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7-0; +1.02pts Pre-tournament plays: LAY 20pts liability Harold Varner 200 24th
Luke List 200 mc
Bryson DeChambeau 80 mc
Justin Thomas 55 mc
Padriag Harrington 300 mc
Geoff Ogilvy 350 mc
Si-Woo Kim 290 mc
Varner is a local player and so is widely expected to continue the form that has netted his top-10 finishes in his last two events, but he had been in dire form before that, has never won on the PGA or Web,com Tours and that home advantage leads only to added pressure if he was to be in contention over the weekend
Opposed last week (List missed the cut) and opposed again this week in a much stronger field where is he unlikely to secure his first-ever top-5 finish on the PGA Tour
DeChambeau would perform better than in the Texas Open where he stated "I’m trying to play my best golf and my body is getting a little tired. But I’m doing my best.” A one-week break will help, but stamina (mental as well as physical) will still be an issue given the media interest and the fact that this is not just since The Masters - he started the season playing in the Middle East on the European Tour
Thomas is not in the same form as last year when he finished 7th - his last three finishes have been 61st (of 64), 39th, 75th so his odds shouldn't be as low as this in this field
This is clearly a course that doesn't suit Harrington's game - he averages 75.33 over the last three years here - so should be priced as a player with virtually no chance this week
This course does suit Ogilvy's game - he is 11-for-11 in cuts made here - none have been top-5 though and with a best finish of 46th in 10 starts in 2016, he clearly does not have the form to achieve that this week
Only Mark Hubbard and Tyrone Van Aswegen (19 starts) have played in more PGA Tour events than Kim this season and while he did secure a couple of top-10 finishes in January when he had been forced to time a break from Tour golf, this has looked less and less likely as the season has progressed |
