Shell Houston Open Betting Preview 2016

Posted on March 29, 2016 by doublebogey6

Golf Club of Houston, Humble, Texas

7,441 yards, par 72

The Course

The Golf Club of Houston was designed by Reese Jones and was established in 2003. Since 2007, the tournament has been held the week before the Masters, giving the players one last chance to get into the field with a win.

This course is a decent test measuring just short of 7,500 yards. It is set up to replicate Augusta for next week and has a particular emphasis on length. For example, the four par 5’s on this course all measure over 550 yards and will require a decent drive if players are going for the green in two. The par 4’s will also require length with the 5th, 6th, 17th and 18th all measuring over 460 yards. Players that average between 295 and 300+ yards off the tee will be leaving themselves between an eight iron and a wedge into some of the longer par 4’s.

The main stats to consider here is obviously length, along with good par 3, par 4, par 5 scoring stats. The greens here are also quite tricky (like Augusta) with tight banks and plenty of run off areas so be on the lookout for guys with good greens in regulation stats. The greens here will be pretty quick measuring roughly 13 on the stimp so strokes gained putting will be another stat to consider on this course.

Phil Mickelson 20/1

With the exception of a poor front nine against Patrick Reed in the matchplay, Phil played well all week. He comes into this with four top 11 finishes this season starting with a T3 at the CareerBuilder Challenge which included four steady rounds in the 60’s finishing 21 under in total. He followed that with a T11 in Phoenix, solo second in Pebble Beach and a solo fifth at The WGC Cadillac in Doral.

Phil has a great record here over the last few years finishing T17 last year, T12 in 2014, T16 in 2013, T4 in 2012 and a win in 2011. He also ticks the boxes statswise averaging just under 300 yards off the tee, sixth in SGTTG and 14^th in SGP. He also ranks fourth in par 3 scoring, 12^th in par 4 scoring and 11^th in par 5 scoring. With good current form and a great record on this course Phil could be one to watch.

Patrick Reed 22/1

Reed played well last week in the matchplay and was unlucky not progress further after getting into the last 16 but got beaten by big hitting Dustin Johnson. He has shown some great form this season with three top 10’s in his last five starts. He had a great week in Pebble Beach finishing T6 and followed that with a T7 at the Valspar and a T9 last week at the matchplay.

Reed played well here last year finishing in a respectable T17 which would have been a lot better if it weren’t for a final round 73. He also ticks a lot of boxes here ranking 49^th in SGTTG, sixth in scrambling and 20^th in par 4 scoring.

Charl Schwartzel 28/1

The South African has been in fine form lately with two wins and a top 10 in his last six starts. He finished T9 in The Nedbank Challenge just before Christmas and followed that with a win in The Tshwane Open in his native South Africa shooting an impressive final round 63 to finish 16 under for the tournament. More recently Schwartzel finished in a respectable T17 at The WGC Cadillac and following that with a superb win at The Valspar.

Schwartzel is hitting it just under 300 yards off the tee and ranks 11^th in SGTTG and 34^th in GIR. He has played well here in the past finishing T19 in 2014 and third in 2010. With superb current form and good previous performances here Schwartzel could be a big contender this week.

Brooks Koepka 30/1

Brooks played well last week in The Matchplay winning his group but got knocked out by the eventual winner Jason Day to finish T5. He has been playing well over the last couple of months. He started the season off with a solo seventh at The Hero World Challenge and followed that with a T3 at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He hasn’t finished outside the top 30 in his last four events finishing T8 in Pebble Beach, T26 at The Honda, T23 at The WGC Cadillac and T5 last week.

Koepka looks like he could suit this course and is averaging 307 off the tee ranking ninth in driving distance and ninth in par 4 scoring. This course tends to suit the bombers and Koepka could follow up another great performance after playing well last week.

Phil Mickelson 25/1 – First Round Leader

Phil has a great record on this course and hasn’t shot worse than a 70 in five of his last six opening rounds at The Golf Club of Houston. He started with a 66 last year, 68 in 2014, 65 in 2012, 70 in 2011 and a 69 in 2010.

He hasn’t shot worse than a 69 in his last six opening rounds and looks to be playing really well lately. He started with a 68 at the CareerBuilder Challenge, 69 at The Farmers, 69 in Phoenix, 68 in Pebble, 69 at The Honda and a 67 at The WGC Cadillac. With an 08.10 tee time and rain forecast in the afternoon Phil looks like he could get the better part of the day.

