Stake 2pts Thatcher to beat Duke -105 @ Five Dimes I still think that Duke is being over-estimated again this week. Neither player is one that you would want to invest heavily in but Thatcher has made the cut in almost 50% of his starts this season and did finish a very respectable 19th in this event last year. After his impressive 6th place finish at the the Arnold Palmer, Duke again missed the cut last week making it 6 missed cuts from 9 starts this season. He finished a reasonable 49th here last season but none of his current form indicates that he should be a -125 favourite here. Thatcher beat Duke (mc) by 1
Stake 3pts O'Hern to beat Lonard -110 @ Centrebet Lonard put in a very good finish last week to finish 2nd but his record in PGA events immediately after a top 10 finish on this tour hardly inspires confidence of a good showing this week with it reading mc-mc-mc-57-71-62-mc-30. In addition to his missed cut here last season he is easily opposable this week. O'Hern looks to be the value alternative to Lonard in the matchup list. Although he has no course form to speak of he does have some very decent form this season and his stats point out to a strong accurate game and short game. Two top-20 finishes from three starts in Texas strengthen his case. O'Hern beaten by Lonard by 1
Stake 3pts Bryant to beat Leonard -110 @ Bet365 & William Hill Bryant's excellent recent form continued with a second place finish at the Arnold Palmer, his fourth decent finish in a row. His recent run is backed up by an excellent set of stats and he reassuringly very rarely misses a cut. Leonard's form this season is a significant improvement over past seasons but it does look as if it is tailing off and his stats back this up. Another consistent performance by Bryant should hopefully take this matchup. Bryant beat Leonard by 7
Further Play
Stake 2pts Stricker to beat Mickelson +160 @ Unibet One missed cut hardly constitutes the batting of an eyelid in golf form and so based on recent evidence Stricker is probably still has around a 33% chance for a top ten finish this week despite that missed cut last week. In the bigger tournaments Mickelson finishes in the top ten around 50% of the time, but in lesser tournaments, such as this, that figure is only slightly above 40%. Not even accounting for Mickelsons chronic inconsistency and his lack of course knowledge I make Stricker an approximate +130 shot here. Stricker beat Mickelson by 3
