ Intertops
Joint course record holder and in top-6 twice in last three attempts, Toms looks real good for the title this week given current form as well. Stankowski may be approaching some of his old form, but three missed cuts in last four visits here don't look good

Kirk Triplett to beat Paul Stankowski -111 @ Easybets
Top-ranked in this week's for course compatibility stats, Triplett has all-round game to challenge for this title. Been rather erratic of late, but should prosper in this field

1st round plays:

Loren Roberts to beat Bob Estes -110 @ Moneyplays or Five Dimes
Estes has not played here since 1994 and after last week's collapse may be a week to oppose him with someone like Roberts who has played well here recently

David Toms to beat Paul Stankowski -125 @ Five Dimes
Much better than the -150 on offer at GoTo or Moneyplays, Toms should be up with the leaders after day one

Update: 0-2 and -2.35 units for the day

Here we go again After last week's 0-7 start on the dailies, not the start I wanted this week. Roberts lost by a shot to Estes and Toms was a nine-shot loser to Stankowski. A little better on the 72-hole plays: Appleby leads by one, Glasson by nine, Kaye by two over Magee and one over McCallister, while Kraft trails by six and Triplett by one.

2nd round plays:

Justin Leonard to beat Steve Lowery -110 @ Sportbet

Maybe back with some more Sportbet plays before their 9am EST deadline

2nd round update: 0-0-1 for the day

Leonard and Lowery both shot 69s to lie 1st and 2nd on the leaderboard. Of the seven 72-hole plays, three finished at the halfway cut with one win [Glasson over Kelly], but two loses [Toms to Stankowski and Kraft to Beem who also missed the cut]. OF the rest, Appleby and Allenby are tied, Kaye leads Magee by three and McCallister by two, while Triplett trails Stankowski by three.

Back with 3rd round plays in the morning

3rd round plays - more chalk than usual, but have strong leans in these four:

Bill Glasson to beat Franklin Langham -125 @ Bowmans

Jonathan Kaye to beat Frank Nobilo -120 @ William Hill

Tom Lehman to beat Frank Nobilo -130 @ Moneyplays

Justin Leonard to beat Tom Scherrer -140 @ GoTo

3rd round update: 1-3 and -2.85 units

Only winner was Lehman - getting very rare on the dailies right now Of the 72-hole plays, Appleby now leads Allenby by four and Kaye by two over Magee, however Kaye now trails McCallister by one and Triplett trails by three.

Back with 4th round plays in the morning, maybe.

4th round plays:

Bill Glasson to beat Stuart Appleby [tournament] -115 @ Olympic

Bill Glasson to beat Casey Martin -140 @ the Starnet books

Justin Leonard to beat Casey Martin -145 @ GoTo

Jonathan Kaye to beat Scott McCarron [tournament] -130 @ Olympic

Lee Janzen to beat John Daly -135 @ GoTo or Moneyplays

Kirk Triplett to beat Tim Herron -105 @ the Starnet books

Final update: 4-2 and +1.80 units for the day; 10-9-1 and -0.76 units for the week

Glasson was edged out by one shot by Appleby, though both and Leonard comprehensively defeated Casey Martin. Kaye and Janzen also had comfortable margins of victory, but Triplett was the second loss of the day, again by a single shot. Of the 72-hole plays, all four remaining plays were won leaving the record 5-2 on those types of plays. Need to look more closely at my analysis of the daily matchups, they have been killing me for the past two weeks!