Nissan Open

Course: Riviera Country Club, Pacific Pallisades, California
Yardage: 7078
Par: 71  (three par-fives)
USGA Rating: 74.3
Greens: Bentgrass and Poa Annua - 5,000 sq.ft  (Tour average: 6,000 sq.ft)

GCSAA Tournament Fact Sheet

Weather Forecast

Best Players Last 10 Years

Past Winners:
2001 - Robert Allenby
2000 - Kirk Triplett
1999 - Ernie Els
1998 - Billy Mayfair
1997 - Nick Faldo
1996 - Craig Stadler
1995 - Corey Pavin
1994 - Corey Pavin
1993 - Tom Kite
1992 - Fred Couples

Outright plays (1 unit unless otherwise stated):

Chris DiMarco to win 25/1 e.w. @ Bet365
Siding with three players in form rather than three players with a decent course history. DiMarco has three top-6 finishes (including victory at the Phoenix Open) in four starts this year and should certainly improve on a best finish of 31st at Riviera.

Bob Estes to win 25/1 e.w. available generally
Estes has finished 10th in the Mercedes Championship and finished very strong to earn 5th place as a selection last week. He's missed the cut in the last two years, but finished 7th in 1999 (plus 6th in 1998 on a different course) and is another who is playing far better coming into this event than in previous years.

Kenny Perry to win 33/1 e.w. @ Heathorns
The same is true for Perry. Three top-6 finishes from four starts this season and can at least boast a 2nd place finish in 1995 here. Like the other selections, he's in form and hits a lot of greens in regulation.

72-hole plays (1 unit unless otherwise stated):

Mark Calcavecchia to beat Lee Westwood -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
Opposing two European Tour players who are playing in their first PGA Tour event of the year and so will be looking to acclimatize this week. Neither has particularly good records on the PGA Tour - Westwood failed to record a single top-10 on American soil from five starts last year - and the Englishman is in particularly torrid form. In his two starts this year, he has finished 58th and missed the cut. The course may suit his game, but he just can't find it! Not a great start to the year for Calc apart from 5th in the Mercedes Championship, but he should make the cut at least.

Darren Clarke to beat Lee Westwood -110 @ Surrey [2 units]
Clarke is also making his 2002 PGA Tour debut in preparation for next week's Matchplay, but he comes into this event off an 8th place finish in the Dimension Data Pro-Am (when Westwood missed the cut) and in his last event in the U.S., he finished 3rd in the NEC Invitational.

Jerry Kelly to beat Lee Westwood -155 @ Camelot [2 units]
One player at the top of his game, another in a slump. Definitely worth the chalk.

Kevin Sutherland to beat Paul McGinley -140 @ WSEX [3 units]
McGinley's 22nd place finish in last year PGA Championship was his best-ever finish on the PGA Tour. With this as a warm-up exercise for next week, I can't see him improving on that performance. Sutherland, on the other hand, is a regular in this event and must be favored in his home state.

Kirk Triplett to beat Paul McGinley -130 @ Camelot [2 units]
A winner of this event two years ago and was very unlucky to catch the worst of the weather in the 2nd round last year - he followed his 66 with an 81 to miss the cut - Triplett is a course specialist and would be a very strong play were it not for his ankle injury. If he's fit, he'll play; he won't jeopardize his place in next week's event.

Jay Haas to beat Paul McGinley -111 @ Simon Bold [3 units]
Pretty much a continuation of the rejuvenation in Haas' game from the second half of last season. Back-to-back top-20 finishes this season and should go close to a third one this week.

Jay Haas to beat John Senden -125 @ Bet365
Continue to oppose Senden who has been one of the better Tour rookies this season. But Haas is averaging two-thirds of a shot per round lower than Senden in their common events this season, so will oppose him with a small play for probably the last time for a while.

Brian Gay to beat Peter Lonard +100 @ Centrebet
It was an impressive 22nd place finish from Lonard last week having played in Australia in the two previous weeks. Looking for a reaction (tiredness) this week as he battles the difficult Riviera course which is set up for Gay's accuracy rather than Lonard attacking golf. Will bite at this price.

Mid-point update:

Calcavecchia/Westwood Trails by 3
Clarke/Westwood LOST by 8
Kelly/Westwood Trails by 1
Sutherland/McGinley LOST by 3
Triplett/McGinley Trails by 1
Haas/McGinley Trails by 1
Haas/Senden Trails by 2
Gay/Lonard Leads by 4

DiMarco 16th
Estes 16th
Perry 68th

Geez! Down in 7 of 8 matchups. The only saving grace is that only two are decided at the cut. DiMarco and Estes are in contention, just five shots off the pace.

Final update:

Matchups: 2-6-0; -13.30 units

Calcavecchia/Westwood LOST by 2
Kelly/Westwood LOST by 3
Triplett/McGinley WON by 5
Haas/McGinley All Square  (but ties LOSE at Simon Bold)
Haas/Senden LOST by 4
Gay/Lonard WON by 8

Outrights: 0-3; -3.00 units

DiMarco 6th
Estes 19th
Perry 50th

Demoralizing   Unbelievably poor state of affairs capping the 2002 PGA Tour season. Suffered early on last year, but not into February. Westwood's high finish was a big surprise; McGinley's 74th position was not, though it was galling that a three-unit play against him lost via the 'ties lose' rule. DiMarco was never really in contention, but typically fell one shot short of a payout.