Matchup Picks - PGA Tour

Matchup bets:

Stake 3pts Nick O'Hern to beat Paul Casey +110 @ Pinnacle

O'Hern's form and consistency on the tour has improved recently while Casey still suffers from poor inconsistency

when he plays on this tour. O'Hern holds a 3-2 lead on the tour over Casey, has the better accuracy stats and has

finished ahead of Casey on his two US Open starts. Casey's name looks to be the likely reason for O'Hern being

available at this price.

Stake 5pts Robert Karlsson to beat Niclas Fasth -130 @ Pinnacle

In my book Karlsson is clearly the better player and holds a 13-6 lead over Fasth over the last 12 months over all

tours. He has the better recent form and also the more consistent recent form with Fasth being able to throw in a

missed cut as easily as a decent finish. Nothing much to interpret from previous US Open form but given the recent

stats of both players Karlsson looks to be more suited to the challenge posed by this course.

Stake 3pts Henrik Stenson to beat Rory Sabbatini -110 @ BlueSq

These are very decent odds for Stenson. He holds a comfortable h2h lead over Sabbatini and is in decent form.

Although Sabbatini's current form is impressive he has a dreadful record in this event and a game not really suited

for the US Open. As mentioned in the The Players write up a few weeks back, Sabbatini is far too aggresive a

player to be confident of a good showing here. Stenson however has the patience required to put in a decent finish

just as he did in his only previous start in this event.

Further Matchup bets:

Stake 4pts Steve Stricker to beat Aaron Baddeley -120 @ Bet365

Two players with excellent recent form but the big difference here lies in their previous form in this event. From two

previous starts Baddeley has yet to make the cut while Stricker has a quite remarkable record in this event. He has

managed a top 10 finish three times and has an average FP of 28th and this is over a time period where Stricker was

not performing the level that he is now. On this evidence Stricker could go very close this week.

Stake 2pts Sergio Garcia to beat Retief Goosen +105 @ Bet365

Can't see why Goosen should be such a strong favourite against Garcia here. After a promising start to the season

Goosen form this season has been a disappointment with finishes of 51-18-2-43-28-30. Garcia started the season

shakily but his form has settled down nicely and he has put together a number of decent finishes. Also his record of

46-12-4-35-20-3-mc in the US Open is rather impressive. And while Goosen has twice won this event he has also

missed the cut on four other occassions. This is a close match up with possible favouritism going to Garcia via his more

consistent game.

Tipster: Neil