Reno-Tahoe Open

The week after the final major of the year, Ryder Cup qualification has finished and the top players are playing at Akron, Ohio. What reason is there for playing this week? Oh yes, keeping that Tour card. With a field only marginally better than the BC Open, this week's players have exemption on their mind. Winning this event generates a two-year exemption, a decent finish and Q-school might be avoided. Why else would players make the enormously long trips from Colorado to Minnesota to Atlanta to Nevada!

The playing conditions that they will face will be familiar to those at the International at the start of that long loop. The Montreux course is over 7,500 yards long but will play as one of the shorter courses on Tour due to the high altitude (nearly 6,000 feet). As with Castle Pines also, the course winds through tall pines and mountain streams. Accuracy off the tee and a good short game will be more important this week. The final comparison ... both courses were designed by Jack Nicklaus. Unfortunately, only four of the top-10 and one of the top-5 from Castle Pines is in this week's field.

The selections this week are Justin Leonard, Steve Flesch and Billy Andrade. Leonard's swing changes appear to be finally providing some consistency. Ignoring the British Open, his last four PGA Tour events have yielded finishes of 20th, 20th, 10th and 10th. All of those have been against much stronger fields than on offer this week. This is his first visit to Montreux, but he is a different class to much of this week's field.

The second selection, Steve Flesch, is also in fine form. Again ignoring the British Open, his last four events have yielded finishes of 7th, 18th, 35th and 13th. He also finished 7th in this event last year and has an excellent record at Castle Pines as well. Although not renowned for his nerve when in contention, he does look too good a player for his odds this week.

The final selection, Billy Andrade, does not have a very good record in this event or the International. In fact, his record in these events is very poor. However, recent swing changes have yielded a dramatic reversal of form. After missing four cuts in five events, Andrade has finished 3rd, 2nd, mc, 13th, 38th, and 5th since the Buick Classic. Whatever the course, a return to the form that has brought him four Tour victories, including the Invensys Classic in Nevada last year, makes him an appealing play at the available odds.

Outright plays:

Justin Leonard to win 16/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler

Steve Flesch to win 28/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler

Billy Andrade to win 36/1 e.w. @ Olympic

72-hole plays:

Craig Barlow to beat Steve Allan -125 @ Camelot
Not a pretty matchup even for this field. Allan has really struggled since sparkling at Q-school, he has a best of 19th place this season and many more cuts missed than made. Barlow has at least secured a number of top-20 places and has experience of playing at altitude. Allan has played just once, at Castle Pines where he missed the cut by quite a distance

Russ Cochran to beat Paul Gow -115 @ Camelot
Cochran has been playing some very consistent golf of late. He has made the cut in his last eight events, including 8th at the Buick Classic and has plenty of experience of altitude golf. He even finished 9th here two years ago. For Gow, last week's rest was much needed. He had played in all of the previous eight weeks and the effect on his game was obvious. His last four finishes read 2nd, 10th, 37th, 57th. A week's rest may not be enough and nor will just one week's experience of altitude golf at this year's International

Brian Henninger to beat Tommy Tolles -120 @ Camelot
Tolles is another grinder. He also played the previous eight weeks before last week's enforced rest. It brought him little reward with six missed cuts, a 29th and a 59th place finish in that spell. With two missed cuts on this course already, he looks one to oppose. Henninger's form has not been much better, but he has made two cuts from his last three and did finish 4th here last year

Corey Pavin to beat Geoff Ogilvy -110 @ Camelot
Since finishing 2nd at the Honda Classic, Ogilvy has really struggled, missing 9 of the 13 cuts since. He spent last month on the European Tour but it made little difference. With no experience at all of altitude golf, he is one to oppose. Pavin's accuracy off the tee will also be much more appropriate around this course

Mid-point update:

All four matchup plays are decided at the cut and three are winners. Cochran beat Gow by four, Henninger beat Tolles by nine and Pavin beat Ogilvy by seven. The loss was on Barlow who was trailing Allan by eight shots when he missed the cut. Not such good news in the outrights. Andrade missed the cut, while Leonard and Flesch are mid-table only in 34th and 40th position.

Final update: 3-1-0 and +1.75 units

All the matchup plays were decided at the cut. Some convincing wins, but they were needed to cover frustration on the outrights.

Update on outright plays: 1-2 and -1.25 units

Andrade had missed the cut, but Leonard and Flesch brought themselves to the brink of a place return. Flesch followed too many birdies with bogeys and fell back to 10th, while Leonard did at least get a share of 5th place. Disappointing to give up the gains on the matchups.