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Rose Is Tipped To Win The Players Championship – By Ian Hudson

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  The Players Championship is the best tournament in the world after the four majors. If there ever was a fifth it would have to be this tournament due to the quality of the field. It is a major in all but name and the leading contenders this week are the top three players in the world rankings. The current odds suggest Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka have a combined probability of 15% of winning the Players Championship and Rose is the player to back from statistically the three best players in the world. The only former British winner is Sandy Lyle in 1987. 

The best players are attracted by the most lucrative tournaments and this week’s renewal of the Players offers the highest prize fund in golf. It might have the prestige of a major but the quality of the field is not unrelated to the winner’s cheque of $2.25 million. The champion also receives a five year exemption to the PGA Tour and three year exemptions to the four majors. This year’s financial rewards make the 2019 Players Championship money “the biggest prize professional golf has ever seen for a single tournament”. Rose doesn’t need the money but he can earn the biggest share.

The event has been played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedre Beach, Florida since 1982 when the stadium course was opened. Five players are two-time winners but Jack Nicklaus is the only golfer to have won the championship three times. The defending champion is Webb Simpson who won with a score of 18 under last year. The average wining score over the last 10 years is 13 under. The last three winners had a winning margin of three shots or more and there have been two Playoffs since 2010.There have only been four winners from Europe. 

The TPC at Sawgrass was designed with spectating in mind. With water in play on several holes and penal rough it rewards accuracy off the tee. The fairways and greens are among the smallest on Tour so finding greens in regulation is an important skill. The weather can impact scoring and averages go up when the wind blows. In benign conditions the par 3s are not difficult and the island green 17th is more a test of mentality than skill. It’s the par 4 holes that normally provide the sternest test and the 18th is the toughest and statistically harder than the previous hole.      

Over the years an identikit of a potential winner has become established. He must have won on the PGA Tour, been a member of a Ryder Cup or President’s Cup team, made the cut in his last tournament and have already won a major or WGC event. This profile doesn’t eliminate many of the better players but it does identify Rose as one for the quite long short list. However, he has en edge because he seems to be in a good place both on and off the course. Rose can become the first English player to win the Players Championship and 11th overseas winner this century.  

If you prefer to bet in running please note that Sawgrass is a difficult course on which to play “catch up”. Due to the quality of the field the Players isn’t so much a good tournament for outsiders but favourites have a poor record. Rose is now competitive at any level and at aged 38 at his golfing peak mentally and physically. Current form and key skills count for a great deal on a familiar course and Rose ticks all the boxes and is the tip to win the Players Championship this week.  

Rose And Fisher Are The Double This Week – By Ian Hudson

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Advocates of the value of course form will be in their element this week because there are tournaments on the PGA and European tours on courses that have been the hosts for many years. The Arnold Palmer Invitational has been played at Bay Hill in Orlando since 1979 and the Qatar Masters has been played at Doha Golf Club since 1998. The respective defending champions are Rory McIlroy and Eddie Pepperell but only McIlroy is competing this week and he is the favourite to win again.

One notable absentee in the States is Tiger Woods who has won the Palmer event eight times, between 2000 and 2013. The final day of Genesis Open three weeks ago left him physically and mentally drained so he continues to rest. Woods has nothing to prove at Bay Hill but he would love to win the US Masters again in April. If the world number one arrives at Augusta fit and healthy he would be a leading contender but winning another major may be beyond him.

If you win on a course eight times it must be suited to your game and McIlroy’s attributes are also a good fit for the course that Palmer designed and on a complex he owned. Bay Hill is generally a tough track and water is a feature on seven holes. The bermuda greens are above average in size and have many slopes. Any rain increases the degree of difficulty because the greens are slower and the rough becomes more lush and damaging when a player misses the fairway. 

McIlroy led the field in proximity to the hole last year but was only 45th for greens in regulation. He had the fewest putts and was number one for scrambling and one of his strengths is straight and long driving which is a rare combination. The tournament is one of just five of the season with invitational status and the field will be about 120 players. The winner receives a three year exemption but the leading contenders should enjoy that luxury anyway based on their world ranking. 

The winner in 2018 surely can’t putt as well again but if he does he could lap the field. McIlroy has not finished outside the top 5 in four starts in 2019 and he has the best figures for strokes gained tee to green. The key to his week will be on the greens and if he maintains his focus McIlroy must contend. He won last year with a total of 18 under and by three strokes. The average winning score over the last 10 years is 13 under and eight champions won by one or two shots. 

