Matchup Picks

Tournament Trades (1.5pts):

Stephen Ames to beat Geoff Ogilvy -110 @ SkyBet
Backing the outright selections in the matchups. Ogilvy was 2nd here two years ago and has been in good form recently, but Ames still holds a 7-1-1 h2h lead over him in 2004 and that is enough to warrant a play.
(available widely)

Scott Verplank to beat Geoff Ogilvy -125 @ BlueSq
Verplank is not as dominant against Ogilvy this year, but he is simply in a different of player altogether. Very consistent and with a long history of success on this course.

Stuart Appleby to beat Scott Hoch -120 @ William Hill
Hoch has shown some form in the last two weeks, but he is not consistent enough to be backed in matchups. Appleby leads him 11-2-0 h2h over the past year and deserves to be at much shorter odds in the outright market.

Adding (1.5pts):

Stephen Ames to beat Scott Hoch -115 @ Five Dimes
Just think that the bad weather and late Monday finish will take more out of the older players like Hoch and Azinger than their younger, healthier counterparts. Hoch has put together two good finishes in the last two weeks, but he has still only finished ahead of Ames on one occasion this year.
(also available at BlueSq and Bet365)

Scott Verplank to beat Scott Hoch -130 @ Five Dimes
Verplank missed last week's rain-affect event and that should be of benefit. His form has dipped a little recently, but he is still a far better player than Hoch who is opposed strongly this week.

Jonathan Byrd to beat Paul Azinger -108 @ Five Dimes
Not a lot of weekend golf between these two players this season, but both had a good finish in their last event. For Byrd it was the Heritage Classic and not last week as was the case with Azinger, who was the only one interviewed who called for a 54-hole event and not a Monday finish. He did have a position to defend (so he can't have been too confident about this game), but it also showed that would suffer more than most from the extra day golf. So he is opposed this week.

Neal Lancaster to beat Blaine McCallister -130 @ Five Dimes
Given that Lancaster has a 6-1-0 h2h lead this season (42-12-1 since March 2000), I'll gladly take these odds as their course form is not that divergent.

Final update: 2-5-0; -6.20pts

Ames/Ogilvy WON by 5
Verplank/Ogilvy LOST by 4
Appleby/Hoch LOST by 11
Ames/Hoch WON by 7
Verplank/Hoch LOST by 2
Byrd/Azinger LOST by 2
Lancaster/McCallister LOST (Lancaster wd)

Heavy loss on the event. Could have finished with a profitable 4-3-0 result, but Verplank went backward on the final day. Not so consistent after all.

PGA Tour

Tournament Trades (1.5 pts unless stated):

Stuart Appleby to beat Robert Allenby -114 @ Centrebet
Appleby definitely has the advantage over Allenby in terms of current form and course form, and is probably simply the better player!
Steve Flesch to beat Robert Allenby -111 @ Stan James & Paddy Power
Flesch has a win, two runners-up spots and a 6th here whilst Allenby missed three cuts from four attempts in the nineties. With Allenby having such poor current form too I have to oppose him this week. It seems his putting is getting even worse and he'd not get away with that here where the greens are small and the putts have to be made.
**Allenby has withdrawn and does not play**


Stephen Ames to beat Charles Howell -111 @ Ladbrokes
Howell is in pretty desperate form too, and with Ames again playing so consistently and having a more than acceptable level of course form, I have to take on this matchup. Ames has a 6-1 head to head record in his favour over the last 3 months.

Woody Austin to beat Briny Baird +100 @ Pinnacle
At a lower level to Ames, Austin has consistently good current form and course form. Baird you'd normally tar with the same brush but he seems to be struggling this season, especially lately, and despite his 8th here last year, Austin has finished ahead of him all four times he's played here.

Chris DiMarco to beat K.J. Choi +108 @ Pinnacle
Despite bursts of good form I see Choi having not as consistent form as DiMarco, both in terms of current and course. Choi has won here before but achieved little on his other three tries and all in all I'd have DiMarco as slight favourite for a matchup between the two. He leads Choi 8-5 in head to heads over the last year and the price sells it to me.

Chris DiMarco to beat David Toms -111 @ Centrebet [3 pts]
Opposing another past winner here but this one hasn't even got any current form to recommend him. Whether it's still the wrist which he had surgery on not too long ago, or something else, Toms is really struggling and withdrew from an intended appearance last week. Can't pass up the offer at these odds to oppose him with an in-form consistent player with top tens here the last two years.

Steve Stricker to beat Joe Ogilvie -110 @ SIA & Sportingbet / Sporting Odds [3 pts]
Stricker looks like he is coming back to form and if so, he is a different class to Ogilvie. Stricker is a three-time tour winner whereas Ogilvie is simply Nationwide Tour standard. Only last week's performances lead these two to being paired together in this matchup but Ogilvie's 19th was him excelling himself. If Stricker even only maintains his level of form from the past fortnight that would surely be good enough, and as I say on the Betfair page, I expect a lot more than that.

Final Update: 0-5; Loss 11.30 pts

Ames/Howell LOST by 1
Austin/Baird LOST by 3
DiMarco/Choi LOST by 18
DiMarco/Toms LOST by 12
Stricker/Ogilvie LOST by 9

Shocking week on the matchups, the less said the better. Ames and Stricker actually did well but you can't win when you take on players finishing 2nd, 5th, 7th, 25th and 34th and support complete donuts like DiMarco twice. Must do better.