HP Classic of New Orleans (1.5pts):

Scott Verplank to win 25/1 e.w. @ Stan James, Victor Chandler and BlueSq
Siding with Verplank again. You can only ask of your selections that they at least give themselves a chance - unless last week's - and Verplank does that. He may have thrown away last year's event when he had a two-shot lead with four to play, but with his very high ratio of top-10 finishes over the last six months he is showing that he is worthy of a place on the Ryder Cup team and there is more to him than the 'bottler' tag. He had a decent record here before last year's 3rd place finish and he should continue it this year.

Stuart Appleby to win 33/1 e.w. @ SIA
A price that is considerably out of line with elsewhere. Appleby is a better player than these odds and he has shown that already this year, winning once and finishing in the top-3 on two further occasions. He shot a 3rd round 63 to get into contention last year, but it is always difficult to follow such a low round and he had to settle for another top-20 finish around this course. Rested after a solid Masters, he should be a strong contender this week.

Stephen Ames to win 40/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
Rather like Verplank, Ames is easily dismissed for his last of wins on the PGA Tour. Whereas Verplank ha won four times, Ames' best finish is 2nd in the 2002 Players Championship. But also like Verplank, he tends to put himself into contention on a very regular basis when in form. In his last four events alone, he has finished 6th, 13th, 7th and 4th and on this course he has made every cut with two top-10 finishes in four starts. Probably not going to win, though much more likely than Christian Cevaer last week, but so long as he gives himself a chance of at least a top-5 finish then it will not be a wasted effort. Also like Choi (25/1) and Kelly (33/1), but will stick with these three.

Final update: 0-3; -4.50pts

Verplank 54th
Appleby mc
Ames 7th

Two poor performances that were almost saved by the final selection. But for a 3rd round 71 - no-one else in the top-10 had a higher 18-hole score - Ames would have maintained his challenge throughout the event. As it was, he finished one shot outside the place positions.