You can’t ignore Justin Rose wherever he plays and he is the player to deny McIlroy back-to-back wins.  He has posted two wins in his last five outings worldwide and leads the tour in adjusted scoring. He is also the top ranked player for putting and scrambling and has finished in the top 15 seven times on the course. Rose finished third last year and has the game and form to go two better this week. Rickie Fowler combines course and current form but Rose is preferred.       

The Qatar Masters is being played at Doha Golf Club for the 22nd consecutive year so there is a mountain of course form to assess. Doha is a long course with tough and consistent rough. The fairways are of average width leading to large bermuda greens with difficult slopes. The Shamal wind provides a severe test when it gets up in the afternoon and that gives players with an early round 1 tee time an advantage. Ross Fisher has a good skill’s profile so can get the job done in Qatar. 

Past Champions Are Contenders This Week – By Ian Hudson

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The expansion of the European Tour to make it global except for the PGA Tour in the United States is getting ridiculous. The Oman Open offers one of the smallest prize funds of the season which explains why the favourite, Joost Luiten, is at number 71 in the world rankings and the highest ranked player in the field. Europe’s best players have deserted their home tour to play for more money, in better fields and in front of more fans in the United States. This week’s Honda Classic offers four times as much prize money as the Oman Open.

There are four Europeans in the top 10 of the current world rankings and Europe won the Ryder Cup last September. However, other than the Open Championship and to a lesser extent the PGA Championship most of the winning Ryder Cup team will not be playing too often on the European Tour this season. This week’s event in Omar has been marketed by saying the field contains a major champion and Ryder Cup player. Paul Lawrie did win the Open in 1999 and has played in the Ryder Cup but when he is your headline attraction you are in a bit of trouble.

The bread and butter players may welcome a low grade tournament that offers a two year exemption to the winner. However, this week’s event in Oman is little more than a Challenge Tour event with a sprinkling of Asia’s better players. Selecting potential winners is fraught with danger in the second renewal of the event. Luiten is the defending champion and is proven on the course. On rankings he is the best player in the field so he must have a great chance of winning the tournament again.

By contrast to the tournament in Asia the field for the Honda Classic contains two players from the top four in the world rankings and another player in the top 10. Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler head the betting followed by Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia. Granted there is little strength in depth after these players but the first prize is almost $1.2 million. The winner also gets a two year exemption but for the PGA Tour which is much more lucrative than any of the others.

The Honda Classic is the first leg of the Florida Swing which is characterised by windy conditions. However, the forecast suggests still weather this week and scoring should be relatively high. The regular host course is PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens. It’s a par 70 track that produced a scoring average of over 72 last year which is the highest compared to par for any non-majors in the last two years. The degree of difficulty goes up in wind but calm conditions are expected.

However, the fast undulating greens will still provide a tough test and hitting the putting surfaces in the correct number of shots will be an important skill. The last three winners are Thomas, Fowler and Scott with scores of 8, 12 and 9 under. The lowest winning score over the last 10 years is 13 under and there have been three playoffs in that spell. Nine US players have won the tournament this century which means that 10 players from overseas have prevailed. 

There is a great deal to like about Thomas’s chances this week. The defending champion leads the Tour in strokes gained from tee to green and was ninth in the WGC Mexico Championship last week. However, Scott is preferred on the basis of being another past champion and four top 15s in as many starts. He has gained strokes putting on the rest of the field in his last four tournaments so can win the Honda Classic for the second time. The double on Luiten and Scott pays 175/1.    

It Could Be The Dustin And Rory Show Down In Mexico – By Ian Hudson

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The second World Golf Championship event takes place in Mexico this week and Dustin Johnson has the course form to win the event for the second time in three years. Alternatively, Rory McIlroy looks like a winner about to happen and this could be the week in which he converts top five finishes into a win. There is a limited field of 72 players this week and no cut so everybody receives a cheque. The cream should rise to the top in one of the strongest fields this season to date. 

It’s just the third staging of the WGC Mexico Championship and the first two editions were also played on this week’s host course at Club de golf Chapultepec in Mexico City. The course is at altitude which means it will play about 10% shorter than its length of 7,435 yards. It’s a par 71 that averaged just over 70 last year but above its par in 2017. The main defence against the best players in the world are the fast greens that are about average in size and undulating. Hitting greens in regulation will be key.    

