Tag: Jason Day

Rory the Favourite at Special Arnold Palmer Invitational

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The Arnold Palmer Invitational takes on special meaning this year without the King to preside over his beloved tournament. The King, Arnold Palmer, passed away in September, and the undeniable mark he left on the game of golf and this tournament will be sorely felt this year. Lots of players have returned to Bay Hill to pay their tributes this week adding to a high-quality field.

The Course

Bay Hill Club & Lodge is a 7,419 yard, par 72 rustic course in Orlando, Florida. It’s been a regular stop on the PGA Tour since 1979 and over time has changed drastically since Palmer took over the ownership of it and made it his own. Widely known for its closing stretch of three holes and hole number 6 where John Daly once recorded an 18. The closing three holes should bring the bulk of the drama, though pure ball strikers should come to the fore.

The Defending Champion

Australian Jason Day battled his swing all day in the final round here last year but still did enough to beat Kevin Chappell down the last. It took a sensational up and down from the green side bunker and a final round 70 to win by one. Day was out of the blocks early with a 66-65 opening two rounds but slowed over the weekend with matching 70s.

The Contenders*

Rory McIlroy $8

McIlroy’s been short of golf this season, choosing his tournaments carefully, but he’s always supported this event. Returned from an injury in Mexico and finished tied for 7th. Strong chance.

Jason Day $15

The defending champion has also been out of action recently with illness and injury. It shouldn’t affect him too much as he’s always bounced back strongly when returning to competition. Won’t repeat wire to wire, but might come into his own during the weekend.

Henrik Stenson $9

An amazingly consistent player that is in form and awesome at Bay Hill (T8-T5-2nd-T3 since 2013). Ran out of steam when he looked a chance last week, but leading ball striking stats all over the show.

Tommy Fleetwood $51

Solo second at the WGC in Mexico (his first start on TOUR this year) followed a win in Dubai earlier in the year. A good chance here on account of his tremendous scrambling ability.

Francesco Molinari $46

We tipped him a couple of weeks ago and he let us down but has an amazing Bay Hill record that we can’t ignore. Top 20s in seven of his last eight starts (since October) and in each of the last three editions of the API.

Thomas Pieters $34

The Ryder Cup star has shown promise this year as he dedicates more time to the US. Was last here in 2016 (of those that made the cut). A concern over his putting on Bermuda, but was tied for second at the Honda Classic a while back.

*Odds from Sportsbet.

The Winner

Fleetwood, Francisco and Fowler (who we didn’t feature but is obviously an option) are all chances, but we like Rory to win.

PGA Tour: WGC Cadillac Championship Preview

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The exclusive World Golf Championship events limit the field to just the top 5o golfers in the World.  In prior years they could have gotten away with just inviting Tiger Woods.  He won 16 of the first 32 WGC events.  However, without Tiger, or even with Tiger in current form, the others are needed.  Especially when the others include Rory McIlroy.

The first WGC event of the year is the Cadillac Championship, hosted by Donal Trump, at Blue Monster, Doral.

Check out our preview of the event, and the best picks to win, below:

The Course

Trump Week on the Tour gets bigger with the WGC event at National Doral.   The gorgeous South Florida layout is a 7,528 yard, par 72 course, and is a recent recipient of a $200 million upgrade, as the Don adds to his golfing portfolio.  The upgrade has made the course incredibly challenging; it played 3rd toughest on the Tour last year.  The course is nicknamed “Monster” due to its demanding 18th hole.  Water all down the left off the tee and on approach.  Expect some big scores on 18 and generally.

The Sound Bites

“It’s not that big a deal. I did it for a long time, too, that way. I’m just going to do it and see what happens. I think the important thing for me will be to just stay patient with it for a little bit” – Adam Scott’s move to a shorter putter starts this week.

“If I was going to miss a weekend, it wasn’t a bad one to miss, being at home and with all the delays and everything” – Rory McIlroy saw a silver lining to missing the cut last week.  Punters didn’t.

The Defending Champion

Patrick Reed became the youngest winner of a WGC title last year by going coast to coast over Bubba Watson and Jamie Donaldson.  Reed managed a 4-under total on the newly designed course, the highest winning total since 1985.  Reed comes in at $26.00 to defend his title.

The Contenders*

Rory McIlroy – $6.50

Bubba Watson – $15.00

Jason Day – $17.00

Dustin Johnson – $21.00

Adam Scott – $23.00

Paul Casey – $34.00

Jamie Donaldson – $41.00

*WGC Cadillac Championship odds courtesy of Sportsbet.

