Sony Open in Hawaii

Bet 1 - Buy Michelle Wie Round 1 Score with Sporting Index at 75 for 1 pt. M/U 72

Michelle Wie is the 14 year old local who has accepted a sponsor's invite to play in the Sony Open this week. For a girl of her age she is some player, but she is no Annika Sorenstam. Well down the Ladies order of merit, she has already played in 2 Men's events. Last September she played in a Canadian Tour event shooting 78/76 and in August she played on the Nationwide "feeder" tour and shot 74/79. Compare this to Annika, the best women player ever who played last year's Colonial and shot 71/74 and missed the cut. Wie is almost certain to miss the cut (1/25 at one bookie) and will be under the most intense pressure, more so than ever before. In 2003 ladies events she occasionally shot in the 80s on courses much easier (and shorter) than this, so it is not that unlikely for her to shoot 80+ tomorrow.

>>>Wie surprised the golfing world with the way she played this week and handled everything around her. We lost 3 pts but personally, I marvelled at her ability at such a young age.

Bet 2 - Sell Davis Love III FP with Cantor Sports at 23 for 0.5 pts. M/U 3

Love is quietly fancied for this event so it is surprising that Cantor go so high. 9th last week at Kapalua, he putted well and was accurate off the tee, only his greens stats were average. Cantor are possibly pricing this based on a MC in 2001. However, in previous years he was 10th and under its old guise as the Hawaiian Open he had great success, including two 2nds. There is a difference in pricing with IG going 18-21 but historically Cantor do stand a price for a short while anyway and 23 should be achievable if calling before IG open at 10am, 30 minutes after Cantor.

>>>Good solid performance by Love, only beaten by two better players on the week. Still, a good return to compensate a little for the unlikely MC by Hoch.

Bet 3 - Sell Scott Hoch FP with Cantor Sports at 34 for 0.5pts. M/U 50

Hoch had a nightmare 2003 after winning the Ford in Florida. However at the tail end of the year there was signs in the UBS cup that he was getting a bit of the old form back. Last week in the Mercedes he surprised a lot of people by finishing 8th, and would have been much higher if not for an 8 on the one hole. Hoch has form here having finished 17th two years ago and has never missed a cut on the course. Tied 2nd on greens last week suggests his game is back nearer where it should be than it has for a while. 34 is quite high for a player who is fairly steady and is therefore well worth a trade.

>>> Disappointing performance from Hoch who's game is far more suited to this course than it is to Kapalua where he was Top 10 last week. A very difficult event to judge with so many top names, like Furyk and Clarke, not being around for the weekend.