Phil Mickelson is the defending champion this week. He beat Justin Thomas in a play-off to prove he could still compete at the highest level. His win in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am two weeks ago suggests he could still win the championship he craves the most. Mickelson has won three of the four majors and five in total. Its ironic that the blue eyed boy of American golf has never won the US Open which he requires to complete the career Grand Slam. This year could be his last genuine chance to become just the sixth player to win all majors at least once. 

McIlroy and Jordan Spieth need just one major to complete their set. Whenever the US Masters comes around McIlroy is under intense pressure to win the one major not on his CV. Spieth requires a US PGA Championship to join the elite quintet. Tiger Woods is the last player to achieve a career Grand Slam and before him Jack Nicklaus was the previous winner of the four majors so it is a stellar group. Of the three requiring just one more Spieth has the best chance to win his missing major.

Johnson has only won the US Open but has had chances to win more majors. Even though the prize fund this week is huge he would probably swap 10 Mexico Championships for more of the titles that matter most. Johnson is long off the tee which means Augusta should suit him but the greens could be too fast in the US Masters. He has never really taken to links golf which rules out the Open and the US version does not play to his strengths despite his win in 2016. Johnson could be the player to thwart Spieth’s Grand Slam ambitions in the PGA Championship. 

His scoring average over eight rounds on this week’s course is 67.75 and he has finished first and tied 7th in his two outings on the track. Johnson opened with a round of 73 last week and then played solidly for 54 holes and finished tied 9th. One of his rare appearances in a regular European Tour event resulted in a win in the Saudi International three weeks ago. In terms of course and current form Johnson has the profile to win the Mexico Championship again.    

McIlroy has finished tied 4th, 5th and 4th in his first three events of the season. He was tied 7th in Mexico in 2017 when he was the 36 hole leader. The former world number one leads the PGA Tour for strokes gained off the tee and is third for strokes gained from tee to green. McIlroy needs a good week on the greens to contend but that is not certain so Johnson is the more solid betting proposition in down in Mexico.     

Potentially A Good Week For Spieth And Pieters – By Ian Hudson

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The Genesis Open on the PGA Tour is the current name for one of the oldest professional tournaments in the United States. The event started its life as the Los Angeles Open in 1926 and has been played at Riviera Country Club since 1973 except for two years in which it was hosting major championships, the latest the 1998 US Seniors Open. It’s a traditional tournament played on an old style course and in contrast to this week’s event on the European Tour.  

The ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth combines strokeplay and matchplay in a unique format but in both events the best player prevails. Strokes will reduce the field from 156 to 24 players over the first three days. Matches will be played over six holes on Sunday with the top eight players getting a bye into the second round. If matches are tied after six holes sudden death will determine which player progresses to the next round. The defending champion is Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Bret Rumford won the first staging of the event in 2017 but neither former winners are playing this week. 

Bubba Watson is the defending champion and three times winner of the Genesis Open so has a game suited to the host course. Riviera is looked upon as one of America’s great traditional courses and a classic of course design. It was nicknamed Hogan’s Alley after Ben Hogan won three times there is 17 months in the late 1940’s. It could also be called Tiger’s torment because Woods has not won on the course despite a number of visits and he plays again this week. Phil Mickelson won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am for the fifth time on Sunday but the track does not play to his strengths. 

Riviera has been lengthened in an effort to recreate the original feel of the layout. It’s a course that requires players to think their way around, shaping tee shots and avoiding the sand traps. That profile does not fit the perception of how Watson and the 2017 winner, Dustin Johnson, play golf but both have more than one dimension to their game. The greens at Riviera are below average in size and similar to those at Pebble Beach last week. Driving accuracy is more important than driving distance and hitting the greens in the correct number of shots is key to good scoring. 

The par of the course is 71 and at 7,322 yards in length it’s about average for this par. The average winning score over the last 10 years is 13 under and in all but one year the winning margin has been two strokes or less and that includes three playoffs. Since 2008 there has only been one overseas winner so this is a tournament dominated by players from the United States. Jordan Spieth has a decent profile for the host course so could get his career back on track with a 12th PGA Tour win. Rory McIlroy has entered the event but his skills are not the best fit for the course.

