The International

Outright plays (1 unit):

Vijay Singh to win 12/1 e.w. available generally
Find it hard to pass up these odds on Singh and Love. They are both former winners of this event, both rank in the top-10 in the birdie stat categories and are both in great form. Singh has yet to finish outside the top-20 of any event since the Players Championship in March (11 events)! That run includes a win (Byron Nelson Championship) as well as two 2nd place finishes. He has a good record on this course and should be on the leaderboard on Sunday.

Davis Love to win 16/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler and Paddy Power
DL3 has been just as consistent as Singh this season - he has 11 top-20 finishes from 14 starts this year, including three wins and a further 2nd place. Like Singh, he ranks in the top-10 in the 'birdie conversion' and 'birdie average' stats, plus he also ranks in the top-10 in the eagles stat as well. He seems perfectly poised to post yet another title-contending effort.

Fred Funk to finish in the top-five 25/1 @ SkyBet
Funk may not be as prolific a winner as the first two selections - and he probably won't win again until he joins the Champions Tour in three years time - but these are extremely large odds for a place finish. He may not have played in this event since 1995 and the course may be long, but once altitude is taken into account, it only plays as 6,900 yards - well within Funk's range. He is also 2nd ranked in total birdies in 2003 and has finished in the top-five in two of his previous seven starts. Having been a selection at 13/1 to finish in the top-five last week and having been on the fringes of contention throughout, he is certainly worth a speculative punt at almost double last week's odds.

Matchup plays (1 unit):

Briny Baird to beat Heath Slocum -125 @ Carib
Both players in good form, but moreso Baird who has finished 7th and 2nd in the last two weeks. Will side with the player who has far more cuts this year and has a 5-2-0 h2h lead over the past three months.
(Also available at Aces)

Chad Campbell to beat Jose Maria Olazabal -133 @ NordicBet
Few can compare with Campbell's form this season and apart from two runners-up positions in March, that includes two top-10 finishes in his last three PGA Tour starts. Ollie certainly can't match that form and while he is a former winner of this event (1991), he has not played well here since his return from injury. Can't see any reason for this week to be any different.

Fred Couples to beat Geoff Ogilvy -110 @ SIA
Ogilvy did finish 2nd last week and this format should suit his game, but he had missed his previous six cuts so his newly-found confidence should be a little fragile. No such problems for Couples who hasn't missed a cut since January and won an event in that time (Houston Open).
(Also available at Sportingbet and Sporting Odds)

Jay Haas to beat Hank Kuehne -115 @ WWTS
This format should Kuehne, but he has obviously had problems with the altitude as he has missed the cut on all three previous visits. He has a similar problem this year - either very good or very bad weeks - and has yet to finish ahead of Haas in any event in the last three months. Haas can also claim three top-10 finishes in his last eight visits to Castle Pines.

Mike Weir to beat Sergio Garcia -145 @ Aces
Garcia is clearly reaping the rewards from his swing changes as he has recorded his first top-10 finishes of the year in his last two events, but he will need to putt better if he is to challenge for this title. No such frustrations for Weir who has won three times this year, missed only one cut and is a frontrunner (with Furyk) for the Player of the Year award.
(Also available at Carib)

Mike Weir to beat Phil Mickelson -111 @ BetandWin
No sign aspirations for Mickelson - his best finish in his last six events has been 30th and it seems a very long time since he finished 3rd behind Weir at the Masters. His great record in this event has also started to wane - he finished 71st in 2001 and missed the cut last year - so is easily opposed with the best Lefty on Tour at the moment.
(Also available at Nordicbet, Intertops, William Hill and Easybets)

Davis Love to beat Phil Mickelson -133 @ Centrebet
Also easy to oppose Mickelson with two of the outright selections. Love is a very strong candidate for next week's PGA Championship and the days of hit or miss with DL3 have not been frequent in 2003.
(Also available at SIA, Sportingbet and Sporting Odds)

Vijay Singh to beat Phil Mickelson -170 @ WSEX
Shorter odds, but Singh won this event in 1998 and hasn't finished outside the top-20 in any event since March. No comparison between these two players.

Mid-point update:

Baird/Slocum Leads by 1
Campbell/Olazabal Leads by 2
Couples/Ogilvy Trails by 3
Haas/Kuehne WON by 3
Weir/Garcia Trails by 3
Weir/Mickelson Trails by 15
Love/Mickelson Leads by 14
Singh/Mickelson Trails by 3

Singh 4th
Love 1st
Funk mc

This event was almost over yesterday when Love pulled out to a 25pt lead during his round, but a late double-bogey on a par-5 has made it more exciting, I suppose. Only failures were Funk, who floundered, and Weir, who dropped 8pts in his last five holes and could miss the 2nd cut.

Final update:

Matchups: 4-4-0; -0.99 units

Baird/Slocum WON by 9
Campbell/Olazabal LOST by 1
Couples/Ogilvy LOST by 13
Weir/Garcia LOST by 7
Weir/Mickelson LOST by 16
Love/Mickelson WON by 20
Singh/Mickelson WON by 8

Outrights: 2-1; +10.00 units

Singh 2nd
Love 1st

Easy win for Love who was never threatened over the weekend. The final margin of victory was 12 points over another of the selections. Small loss on the matchups, but always nice to finish 1st-2nd, even at short odds!