Tipster: Stanley

ACE Group Classic

Outright plays (2pts):

Gil Morgan to win 20/1 e.w. @ SIA
Finishes of 9th and 3rd in the two events of the season suggest that the ageing process has not yet caught up with Morgan and his competitiveness on this Tour. And having won this event twice (1998 and 2001) on two different courses and finished 11th and 4th in the last two years at TwinEagles, there is plenty of reason to expect him to be at much shorter odds than 20/1.

Jim Thorpe to win 20/1 e.w. @ SkyBet and Paddy Power
Thorpe's form has been almost as good: 9th and 5th in the two events so far this season. And having not played well on this previous venues for this event, Thorpe seems to be liking the setup at TwinEagles. In the last two years here, he has finished 3rd and 7th so again, 20/1 looks more than a fair price, particularly as there are now five places on offer.

Dana Quigley to win 25/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Neither player can match Quigley's form at the moment. He has been the runner-up by a single shot in both events this year and it has only been some very impressive play over the final few holes by Fuzzy Zoeller and Bruce Fleisher that has denied him victory. He has a good record in this event, with finishes of 6th, 2nd and 5th from 2000 to 2002 and it was only an opening 76 that ended his tournament last year. In this form and with a good history at TwinEagles, this is another player who would typically be at lower odds on the Champions Tour.

Final update: 1-2; -3.00 pts

Morgan 4th
Thorpe 24th
Quigley 47th

Another near miss. Morgan failed to birdie the easy par-5 17th hole and it cost him. He finished one shot out of the playoff and with Larry Nelson also sharing 4th place, it meant only a small profit on the play. Did expect more from Thorpe but his scores got higher every round.