The innovative tournament on the European Tour is being played at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth and this is another course that puts a premium on accuracy over distance. Last year’s leader after the 54 holes of stroke play was first for driving accuracy and greens in regulation but also second for GIR putting. Aphibarnrat was sixth for driving accuracy but also fourth for driving distance so a player clearly must drive the ball well to contend. Putting in any matchplay format is also important so a good all-round game is required. Thomas Pieters ticks many of the boxes and the former Ryder Cup player matches the requirements of both formats so is the tip.  

Potentially Good Week For Favourite Backers On Both Tours – By Ian Hudson

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Potentially Good Week For Favourite Backers On Both Tours – By Ian Hudson

It is rare that neither tournament on the PGA and European tours are conventional men’s 72 hole stroke play events. This week there is a pro-am tournament and a men’s event sitting alongside a women’s event on the same courses.  The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and ISPS Handa Vic Open provide the action. The two main selections are Dustin Johnson and Jason Scrivener and the double on the favourite’s pays over 90/1 in a week in which both tournaments could go to form.  

The Pebble Beach event is a pro-am in which each professional is paired with an amateur to play three courses in rotation over the first three days. The pros making the cut and the leading amateurs then play Pebble Beach again on Sunday. The three courses are generally tougher than those usually used for pro-ams but each is less than 7,000 yards in length. Pebble Beach sits by the Pacific Ocean so it’s exposed to the wind and becomes a very severe test in bad weather. The two other courses put a premium on accuracy over distance and are tough for resort courses.   

You must bear in mind that scores at Pebble Beach are greatly influenced by the weather. If the weather forecast is not consistent over the first three days avoid players who are out in the worst of the conditions at Pebble Beach. The pro-am format is a test of concentration for the pros as rounds can take up to six hours. Proven pro-am form is a major asset and some players are better suited to the environment than others. Johnson has the type of relaxed personality that often does well but its also worth noting that this is the biggest field of the year.

This is the 10th consecutive year in which the current rotation of course has been used so there is plenty of course form to assess. Despite being short my modern standards the three courses have not been set up to make things less demanding for the amateurs. Averages for driving accuracy change from year to year but finding fairways and then greens will be at a premium. Johnson combines long and straight driving so he could overpower these relatively short courses.     

The selection won the event in 2009 and 2010 and has achieved seven top fives in total in 11 starts. Johnson is travelling from Saudi Arabia where he won the Saudi International on the European Tour on Sunday. Jet lag could be an issue but he has three full days to adjust. Jason Day is another player to consider based on course form. He’s made nine cuts from nine starts and been in the top six five times in that spell. Day was tied 5th on his last start but Johnson is just preferred.  

Phil Mickelson is now reaching the veteran stage of his career on the PGA Tour. If he is to win again before joining the Seniors’ this week’s courses give him his best chance. Mickelson has won the tournament four times and is the all-time earnings leader. He was also second in 2016 and last year so clearly has a game suited to the host course and the temperament to keep his form and composure in the pro-am environment. Despite Mickelson’s claims Johnson is the better bet.   

The Beach Course at Geelong is a par 72 track over 6796 yards. It’s the shortest course used during the season and the Vic Open women’s event is played over the same 18 holes and another course. The four rounds rotate with the Creek Course at the same venue which is also less than 7,000 yards in distance. There is an obvious premium on accuracy and over distance which gives Scrivener a great chance to win the tournament in the country of his birth. Both favourites are fancied to oblige this week in something different on both tours.  

Rahm And Wallace Can Go Well This Week – By Ian Hudson

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There are two great tournaments on the main tours this week but the locations and atmospheres will be like chalk and cheese. The Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour attracts huge and boisterous crowds. The Saudi International will be played in front of a smaller and more restrained audience. However, it steals the show in terms of the field because the winners from last week have both entered. Bryson Dechambeau and Justin Rose won their events and head the betting in Saudi Arabia this week. 

The field for the Phoenix Open is not too shabby and the players will be aware of the unique demands of the tournament. Jon Rahm has the personality to cope with the crowd and can continue his fine run of form by winning for the third time on the PGA Tour. He has a good all round game but was not able to beat Rose mainly at the top of his game in the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday. The tournament attracted decent crowds but the atmosphere was sedate compared to this week in Phoenix.

