Click here to receive alerts when this page is updated
1-1; +9.00pts
Outright plays (total stake per play: 1pt)
Stewart Cink to win 14/1 e.w. @
BetInternet
and
Boyle Sports
[6 places; 16/1 with 5 places available widely] 24th
Sometimes there is such a gulf between one group of players and the rest of the
field it seems inconceivable that they will not be in contention on Sunday
night. Such is the case with Cink and Johnson. Toms and Stenson may be better
players, but injury worries and poor course form suggests that they may struggle
this week. After that, this a journeyman pro field. The reasons for backing Cink
are obvious: he lives by the 14th fairway, went to University at Georgia Tech
and would dearly love to finally win this event after coming close so often. And
he is coming into form at just the right time: he has followed a 17th place
finish in the Masters with top-5 finishes in each of the last two weeks. Only
one player in this field has managed to finish ahead of him in any of the last
two weeks (Rory Sabbatini), so with the form, the local experience and the
motivation, there are plenty of reasons for backing Cink this week.
Zach Johnson to win 16/1 e.w. @
Boyle Sports
[6 places] 1st
This event has retained its post-Sawgrass position on the schedule and that
usually makes for a tired field, so motivation is always important in this
event. This can be seen from the the fact that as it is no longer a warm-up for
the Masters there is a large drop in the quality of the entrants this year. But
Cink has the motivation to raise his game this week and so does Johnson. This
was the scene of his first Tour victory in his rookie season (2004) and he has
followed that with finishes of 26th in the weather-shortened event in 2005 and a
2nd place finish last year. And this was before he won last time out in Georgia
at The Masters and has since impressed in the Verizon Heritage and the Players
Championship last week. It only needs one of them to earn a place finish to
secure a profit on the event and there should be a good chance that at least one
of them is challenging for the title on Sunday.