The Winner

Casey’s had a third and a playoff loss in his last tow starts; Donaldson was a narrow loser here last year; Johnson was fourth here last year on the new course and had top 5’s the last two weeks; Watson has been solid all year without getting a win, he’s due. We like Johnson the best

Golf: Northern Trust Open Preview

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A bunker in the middle of the green!  Courses are getting pretty freaky to contend with technology these days – although the 6th at Riviera has been around since 1927.  The 6th is one of the many challenges at Riviera, along with tight fairways and steep catchment areas on the wrong side of greens, that will stop players going Pebble Beach low at the Northern Trust Open this week.

Let’s look at the tournament in more detail:

The Course

“Hogan’s Alley”, or the Riviera Country Club as it’s more widely known is a 7,349 yard par 71 course just out of Los Angeles.  Nicknamed after Ben Hogan after he won three times in an 18 month span, the course is home to the unusual site of a bunker nestled in the middle of the green on the par 3 6th.  It’s also home to very drivable number 10th hole.  A par 4 that is sure to see some birdies at this weeks Northern Trust Open.

The Sound Bites

“I’m just so excited about what’s next,” – Brandt Snedeker said after winning at Pebble Beach.  Many are predicting big things for Sneds after the impressive win.  He’s at $23.00 to go back to back.

“Right now it doesn’t matter what I shoot, doesn’t matter if I win the tournament this week or if I lose it with a three-putt, whatever it is. It’s fun. I’m playing golf for a living. It’s fun. And my kids, my wife are more important” – Bubba Watson doesn’t see any pressure coming in as defending champion.

The Defending Champion

Bubba Watson provided one of the best close outs in recent times last year when he shot 64-64 over the weekend to win by two.  The quirky left hander came from four back with a blistering finish that showed off his creative short game and unflappable steel down the stretch.  It broke a torrid drought without a win and set him up on his way to Masters glory.  Dustin Johnson finished second.

The Contenders*

Jimmy Walker – $17.00

Bubba Watson – $13.00

Sergio Garcia – $31.00

Jordan Spieth – $13.00

Dustin Johnson – $13.00

Charlie Beljan – $81.00

Nick Watney – $31.00

*AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am odds courtesy of Bet365 Australia.

The Winner

We’ve gone with the regular guys again this week but also added a couple of well placed smokeys.  Dustin Johnson looks to be shaking off the rust and finding some decent from, and buoyed by last years finish here might do okay.  But we like the look of Beljan; third last week and a good record at Riviera, and Watney; coming into some nice form and having got a good view of Snedeker’s finish last week.  We like Watney.

Golf: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Preview

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The beautiful Pacific Ocean is the backdrop for this week’s PGA Tour event.  The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am played at the idyllic Pebble Beach, Monterey and Spyglass courses is a tribute to amateur course architecture and will provide the PGA Tours bets players a stern test.

The Course

The course needs very little by way of an introduction.  We’ve all played it on our various computer and video games and we all remember Tiger’s fifteen stroke win in 2000 here.  Pebble Beach Golf Links is a 6,816 yard, par 72 course that has hosted PGA Tour events since 1947 (including five majors).  The course is also flanked by Spyglass Hill GC and Monterey Peninsula CC, courses that will be used during the Pro-Am event.

The Sound Bites

“When you actually dissect the stats like I did at the end of last year, my putting was nowhere near acceptable…[now comparing his stats with another PGA Tour player] but he holed more putts from 10 to 20 feet than I did, he won $3 million more than me last year.” – Ian Poulter on his putting woes.

“It’s one of those courses where even the best photography can’t do it justice. The scenery and the scale of this landscape are simply epic. For any golfer, professional or amateur, itís one of those “bucket list” courses. If you can, you should.” – Ernie Eels quite likes Pebble Beach.

The Defending Champion

Last year Jimmy Walker was on his ridiculously good run of wins and results that launched him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and into a Ryder Cup position.  Walker, under no final round pressure whatsoever shot a final round 74 to wine by one.

He’s in a similar run of form again this year.  A second at Hyundai was followed by a win at Sony, and just last week he finished T7 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

The Contenders*

Jason Day – $9.00

Jimmy Walker – $9.00

Jordan Spieth – $13.00

Dustin Johnson – $17.00

Jim Furyk – $26.00

*AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am odds courtesy of Sportsbet Australia.

The Winner

Jason Day’s win last week at the Farmers Insurance Open might be the start of something special so he’s definitely in with  shot.  Jimmy Walker won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last year and has been consistently good this season again.  Dustin Johnson finished second here last year and while he might be shaking off some rust, looked hand last week.  Jordan Spieth was winning everything a while back.  And Jim Furyk carries on the trend of only including notables with a J in there name; he’s playing this week for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

We’ll go with Walker.

