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14-4; +0.77pts Pre-tournament plays: LAY 20pts liability Steve Marino 190 mc
Smylie Kaufman 180 mc
Bryson DeChambeau 110 mc
Jimmy Walker 55 29th
Fabian Gomez 180 wd
Marino did finish 12th last week, but it was the first since March that he has played on a Sunday - his finishes in April/May were mdf-mc-mc-wd-md prior to the Byron Nelson Championship - so there appears to be little to indicate that there will be a continuation of last week's form
Troubled by a wrist injury, Kaufman withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship and while he has since returned to the Tour, he missed the cut in both event; even if healthy again, he looks to be an easy player to oppose on his course debut
It looked a near-certainty after his 4th place finish at the RBC Heritage, but three missed cuts in a row have put a lot more pressure on DeChambeau (as well the fatigue factor that he has talked about previously) as he tries to reach the mark for Special Temporary Membership; I'll continue to oppose him until that changes
Walker made the cut last week (24th), but after missed cuts in his two previous events and just one top-10 finish since the start of February, he is not playing well enough to warrant these odds
Gomez is another with only one top-10 finish since the start of February (9th, Wells Fargo Championship) and a record of mc-25th in his two starts here also suggests that he is unlikely to be competitive this week. Pre-rd3 plays: BACK 1pt Martin Piller 26 6th
Webb Simpson 12 3rd
Kyle Reifers 22 5th LAY 20pts liability Bill Haas 100 47th
Ryan Palmer 11 3rd
Matt Kuchar 270 6th
Colt Knost 100 67th
Harris English 110 2nd Pre-rd4 plays: Harris English 15 2nd
Adding English to the team so that makes four players backed that are currently in the top-six, though Spieth leads this event by one shot; English was very impressive yesterday, missing just one green in regulation, and any repeat of yesterday's play will see him go very close to winning this event. If that happens, I want to minimise the damage from opposing him yesterday. LAY 20pts liability Chris Stroud 100 13th
Marc Leishman 460 13th
Charl Schwartzel 660 25th
Jason Dufner 22 6th
The top of the leaderboard is very crowded with six players within two shots of the lead, but these four are outside that mark - Stroud is four back in 8th place, but given that he hasn't secured a top-10 finish in 2016, he looks very unlikely to shoot a career round today
Leishman is six back in 13th place and hasn't recorded a top-20 finish in five previous attempts; he may do so this week, but it is extremely unlikely that he will be able to contend from this position
Schwartzel is a shot further back and I would likewise price at virtually no chance of winning; he missed the cut in his only previous finish here so given that he has avoided this course so often, a top-20 finish would be a very good result for the South African
Dufner is the closest of the four to the top of the leaderboard - he is three shots back in 7th place - but it has been over four months since his last top-10 so I would price him higher on a such a congested leaderboard despite his two runners-up finishes in this event |