The tournament has had a few title sponsors but one common feature since 1987 is the host course at the TPC of Scottsdale in Arizona. The event has since become renowned for the numbers that turn up, especially over the weekend. Over 500,000 spectators attend over four days. Particularly notorious are those in the grandstands around the par 3 16th where players hit their tee shots to a sudden explosion of noise from the well lubricated galleries. Rahm loves desert golf and has made the top 11 in three outings on the course. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona.   

The TPC at Scottsdale is a stadium course in the desert. There are lots of bunkers and waste areas and water is in play on several holes. The exposed stretch around the turn is the most difficult and the last three holes are demanding. Any player in contention will be straining not to drop shots. The greens are mainly Bermuda in composition and above average in size. Rahm played well last week but couldn’t hole anything in the final round and never quite got on level terms with Rose. The world number one has travelled so Saudi Arabia so Rahm can be the desert king.   

 

Rose is the joint favourite with Dechambeau who has won four times in his last nine starts. He applies a very scientific approach to golf which is paying dividends. The market leaders will be competing against winners of three of the four majors last season. Patrick Reed won the US Masters and Brooks Koepka won the US Open and PGA Championship. Only Open champion Francesco Molinari is missing from the current holders of the four majors. Matt Wallace is good enough to win at this level and the English player will not lack for self belief.  

The tournament is being staged for the first time and the sponsors have been rewarded with an outstanding field for this time of the year in the Middle East. Four of the top five players in the world are competing and the line-up also includes eight major champions and nine players from last year’s Ryder Cup. The organisers have invited a varied cast of local talent and professionals from the international game. Wallace can beat the world class seasoned pros and the inexperienced rookies. He has the talent and confidence to win his fifth European Tour event in less than two years.     

Jon Rahm Can Prevent The Tiger Woods Fairytale Win – By Ian Hudson

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Tiger Woods is playing at one of his favourite locations this week in the Farmers Insurance Open. He has won seven tournaments at Torrey Pines where this week’s event is being played on the North and South courses. The event has a history of producing multiple winners and over the last 11 years three players, including Woods, have been the champion more than once. Jason Day has won two renewals in the last four years and Brandt Snedeker was the winner in 2012 and 2016. Jon Rahm can become another multiple winner this week after prevailing in 2017.

Play is rotated over both courses in the first two rounds and then the weekend 36 hole action takes place on the South course. The North course is short for a par 72 and the average score was usually more than three shots lower than the longer South course. Both courses have bent grass greens which are below average size, particularly those on the North course. The South course is more the severe test, especially when the wind blows and the pins are tucked away leading to even higher scores. The closing hole tries to tempt the long hitters to go for the green over water and some fail. 

The North course has been lengthened by 206 yards but it is still by far the easier track. The 7,689 yards South course is one of the most difficult on Tour but the scoring difference has fallen from more than three shots to about 1.50. The fairways on both courses are difficult to find and greens in regulation becomes a more difficult skill. The Farmers Insurance Open is rare in that it requires distance and accuracy and maybe that’s why the best player of the modern era has such a good record in the event. Woods also won the US Open at Torrey Pines in 2008.

Clearly the former world number one has a game suited to the courses but this will be the first time in years that he returns to the game after a break injury and pain free. Woods won the Tour Championship at the end of last season and contended in two majors in 2018. It’s the start of a huge year in which Woods must play regularly without any health worries. Another aborted season for an injury could spell the end of the career for the second most successful golfer in majors in the history of the sport. Rahm is a viable alternative to Woods this week.

The champion two years ago was one shot off the pace after 36 holes in his defence last year. However, he faded over the last two rounds and finished tied 29th. In his last four starts Rahm has won once and not finished outside the top eight. The Spanish player beat Woods in the Ryder Cup singles last September so it would be appropriate if he became a multiple champion on courses where Woods has won so many times. Rahm can record his third win on the PGA Tour this week.          

The Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour often attracts a decent field. There is a lucrative prize fund and great playing conditions for this time of the year. The Emirates Golf Club is an American-style course with water in play on 10 holes. The fairways are fairly generous and the greens are large, fast and very flat. Louis Oosthuizen is a player in form suited to the demands of the course. He finished third in the event 11 years ago and can go two better in the UAE this week.   