Final Selections –

Phil Mickelson 20/1 1.5pts EW

Patrick Reed 22/1 1.5pts EW

Charl Schwartzel 28/1 1pt EW

Brooks Koepka 30/1 1pt EW

Phil Mickelson FRL 25/1 1pt EW

Total staked = 12 pts

Good luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6

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WGC Cadillac Championship Betting Preview 2016

Posted on March 1, 2016 by doublebogey6

Blue Monster Course, Doral Resort, Florida Par 72, 7,543 yards

The Course

This course has undergone some serious surgery in the last two years with Donald Trump pumping 250 million dollars into the course to add length and increase the overall difficulty of the blue monster.

The course has four par 5’s, four par 3’s and 10 par 4’s and has an extra 47 yards added onto it. The par 5 first measures a lengthy 605 yards, the par 3 fourth has an extra 24 yards and the par 4 eighteenth has an extra 5 yards added to it. These changes have made the Trump Doral inside the top five longest host courses on the PGA Tour.

Dustin Johnson won here last year on nine under and Patrick Reed won this event in 2014 shooting the highest score in the tournaments history finishing on 284 on four under par. Over the years, length has been of particular importance in this event. With this course now over 7,500 yards in length, it will be even more important so be on the lookout for bombers with good driving stats that are showing good recent form.

There are some main stats to consider going on previous years. Although length is key, par 4 scoring, par 5 scoring and GIR will be important here. The usual mix of good current form and good previous form on this course will also be worth checking out especially over the last two years since the course changes took place.

Bubba Watson 11/1

Bubba comes into this week in good form and played superbly well recently in Riviera shooting a 68 in the final round to win by one stroke over Jason Kokrak and Adam Scott. He has two wins and two top 15’s in his last four starts. He won The Hero World Challenge back in December and followed that with a T10 at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions and a T14 at The Phoenix Open.

He has a great record here at Doral finishing T3 last year, T2 in 2014, T18 in 2013 and T2 in 2012. Bubba also ticks a lot of boxes statistically here ranking sixth in driving distance, sixth in GIR and fourth in SGTTG. He also ranks 28^th in par 4 scoring and 19^th in par 5 scoring and should feel at home on this course where he has played well on in the past and seems to suit his game.

Dustin Johnson 12/1

I thought DJ looked more confident at Riviera and played well all week finishing solo fourth and showed a lot of consistency shooting 68,66,68,69 to finish 13 under in total. His form has been good finishing T5 at The WGC HSBC Champions, 15^th at The Hero World Challenge, T10 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and T18 at The Farmers in Torrey Pines which would have been a lot better if it weren’t for a final round 80 in near unplayable conditions.

Johnson is another player with a great record in Doral with a win last year, T4 in 2014, T12 in 2013 and T2 in 2011. He also ticks a lot of boxes here ranking seventh in driving distance, ninth in SGTTG, 28^th in par 4 scoring and 13^th in par 5 scoring. After playing well over the last few weeks DJ should be a huge contender here.

J.B. Holmes 30/1

Regular readers of this blog will know I have tipped J.B a lot over the last few weeks and ive decided to give him another go this week. Despite not winning me anything over the last few weeks, he has been playing decent with six top 12’s in his last seven events. He started the season well with a T8 at the Hero World Challenge and followed that with a T12 at The Franklin Templeton Shootout, T6 at The Farmers, T6 in Phoenix, T11 in Pebble and T11 at The Northern Trust Open.

J.B finished T2 here last year shooting an impressive 62 in round one and is another bomber off the tee which should suit this course. He ranks third in driving distance, sixth in SGTTG and 20^th in par 4 scoring. With some quality performances over the last few weeks and a good week here in Doral last year, J.B looks a solid bet here this week.

Henrik Stenson 28/1

The Swede has bounced back well after an injury and has been playing well over the last couple of months. He played well at the WGC HSBC Champions finishing T11 and followed that with a T3 at The BMW Masters. He also had a good week at The Nedbank before Christmas finishing solo second and started the New Year with a T3 in Abu Dhabi and a T6 in Dubai.

Stenson is another player with a good record here finishing T4 here last year and T16 in 2013. He also fits the bill here ranking 11^th in GIR, second in strokes gained putting and 18^th in driving accuracy. Stenson is another big hitter and should go well here especially after playing so well in the desert swing.

First Round Leader –

Dustin Johnson 18/1

With such a good record at this venue, Dustin Johnson has gone low here in round one over the last few years and hasn’t shot worse than a 69 in four of his last five opening rounds in Doral. He started with a 69 in 2011, 68 in 2013, 69 in 2014 and a 68 last year.

In his last six opening rounds he has only shot over 70 once, which was at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions where he opened with a 73 and bounced back with a 67,68,69 to finish -14. Most recently he opened with a 70 in Torrey Pines in The Farmers Insurance Open, 70 in Pebble Beach and an impressive 68 in Riviera at The Northern Trust Open. After a solo fourth in Riviera and four rounds in the 60’s, I fancy DJ to start strongly and open with a low one here.