Golf: Sony Open Preview

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For many of the PGA Tour professionals making the trip to Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open it will be their first golf of 2015.  After a reasonable break, once the wraparound had got underway, players have the luxury of travelling to a place of known luxury.  With scorching temperatures and unbelievable hospitality it’s understandable players would want to make themselves available for this one.

That said, the field is not the strongest that will compete in 2015.  World number 8 Jason Day is the highest ranked player, Matt Kuchar at 11 is next, and then four others in the top 25 make up the main contenders.  Whether the winner comes from that list will be dependent on who handles the heat and the narrow setup of the course the best over the challenging four days.

The Course

Waialae Country Club has been associated with the PGA Tour for 50 years.  It’s no surprise either, for Waialae is a beautifully designed golf course which references plenty of international courses in its 7,044 yards.  The par 70 venue from designers Seth Raynor and Charles Banks may be familiar to a lot of observers because it features in a large number of golfing video games

The Sound Bites

“I think (instructor Butch Harmon) was texting my wife with about four holes to go, and he said, four fairways, four greens, and we’re home…and that’s what we did.” – Jimmy Walker thought he ha done another to win in his final round at Kapalua before he was pipped by Patrick Reed.

“No. I do it myself.” – Japanese superstar Hideki Matsuyama’s quick response when asked if he had a swing coach to help him prepare for the Sony Open.

The Defending Champion

Jimmy Walker was in the middle of a ridiculously good stretch of golf when the tournament was here in 2014.  Walker won for the second time in six starts and perched himself atop of the FedEx Cup points for some time thereafter.

The Contenders*

Jason Day – $14.50

Jimmy Walker – $19.00

Chris Kirk – $21.00

Zach Johnson – $27.00

Hideki Matsuyama – $28.00

Charles Howell III – $50.00

*Sony Open odds courtesy of Betfair Australia.

The Winner

Charles Howell III is attractive.  In thirteen appearances in this event he has an incredible eight top-10’s.  Zach Johnson, who we predicted would win last week but just missed out, is also a popular pick after winning at the course previously.  His accurate game is well-suited to the small greens of Waialae.  However, where going to pick Jason Day.  He’s due a win and will be full of confidence after his final round 62 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Golf: Reed champion of champions at Kapalua

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Patrick Reed rallied to play his last four holes in three under par before making another birdie on the first playoff hole to capture the Hyundai Champion of Champions title ahead of Jimmy Walker.

Reed’s final round 67 meant he grabbed the headlines for the Hawaiian trip despite strong challenges from his own forehead, and a pair of scorching 62’s shot in the final round.  His forehead initially stole the show after images emerged of him without his cap on, revealing an extremely pale brow (check Google images) that raised plenty of eyebrows amongst Twitter uses.  But golfers also contributed; Jason Day and Chris Kirk fired 11-under final rounds that tied the course record.  Kirk’s round propelled him from last place to a tie for 14th.

Despite the excitement all around the golf course, and the obvious burning his skin was enduring, Reed managed to charge back from four behind with four to play to win for the first time since the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Dora.  It’s a fourth PGA Tour win for the 24-year old who once proclaimed he was one of the top 5 players in the game.  The win might help justify the tag considering it was against pretty good opposition who had all experienced the winners circle in the past season.

The closest challenger throughout the final round was Jimmy Walker (69).  Walker held the lead for much of the final day, and regrettably expressed afterwards that the tournament “was there for me to win, it was a bummer I didn’t close the door on it.”

Before Reed’s heroics down 16 and 18, Walker held the ascendancy.  A position he also maintained during the playoff as Reed struggled to get near the green in two.  He would find rough however, and never even get to putt for par as Reed drained an 18ft birdie putt to clinch it.

Walker will look to holes 10 and 14 as the root cause of his second place.  He failed to birdie 10 and made a first bogey for 33 holes on the short 14th.  Those two holes, and Reed’s hole out on 16 were the key turning points.

Jason Day (62), Russell Henley (67) and Hideki Matsuyama (70) all mounted challenges at various times but couldn’t quite get themselves into the playoff.  They will receive FedEx Cup points as consolation, which in Day’s case skyrockets him up 160 places in the standings.

Of the players who featured heavily at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions several have seen their odds to win the money list at BetEasy improve.  Notably:

Jason Day – $26.00

Patrick Reed – $67.00

Chris Kirk – $67.00

Hideki Matsuyama – $67.00

Jimmy Walker – $51.00