NEC Invitational

Outright plays (1 unit):

Sergio Garcia to win 18/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet
Clinging to the hope that Tiger won't win this by a mile. Before those last four holes, he was certainly struggling with his swing and has now asked Butch Harmon to play a lesser role in his affairs. Would take last year's odds of 3/1, but not those currently available. Looking for Garcia to secure at least a top-5 place instead. Has finishes of 7th, 7th and 5th in his three WGC strokeplay starts and looks to be in good shape if he can achieve some greater consistency in his ball-striking. He completes the series of top-10 finishes in this year's majors and beyond a difficult month of May, this has been a year of consistently high finishes. Should secure at least a top-5 place.

Vijay Singh to win 22/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet or Victor Chandler
A top-3 finish in the 2001 American Express Championship is his best finish in WGC events by some distance and had the event remained at Firestone, he would not have been considered. However, Sahalee is the site of his 1998 PGA Championship victory and he will have been targeting this event for some time. Had not been in the best of form, but, like Garcia, he closed with 68 last week and should be upbeat about his chances this week.

Nick Price to win 50/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet or UKBetting
Price didn't even make the weekend as he fell back from a promising position on Thursday to miss the cut by a stroke. It was his first missed cut since the 2001 U.S. Open. Nevertheless, he still remains one of the most consistent players on Tour. He ranks 3rd alongside Garcia in number of top-10 finishes this year (Singh is ranked 6th), plus he has finished in the top-5 in three of five starts in WGC events. Looks a big price.

Matchup plays (1 unit):

Robert Allenby to beat Rich Beem -115 @ Bet365
Fred Funk to beat Rich Beem +100 @ William Hill
Toshimitsu Izawa to beat Nobuhito Sato -120 @ William Hill
Peter Lonard to beat Justin Rose -111 @ Ladbrokes or BetandWin
Kenny Perry to beat Justin Rose -111 @ William Hill
Mike Weir to beat Justin Rose -110 @ Sportingbet

Will be away tomorrow, so no time for write-ups this time.

Mid-point update:

Allenby/Beem Leads by 9
Funk/Beem Leads by 5
Izawa/Sato Leads by 12
Lonard/Rose Trails by 7
Perry/Rose Trails by 3
Weir/Rose Trails by 5

Garcia 34th
Singh 8th
Price 26th

Down to just two players. Need Rose to suffer from vertigo over the weekend and Singh to stay in contention for a top-5 finish. Did look good for a Singh-Garcia double in the top-5, but then he dropped five shots in three holes. Temperament, temperament, temperament!

Final update:

Matchups: 3-3-0; -0.32 units

Allenby/Beem WON by 3
Funk/Beem WON by 3
Izawa/Sato WON by 11
Lonard/Rose LOST by 6
Perry/Rose LOST by 8
Weir/Rose LOST by 8

Outrights: 0-3; -3.00 units

Garcia 58th
Singh 11th
Price 28th

Certainly underestimated Rich Beem and Justin Rose! Beem was predictably tired and it showed in his first round, but with three successive 67s, he pushed Allenby and Funk very hard. Justin Rose has been particularly impressive in his first two events on American soil; he finally looks to be fulfilling his potential. In the outrights, Vijay was always on the fringes of the top-5, but this never looked like being a profitable event.