Final Selections –

Bubba Watson 11/1 2pts EW

Dustin Johnson 12/1 2pts EW

J.B. Holmes 30/1 1pt EW

Henrik Stenson 28/1 1pt EW

Dustin Johsnon 18/1 1pt EW First Round Leader

Total Staked = 14 pts

Good luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6

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Northern Trust Open Betting Preview 2015

Posted on February 17, 2015 by doublebogey6

Riviera Country Club, California
Par 71, 7,349 Yards

The Course
The PGA Tour stays in California and travels to Riviera Country Club, which is located in Pacific Palisades, California and was designed by George C. Thomas, Jr. It has been the primary host for the Northern Trust Open (originally the Los Angeles Open) and is a par 71 measuring 7,349 yards.

Riviera has hosted three major championships: the U.S. Open in 1948, and the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995. It also hosted the U.S. Senior Open in 1998.

Previous winners include Bubba Watson (last year), John Merrick (2013), Bill Haas (2012), Aaron Baddeley (2011), Steve Stricker (2010) and Phil Mickelson (2009,2008). It has three very different par 5’s and a reachable par 4. The par 3’s are tricky and will require good, accurate iron play to hit the greens.

The first of the par 5’s is the opening hole and offers a very makeable birdie by most of the field. The other two are on the back 9 and will favour the bigger hitters with the 11th measuring just over 560 yards and the 17th measuring a monstrous 590. Players that can shape the ball will have an advantage around this course as there is quite a few doglegs and tricky par 4’s. The par 4 10th is reachable by the bigger hitters in the field measuring around 315 yards. Depending on the hole location, it can be a tricky hole to score on.

This course has a couple of signature holes, for example, there is a bunker in the middle of sixth green, which is a par 3 and could force some players to chip from one part of the green to the other. The fairways are quite forgiving and there are no water hazards to contend with. The greens are poa annua greens and are quite small so be on the lookout for guys that have good GIR stats. This course will certainly favour the bombers, who should be able to take advantage of the par 5’s and some of the short par 4’s. The main stats I will be looking at here will be driving distance, GIR, strokes gained putting and tee to green and par 4 scoring.

Bubba Watson 12/1
Bubba has been playing consistently since he won The WGC HSBC Champions back in November and has three top 11’s in his last three starts. He followed that win with a solid performance at The Hero World Challenge finishing T11 on eight under for the tournament. He then had another good week in Kapalua at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions finishing solo 10th on 15 under. Most recently, Watson put in a great performance at The Phoenix Open finishing T2 on 14 under for the week, which included two 65’s.

He has played well here at Riviera in the past and won here last year beating fellow bomber Dustin Johnson by two strokes. He also has a further three top 20’s here finishing T13 in 2012, T17 in 2009 and T14 in 2008. Bubba ranks eighth in driving distance, fourth in strokes gained tee to green and second in birdie average. He also ranks first in par 5 scoring, 19th in par 3 scoring and 23rd in par 4 scoring. With a good record here in the past and great current form, Watson has all the looks of having another good week here.

Bill Haas 33/1
After a win at The Humana Challenge a couple of weeks ago, Bill Haas looks to be back showing some good form. He played superb all week finishing on 22 under, which included a second round 63. He took last week off, but had a good performance at Torrey Pines finishing T19 at The Farmers Insurance Open. He was fairly steady for the first three rounds, but had a poor finish in the fourth round shooting a disappointing 75, which included three bogeys in the last five holes.

However, he has played very well here in the past and hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in his last four appearances. He finished T23 last year, T3 in 2013, won in 2012 and T12 in 2011. With such a good record here, great current form at Torrey Pines and a win at the Humana at the end of January, we could see Bill have another good performance here this week.

Harris English 33/1
After a losing a playoff to Jason Day and JB Holmes at The Farmers a couple of weeks ago, Harris English comes into this week in great form. English has two top five’s in his last four starts including a T3 at The Sony Open in Hawaii and a P2 in Torrey Pines. In his last 16 competitive rounds, he has shot a 70 or better 12 times and looks to be showing a lot of consistency. He played well here last year finishing T10 shooting 70,69,69,67 to post nine under par in total.

English ranks 28th in driving distance, 37th in strokes gained tee to green and 40th in GIR. He also ranks 17th in par 5 scoring, 19th in par 3 scoring, 21st in total putting and fourth in putts from inside 10 feet, which is a good stat for putts on these small greens. After coming so close in Torrey Pines, English could be one to watch here on a course he has played well on in the past.

