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0-2; -6.94pts Round 1 play (2pts): Retief Goosen to beat Padraig Harrington -125 @ Paddy Power [available generally] LOST by 1
Goosen hasn't been winning events, but he has been in vastly improved form for quite some time: his last missed cut was in May 2009 and he has finished in the top-10 in 12 of his last 18 starts. Add in a 3rd place finish in last year's event and he looks very well placed to beat Harrington who missed the cut in his season opener last week and missed the cut here last year. [unofficial rd1 system plays: Johnson D tb Trahan -135; Goosen tb Clark +100; Furyk tb Donald -125] Round 2 play (4pts): K.J. Choi to beat J.B. Holmes -111 @ Bet365 [also available @ Five Dimes] LOST by 3
Two factors favour Choi here. The first is that they will be playing the par-70 Monterey Peninsula Course (as opposed to the par-72 Pebble Beach Links that they played yesterday) and that should diminish Holmes' primary golfing strength. The second is that Holmes has finished the first round in the top-5 on the PGA Tour just once: that was in this event two years and he missed the cut. By contrast, Choi is proven 'momentum' player: he has finished the first round in the top-5 eight times since the start of the 2007 PGA Tour season ... he has won twice and never finished outside the top-10. [unofficial rd2 system plays: Baddeley tb Estes -105; Taylor tb Senden +100; Mahan tb Daly -182; Choi tb Estes -150; Johnson D tb Weir -155; Johnson D tb Trahan -156; Taylor tb Chalmers -154; Herron tb Thompson -140; Fowler tb Ishikawa -110; Mickelson tb Gay -150] Round 3 play (2pts): K.J. Choi to beat J.B. Holmes -105 @ Bet365 TIED
Backing Choi in this matchup again ... he is still playing the better golf (ranked 8th in greens in regulation this week) and is much more experienced at being in contention at this stage of the tournament: it is over 18 months since Holmes started the weekend in the top-5. Hopefully the fact that they are playing the toughest course today should separate them better than yesterday. [unofficial rd3 system play: Goggin tb Owen +150] No round 4 plays. |
