18-Hole Match Picks - PGA Tour

Tipster: Stanley

Odds: 2-Balls

Odds: 3-Balls

2-2; -1.86pts  (system plays: 6-10-4)

Round 1 play (2pts):

Tiger Woods to beat Martin Kaymer +110 @ 5Dimes  LOST by 5
Opposing Kaymer for the same reasons as last week - "the last, let's say, three, four months, it has been ridiculous in Germany. There has been so much media around my person, about my family, about my personal life, about a lot". Once again he failed to finish in the top-10 and it should be even harder this week. I'll gladly oppose him with Tiger at plus odds. Yes, Tiger's game was far from perfect last week, but that was to be expected in his first Tour start since the Masters and yet his still shot lower rounds than Kaymer in two of four rounds. He has remarked that his distance control has been improving since his first play last week and while I don't really expect Tiger to still be in contention on Sunday, I do think that he will feature at some stage this week. And Steve Williams' comments will certainly have aided his focus on making a fast start this week.

[unofficial rd1 system plays: Woods tb Scott +130 (L); Woods tb Mickelson +100 (L); Kuchar tb Fowler +101 (W); Kuchar tb Day +103 (T); Woods tb McIlroy +180 (L); Molder tb Kirk +100 (L); Johnson D tb Fowler +108 (L)]

Round 2 play (4pts):

Simon Dyson to beat Trevor Immelman -110 @ Pinnacle and The Greek [also available @ 5Dimes, Carib and WSEX]  LOST by 1
It may surprise many not familiar with the European Tour that Dyson sits in the top-5 after the 1st day at the PGA Championship, but he has been here before in this event - he finished 12th at Whitstling Straits last year and 6th at Southern Hills in 2007; Immelman has missed the cut in each of his last two starts in this event. Plus Dyson is in much better form than Immelman - he finished 9th in the British Open and won the Irish Open in his last two European Tour starts. Immelman hasn't shot a lower score in any round in common events over the last 12 months and should struggle far more to stay on the leaderboard this week.

[unofficial rd2 system plays: Love tb Harrington -125 (L)]

Round 3 play (2pts):

Brendon De Jonge to beat Gary Woodland +127 @ 5Dimes [available generally]  WON by 2

With finishes of 7th, 13th and 4th in his last three starts, De Jonge is certainly playing well enough to maintain his current top-20 position, whereas Woodland's double-visit to the water on the last hole yesterday to drop him from two shots out of the lead to 17th alongside De Jonge shows why Woodland should struggle to put four good rounds together on tougher courses / Major Championships.

[unofficial rd3 system plays: Donald tb Westwood -105 (W); Bradley K tb Senden -110 (W)]

Round 4 play (2pts):

Adam Scott to beat John Senden -165 @ The Greek [available generally]  WON by 4
Shorter odds than I would have liked, but I still think that Scott will win this comfortably. Senden got himself into a share of the lead early on, but then fell back and when he rallied with consecutive birdies on the back-nine, he dropped three shots in the last five holes. It shows why, apart from 4th in the 2007 PGA Championship when a long way back from Tiger Woods, his best finish in the Majors is 30th, missing the cut in nine of 15 attempts. He may hang around the top-10, but I can't see him being a contender for this title. For Scott, it is different. He is in great form - 3rd in his last PGA Tour event, 25th in his last Major and winning the WGC event last week - and he has Steve Williams on the bag. The only difficulty may be fatigue from his win last week and the heat, but otherwise, he could certainly make up the five shot gap to the leaders today.

[unofficial rd4 system plays: Stricker tb Schwartzel -120 (L); Donald tb Levin -175 (W); Bradley K tb Dufner -139 (W); Watney tb Mickelson -105 (T); Stricker tb Toms -140 (L); Mickelson tb Palmer -169 (T); Garcia tb Haas -123 (T); Karlsson tb Senden -115 (W); Verplank tb Dufner +105 (L); Jobe tb Lunde -110 (L)]