JB Holmes 40/1
JB has been playing well lately with two top 10’s in his last two starts. He was unfortunate not to win at Torrey Pines, where he lost on the second playoff hole to Jason Day. He was a tad unlucky to over shoot the 17th green on the second playoff hole and finish with a bogey. That being said, he looked very threatening in the final round and played some great approach shots. JB had another good week in Pebble finishing T10 on 15 under par for the tournament, which included a first round 64 and a final round 65.

He has a great record here finishing T8 in 2012, T12 in 2011,T3 in 2010, T6 in 2009 and T7 in 2008. This course should suit JB, who is averaging 303 yards off the tee ranking 12th in driving distance. He also ranks 21st in strokes gained tee to green, 19th in birdie average and has good approach stats ranking 12th in approaches from 225-250 and seventh in approaches from 100-125, which will be a big plus on these long par 5’s and short par 4’s.

First Round Leader –
JB Holmes 40/1

JB has started with a 69 or better in four of his last five events. He shot an opening round 64 last week in Pebble, a 69 in round 1 at Torrey Pines, 68 in round 1 in Phoenix and a 69 in Kapalua at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He has also shot a 67 or better in round 1 at this event in four of his last five appearances. He started with a 67 last year, 71 in 2013, 67 in 2012, 67 in 2011 and 68 in 2010. With a great run of first round form over the last few weeks, not to mention his good form at this event, JB is certainly worth a flutter here in the first round.

Final Selections –
Bubba Watson 12/1 2pts EW
Bill Haas 33/1 1pt EW
Harris English 33/1 1pt EW
JB Holmes 40/1 1pt EW

First Round Leader –
JB Holmes 40/1 1pt EW

Total staked = 12 pts

Good luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6

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Farmers Insurance Open Betting Preview 2015

Posted on February 3, 2015 by doublebogey6

The Course:
Torrey Pines GC, San Diego, California

This week, the PGA Tour travels to Torrey Pines for The Farmers Insurance Open. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla, just south of Torrey Pines State Reserve. There are two courses played here this week.

Both the North and South courses were designed by William F. Bell. The South Course was redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001, and is now 7,643 yard par 72. Since the late 1960s, Torrey Pines has hosted the Farmers Insurance Open. The tournament uses both courses for the first two rounds and the South Course for the final two rounds. It hosted the 2008 U.S. Open on the South Course, which was won by Tiger Woods in a playoff.

Here’s a more in depth look at the courses.

North Course 6,874 Yards, par 72
This is the easier of the two courses and roughly measures around 550 yards less than The South Course. It has four par 5’s, four par 3’s and 10 par fours. It is situated along the coastal cliffs of the Pacific Ocean and has a tendency to get a bit windy.

The fairways are a narrower and will be tricky to hit so driving accuracy will be a big plus. The greens on both courses are poa annua greens, which tends to get a bit bumpy as the day goes on so good poa annua putters will be worth considering.

South Course 7,643 Yards, par 72
The South Course is played in the final two rounds and tends to be a lot more difficult than the North course. It has four par 5’s and four par 3’s and sits next to the pacific ocean and is also prone to windy conditions. The fairways here are a little wider and more forgiving than The North Course, but length and power will be required here, which will favour the bigger hitters in the field. There a more hazards guarding the greens, so good scramblers could also be worth considering.

The main stats that jump out at me here are, good poa annua putters, power, par 4 scoring, good current form and good previous form on this course. The total driving stat is also important, as missing the fairway can be extremely costly. There are a lot of slopes and greenside bunkers around the greens so good GIR and scrambling stats will be required.

Jason Day 14/1
Jason Day started his season very well finishing T3 at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua a couple of weeks ago. He had a mixed bag of form shooting an opening round 70 and followed that with a 69 in round 2 and 71 in round 3. He began a late charge in the final round shooting a superb 62 finishing on -20, just one stroke behind the winner Patrick Reed.

He followed that with a respectable T17 at The Sony finishing on 10 under in total. After an injury stricken 2014, he started showing some signs of good form in December and went on to win The Franklin Templeton Shootout with Cameron Tringale. He also had a good week at The Hero World Challenge finishing solo 5th on 14 under par, which included an impressive final round 66.

After a win at The World Cup of Golf and The Accenture World Matchplay, Day also performed well in the last of the FedExCup playoffs at the end of October finishing T2 at The Barclays, T7 at The Deutsche Bank and T4 at The Tour Championship at East Lake. In his last two appearances here at Torrey Pines, Day finished T2 last year and T15 in 2013.

Statswise, Day ranks 28th in driving distance, first in GIR and birdie average and first in putting average. He also ranks first in par 4 scoring and 15th in par 3 scoring, which are two stats that will certainly be favorable on these courses.