Li And Palmer Can Deliver In The Desert – By Ian Hudson

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Tommy Fleetwood is attempting the rare feat of winning the same tournament in three successive years but he may be rustier this week than in the past. The defending champion has taken his game to a new level and his status in the world rankings mean he can plan a less frantic schedule. Clearly Fleetwood has a game suited to the Abu Dhabi host course and he is not a two-time winner by accident. However, although he has been quick out of the blocks in the last two years Fleetwood could be vulnerable this time to a hot putter who can take advantage of the scoring conditions. 

The desert course is exposed and it has few defences in still conditions. Big hitters have dominated in recent years and there is no great penalty for inaccuracy off the tee. However, nine of the 12 winners on the course for this event finished in the top 10 for greens in regulation over 72 holes. First time winners are rare in this tournament because the lucrative prize fund attracts the better players. The star attractions from the US Tour this week are Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. The former is no price and his one time mate has poor course form so other players are preferred.

Abu Dhabi measures 7,583 yards and puts a premium on distance over accuracy. Low scoring a few years ago led to more bunkers, tighter fairways and more penal rough but over time scores returned to the low levels of the past. Water is in play on several holes and the greens are above average in size. Despite the modifications the course is vulnerable and only severe wind will make this tough. The main skill for good scoring is power but any potential winner must have a great week on the greens. The 72 holes record is 24 under and the lowest score over one round is 62.   

Thomas Pieters ticks many of the right boxes and has finished in the top five three times in the last four years. He is coming off a season in which he won the World Cup with Belgium so may have not put in the hard yards over Christmas. Haotong Li won on a desert course last season and has a game suited to the course. Driving distance and touch on and around the greens are the skills that can help Li get in the mix this week and record a third European Tour win. 

The US PGA Tour event also returns to a regular host location but the Desert Classic is being played on three courses at La Quinta in California. This is a pro-am event with a slightly complicated format that involves individuals and teams. Each host course has a par of 72 and two of the tracks averaged below 70 last year. There have been no modifications over the last year so we have a similar scenario to in Abu Dhabi whereby a hot putter will be required to contend. Driving distance is more important than driving accuracy on these relatively easy desert courses.  

Justin Rose is playing in the tournament for the first time in nine years. That means he has no recent course form and his game is not a good fit for the conditions. Jon Rahm is the defending champion and is perfect for the course but he has obligations as the winner from last year. Phil Mickelson is a two-time winner on the track but may take some time to find his best game. Charles Howell has great course form but rarely wins so Ryan Palmer is the selection who can be backed at a working man’s price. The tip combines course form with recent form and his game is made for the course.  

Today’s Sports Betting Preview – By Rick Elliott

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Could Be A Huge Night In Leeds For Derby

Derby have been in a strong position to qualify for the playoffs for most of the season but Frank Lampard could soon be setting bigger ambitions. The risk of recruiting a rookie manager seems to have paid off and DERBY are now just six points out of the automatic promotion places and now just 3/1 with Paddy Power to be promoted to the Premier League. Lampard had no managerial experience before taking over at Pride Park but a long career with Chelsea in particular and England meant he had a great contacts book and he is related by marriage to Harry Redknapp, the King of the Jungle. Tonight’s away match at Leeds is Derby’s biggest test of the season so far. 

Lampard’s team are playing the league leaders who are five places and eight points ahead of them in the Championship table. The visitors have only won one of five league fixtures but Leeds have lost their last two matches. Leeds injury list grows day by day and they have conceded two goals in each of their last five matches. Derby have more strength in depth and follow the manager’s attacking forward thinking philosophy. Lampard will appreciate the significance of beating Leeds on their own ground and on EFL Cup form at Manchester United and Chelsea DERBY can make a statement by beating Leeds and that outcome is 29/10 with Coral.  

The second round of the Sony Open provides some Friday evening three-ball betting. Dead heat rules apply if two or indeed three players return the same score over 18 holes. There was an industry tip on Patton Kizzire to win the tournament but he is six shots off the pace after day one. A big move is expected today which suggests KIZZIRE can outscore Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed at 8/5 with Paddy Power. The bet would have won in the first round yesterday.  

There is a Fast Track Qualifier for the All-Weather Championships at Dundalk tonight (6.30). The one mile race on sand has attracted just seven runners but the winner earns a place in the mile final at Lingfield Park on Good Friday. A horse who was tried in Group contests last season without great success now races in handicap company. THEOBALD is a course and distance winner and the tip on ratings and form so should be backed at Evens with Coral.