|
10-0; +2.54pts Pre-tournament plays: LAY liability 20pts Ernie Els 350 26th
Patrick Rodgers 130 mc
Harris English 70 39th
Justin Thomas 80 54th
Blayne Barber 320 mc
Els played well for two rounds in Dubai, but he hasn't won on the PGA Tour for six years; Rodgers is without a win on the PGA Tour and any previous visits to Riviera; English's odds are much shorter than usual following his 3rd place finish two weeks ago, but he has never really been on contention on this course previously; in his three events this year, Thomas has missed both cuts and finished down the leaderboard in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions; while Barber is without a top-5 finish on the PGA Tour. Pre-rd3 plays: LAY liability 20pts Marc Leishman 27 5th
K.J. Choi 60 5th
Leishman is only three shots off the lead and in 6th place, but given that he ranked 76th in greens in regulation over the first two days, he isn't playing as well as his leaderboard position suggests; Choi is a shot further back and with 15 players within four shots of the lead, he is a player who can be backed to finish just short - he hasn't won outside South Korea for five years. Pre-rd4 plays: LAY liability 20pts Justin Rose 85 16th
J.B. Holmes 120 11th
Brendan Steele 100 39th
With Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott all in the top-5, it will be a major achievement for anyone outside the top-10 to win today, so I think these prices are too short. Rose is 14th and has a best finish of 9th in nine attempts, so looks unlikely to shoot the necessay very low score today (one sub-65 score in 35 attempts); Holmes is alongside him in 14th place and also has just one sub-65 score on this course (37 attempts); while Steele is a shot closer in 12th place, but he has a best score of 67 on this course in 21 attempts and it will take a much lower score to win today. |