Brandt Snedeker 25/1
After a good performance last week in Phoenix finishing T10 on 10 under par, Snedeker will be feeling confident coming back to a course where he has played so well on in the past. He comes here in good form with three top 10’s in his last four competitive starts. He started the season with a T57 at The Frys.com and followed that with a T10 at The Shriners Open and another T10 at The WGC HSBC Champions.

Sneds has a great record at this event with a win and three top 10’s in his last five starts in this tournament. He finished T3 in 2013, won in 2012, T9 in 2011 and T2 in 2010, so it’s fair to say he is a horse for the course. He is also a bit of a poa annua specialist and seems to putt very well on this grass type. This is further proven with his previous win here at Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Glen Abbey, which was the venue for the 2013 RBC Canadian Open.

Sneds found a solid putting stroke last week last week in Phoenix and will take that forward into this week. With three top 10’s in his last four starts, Snedeker could be one to watch here on a course he has played so well on in the past.

Marc Leishman 40/1
Leishman had a good end to 2014 with a solo ninth place finish at the WGC HSBC Champions in November. He followed that with a respectable T37 at The Sony Open in Hawaii, finishing on seven under for the tournament.

He is another player that has a good record here over the years with three top 10’s in his last five starts. He finished T2 last year to the eventual winner Scott Stallings, T9 in 2011 and second once again to the winner Ben Crane in 2010.

Leishman has the length to power his way around this golf course hitting the ball an average of 300 yards off the tee ranking 27th in driving distance. He also ranks 20th in strokes gained putting, 21st in total putting and third in approaches from 150-175, which is a good stat for approaches into the par 4’s. With a good finish to 2014 and a good history on this course, Leishman could go well here at a good price.

Justin Thomas 35/1
Justin Thomas is a player I have been keeping an eye on over the last few weeks and looks to be playing with a lot of consistency. He hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in his last five events, which included three top 10’s. His run of good form began back in November at The Sanderson Farms where he finished T4 on 13 under par for the week. He followed that with a T23 at the OHL Classic and a T6 at The Sony Open in Hawaii. He played very well at The Humana Challenge finishing T7 on 20 under par, which included a second round 63. Most recently, he had another good week in Phoenix finishing in a respectable T17 on eight under par.

Thomas played very well in this event last year finishing T10 on six under par for the tournament. Statswise he ranks 16th in driving distance, 34th in strokes gained tee to green, 13th in birdie average and seventh in putting average. He also ranks fourth in par 4 scoring and 11th in birdie or better conversion percentage. He comes here this year in much better form than he was last year and should have a good week considering his current form.

First Round Leader – North Course

Brandt Snedeker 20/1
As I said above, Snedeker has a great record around this course and has shot no worse than 71 in five of his last six opening rounds. He opened with a 65 in 2013, a 67 in 2012 and a 70 in 2011. He has also shot an impressive 64 in round 2 in 2012, so he knows how to go low around Torrey Pines.
In his last five starts on the PGA Tour, he has shot no worse than a 71. He started strongly at The Shriners Open shooting an opening 67 and went on to open with a 69 at The WGC HSBC Champions. He also started well last week in Phoenix shooting a 70 in round 1. With Snedeker’s previous form here and experience with these poa annua greens, he could potentially go low in round 1.

Final Selections –
Jason Day 14/1 1.5 pts EW
Brandt Snedeker 25/1 1 .5 pts EW
Marc Leishman 1 pt EW
Justin Thomas 35/1 1 pt EW

First Round Leader –
Brandt Snedeker 28/1 1 pt EW
Total staked = 12 pts

Good luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6

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Waste Management Phoenix Open Betting Preview 2015

Posted on January 27, 2015 by doublebogey6

TPC Scottsdale, Arizona
Par 71, 7,266 Yards

The Course
The Waste Management Phoenix Open has long been the best attended event on the schedule and this year should be no different. TPC Scottsdale has undergone some serious renovations over the last year with over $12 million dollars spent on upgrades.

Strategic changes have touched all 18 holes, including new green locations on four holes and major changes at the par-5 13th. Some of the fairways have been realigned and bunkers have been reshaped making them more punishing. The large Bermuda greens were also resurfaced and could run quite fast depending on the weather conditions. The fairways are quite wide and forgiving, but if a tee shot goes a little wayward, it could end up in the desert or a deep bunker.

The signature 16th hole is an enclosed arena that holds some 20,000 spectators and tends to offer a football stadium feel to it with a great atmosphere. It is an arena that can erupt at the sight of a good tee shot, and give any player who is in the hunt a good ego boost going into the final few holes on Sunday.

The course features three par 5’s that all measure between 550 and 560 yards and should be reachable in two by some of the bigger hitters in the field. The course also has four par 3’s and 11 par 4’s. The par 4 17th can be reached off the tee by some of the longer players and should offer some excitement on Sunday.

This course will require solid ball striking and will favour guys that can bomb the ball. With the changes made over the past 12 months, I think it’s worth looking at players who are in good current form at the moment that have played well here in the past.

Bubba Watson 14/1
A trip to TPC Scottsdale will be Bubba’s second event on the PGA Tour in 2015 after he played well at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions earlier this month, finishing solo 10th. In his last four competitive events, Bubba has finished no worse than T11, including a win at The WGC HSBC Champions in Shangai. He followed that with a T11 at The Hero World Challenge, finishing on eight under par in total.

His record at TPC Scottsdale is quite impressive with two top 10’s and a top 15 in his last three starts. He came agonisingly close to winning here last year but lost to Kevin Stadler on the first playoff hole. He also finished solo 15th in 2013 and T5 in 2012. Statswise, Bubba ranks 26th in driving distance, hitting an average of 300 yards off the tee. He also ranks first in birdie average and first in approaches from 175-200, which is a good stat for the par 3’s and approaches into the short par 5’s.

With good current form and good previous form on this course, Bubba looks like a player that has the game to suit TPC Scottsdale and should have a good week here.

Rickie Fowler 18/1
This will be Rickie’s first event of 2015 and he will be looking to kick off with a good week at TPC Scottsdale. He comes here with some of the best form in the field with nine top 10 finishes in his last 10 competitive starts, which includes five top 5’s. This good run began back in June, where he finished T2 at The US Open and continued on from there. He had a good finish to the season in the FedExCup Playoffs finishing T4 at The BMW and solo 8th at the Tour Championship.

In his last two starts, he had a good performance at the WGC HSBC Champions finishing T3 and followed that with another top 10 at The Hero World Challenge in December finishing T6. He has played well here in the past with a T13 in 2011 and a solo 2nd in 2010. Fowler is a player that has the distance and the current form to overpower this course and have a good week here.

Hideki Matsuyama 28/1
Matsuyama has been playing good golf since the start of the new season and began with a T3 at The Frys.com Open and followed that with another top 10 at The Shriners finishing T10 on 13 under par.

Most recently, he has recorded two top 15’s in his last three starts, finishing solo 13th at The Hero World Challenge and T3 at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, losing to Patrick Reed by one stroke.
He played well here last year shooting a total of 14 under par to finish T4, two strokes behind the eventual winner, Kevin Stadler.

Statswise, he ranks 39th in driving distance hitting it an average of 298 off the tee. He also ranks 36th in GIR, 14th in strokes gained tee to green and 24th in approaches from 225-250, which is good for the par 5’s. After a good week last year, Matsuyama looks to have the game and the form to go well here again.

Brendan Steele 33/1
Brendan Steele is playing good golf at the moment and hasn’t missed a cut in his last nine events. He had a great week at The Humana Challenge shooting an impressive final round 64 to finish on 21 under par and T2 for the tournament. Before last week, his best finish this season was back at The Frys.com in October where he posted a T21. Steele is a horse for the course here with three top 10’s in his last three appearances at TPC Scottsdale.

He had a good week last year finishing T6, he finished T6 again in 2013 and T5 in 2012. Steele ranks 11th in driving distance, hitting it an average of 306 off the tee. He also ranks 21st in strokes gained tee to green, 18th in birdie average and fifth in approaches from 200-225. With good previous form here and a great finish last week at the Humana, Brendan Steele looks like a good shout here.

First Round Leader –

Bubba Watson 20/1
With such a good record on this course over the last few years, Bubba has shot no worse than a 70 in his opening round here at TPC Scottsdale, and that has steadily improved over the last three years. He shot an opening round 64 here last year and co-led after the first round with Y.E Yang. He opened with a 67 in 2013, a 66 in 2012 and a 70 in 2011, which suggests he could come out and shoot another low round in round 1 this coming Thursday.

Final Selections –
Bubba Watson 14/1 2pts EW
Rickie Fowler 18/1 1 pt EW
Hideki Matsuyama 28/1 1 pt EW
Brendan Steele 33/1 1 pt EW

First Round Leader-
Bubba Watson 20/1 1 pt EW

Total Staked = 12 pts

Good Luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6

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Sony Open Betting Preview 2015

Posted on January 13, 2015 by doublebogey6

Waialae Country Club, Honalulu, Hawaii
Par 70, 7,044 yards

The Course
After a great week at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which saw Patrick Reed beat Jimmy Walker in a playoff, the PGA Tour stays in Hawaii and travels to Waialae Country Club, which is located east of Honolulu.

Waialae is a par 70 measuring 7,044 yards and sits on Maunalua Bay, which can be prone to windy conditions. It has 12 par 4’s, four par 3’s and just two par 5’s, which measure 499 and 521 yards and should be reachable in two by most of the field. This course is different from Kapalua with Waialae being a lot tighter and flatter with small greens. The fairways are narrow and tree lined, which will favour the more accurate players. The greens here are much smaller compared to the generously sized greens last week at The Plantation Course.

Although these fairways are a tighter, there are also a lot of fairway bunkers to contend with so driving accuracy will be important this week. The tiny greens are Bermuda grass and are guarded by hazards, so look out for good GIR stats, good scramblers and good Bermuda putters with an emphasis on strokes gained tee to green.

Jimmy Walker 16/1
After the disappointment of losing dramatically to Patrick Reed at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Jimmy Walker didn’t really put a foot wrong and played solid all week. I really thought he putted very well making a lot of putts when it mattered. He has been playing well so far this season with three top 15’s in his last five starts, including a T9 at The Franklin Templeton Shootout with partner Ryan Palmer.

Walker finished T4 at The Shriners Open, 15th at The Hero World Challenge just before Christmas and second last week at The Hyundai. He has played well at Waialae, winning this tournament last year and finishing solo fourth in 2011. Walker ranks 27th in strokes gained tee to green, 14th in GIR from 200+ yards, 17th in approaches from 100-125 yards and 10th in approaches from 125-150. With good previous form on this course and good GIR stats, Jimmy Walker looks a solid bet after coming so close last week.

Chris Kirk 20/1
After a course record equalling 62 in Kapalua on Monday, Chris Kirk is showing some good form coming back to a course where he has played so well on in the past. He has two top 10’s here in the last two years finishing solo second last year and T5 in 2013. He hasn’t finished no worse than 16th in his last four starts showing a lot of consistency. He started the season well with a T4 at The McGladrey and followed that with a respectable T14 at The WGC HSBC Champions.

Just before Christmas, he finished solo 16th at The Hero World Challenge and then put together rounds of 68,76,73,62 in Kapalua, finishing T14 on thirteen under for the week. Kirk ranks 27th in strokes gained putting, first in approaches from 100-125, fourth in approaches from 50-75 and 19th in approaches from 250-275. He also has good putting stats, ranking fourth in putts from 10-15 feet, which should be a big plus on these small Bermuda greens.

Tim Clark 33/1
Tim Clark has been playing well over the last couple of months finishing second at The WGC HSBC in Shanghai back in November and T7 at The Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa the week before Christmas. Other than a disappointing second round 75, Tim was quite solid last week at The Hyundai shooting a 70 in round one and following that with 67,71 in round three and four finishing T25.

He has a good record here finishing solo second in 2013 and T2 in 2011. He was forced to withdraw from this event last year but seems to be injury free after competing last week. Clark ranks 27th in driving accuracy, 21st in approaches from 100-125 and 16th in approaches from 150-175, which are good stats for approaching some of the 12 par 4’s here. With this course being short, tight and tricky with small greens, this course seems to suit Clark’s game.

Russell Henley 28/1
With an opening round 65 last week in Kapalua, Russell Henley recorded his second top five in his last three events finishing T3 at The Hyundai TOC on Monday, shooting an impressive final round 67. He started his season at The McGladrey Classic back at the end of October, where he shot rounds of 68,63,68,69 to finish twelve under par and T4 for the tournament. He also played well at the end of last season posting a T2 at The Deutsche Bank and a solo 12th at The Tour Championship.

Henley won this event back in 2013 shooting three 63’s and a third round 67 to finish on 24 under par, three strokes better than his closest challenger Tim Clark. Statswise, Russell is hitting 73% of greens and ranks fifth in strokes gained putting and 11th in birdie average. He also ranks second in par 4 performance, 15th in putts from 10-15 feet and 12th in putts from 20-25 feet, which is a big plus on these small, tricky Bermuda greens.

First Round Leader –

Jimmy Walker 25/1
Walker hasn’t shot worse than a 69 in his last eight rounds in Waialae and could start strongly. He opened with a 66 last year, 69 in 2013 and a 68 in 2011. He also shot a 67 or better in five of his last eight rounds here, one of which was a 63 in the final round last year. He carded a 69 or better in three of his last four competitive rounds and given his performance in Kapalua, he could start well and go very low again here in round one.

Chris Kirk 28/1
Chris Kirk is another player that has gone very low around this course carding a 69 or better in his last eight rounds in Waialae. He has shot a 66 or better in five of his last eight rounds including a 64 in the first round last year and a 62 in round three in 2013. Kirk has opened with a round in the 60’s in three of his last four competitive rounds and looks in great shape after a course record equalling 62 last Monday in Kapalua.

Final Selections –
Jimmy Walker 16/1 2 pts EW
Chris Kirk 20/1 1 pt EW
Tim Clark 33/1 1 pt EW
Russell Henley 28/1 1 pt EW

First Round Leader –
Jimmy Walker 25/1 1 pt EW
Chris Kirk 28/1 1 pt EW

Total staked = 14 pts

Good luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6
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Hyundai Tournament of Champions Betting Preview 2015

Posted on January 6, 2015 by doublebogey6

Plantation Course, Kapalua, Hawaii
Par 73, 7,452 yards

The Course

Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2015 is a happy and profitable one! We kick off 2015 with The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which starts this Friday. This tournament is only for previous winners and has a field of only 34.

The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort is a par 73 measuring a lengthy 7,453 yards. It is quite open and runs along the slopes of the West Maui Mountains and is quite exposed to the elements. It generally suits the big hitters if they can keep it in the fairway with three of the four par 5’s reachable in two. The 18th is a 663 yard par 5 that plays a lot shorter, as it runs downhill and should be reachable by some of the longer hitters. It also has three par 3’s and 11 par 4’s.

Accuracy off the tee is not hugely important here as the fairways are quite wide and forgiving. The greens are also quite forgiving with some of the approaches having uphill and downhill slopes into the greens, which have some undulations. Good putters have done well here with the likes of Zach Johnson (2014), Dustin Johnson (2013) and Steve Stricker (2012, 2nd 2013) being past winners. With 11 par 4’s on this course, it is also worth considering par 4 scoring and GIR.

With the weather set to be calm and sunny with moderate winds, the scoring should be low with the winner averaging around the 20 under mark judging from previous years.

Billy Horchel 20/1
Billy had a superb end to last season finishing runner up in The Deutsche Bank, and then going on to win both The BMW Championship and The Tour Championship, taking home The FedExCup crown and a tasty 10 million bucks!

He had a good week at Tiger’s event recently, The Hero World Challenge finishing T8 shooting rounds of 73,72,67,67 on nine under par for the tournament. He also showed good signs the following week at The Franklin Templeton Shootout finishing T3 with Ian Poulter. Billy also played well here last year shooting rounds of 72,72,68,66 on his way to a respectable T6 finish.

Horchel ranks sixth in driving distance so far this season averaging an impressive 312 yards off the tee. Last season, he ranked fourth in GIR, 23rd in driving accuracy, 15th in par 5 scoring and second in putts from 5-10 feet. He is clearly showing some good form and could be one to watch here this week.

Jason Day 15/2
After an injury stricken 2014, Jason Day will be looking to start 2015 off with a bang finishing 2014 off with a win at The Franklin Templeton Shootout with Cameron Tringale. He also has a good week at The Hero World Challenge finishing solo 5th on 14 under par, which included an impressive final round 66.

After a win at The World Cup of Golf and The Accenture World Matchplay, Day also performed well in the last of the FedExCup playoffs at the end of October finishing T2 at The Barclays, T7 at The Deutsche Bank and T4 at The Tour Championship at East Lake. His last visit to Kapalua was in 2011 when he shot rounds of 73,66,69, 70 on his way to a T9th finish.

Last season, Day ranked 18th in driving distance, 20th in strokes gained putting, 29th in par 4 performance and first in putting from five feet. After two good performances in December, it appears Jason Day is back to full strength and could be a huge contender here.

Patrick Reed 22/1
Patrick Reed had a good start to the season with a respectable T26 at The CIMB Classic back in November. He then followed that with a T22 at The WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

Most recently, Reed played well at The Hero World Challenge in Florida finishing T3, where he shot a 63 in round two and had another good performance the following week at The Franklin Templeton Shootout finishing T10 with partner Brandt Snedeker.

Reed played this event last year and carding rounds of 70, 72,67,73 on his way to a respectable T16, which is not bad for his first visit. He hasn’t missed a cut since The Open Championship last July and is becoming a very solid performer in big events. At 22/1 he seems to be good value for a player that has shown good recent form over the Christmas period.

First Round Leader Bets-

Matt Kuchar 14/1
Kuchar has a good record at this event with four top 10’s in his last five appearances. He finished T6 last year, T9 in 2013, T6 in 2011 and solo 3rd in 2010. He started well in three of his last four appearances shooting an opening round 68 last year, 69 in 2011 and a 67 in 2010. Kuch also started well recently at The Hero World Challenge shooting an opening round 69 and has been as steady as they come in terms of consistency.

Ryan Moore 22/1
Moore is another player that has a good record around Kapalua finishing solo 10th last year and T6 in 2010. He has started strongly in two of his last three appearances shooting an opening round 67 last year and a 69 in 2010. Moore in another steady player and had a great start to his season winning the CIMB Classic for the second time, where he shot 68,69,67,67 finishing seventeen under par total for the tournament. After a few weeks off, he should be feeling fresh coming to a course he has played so well on in the past.

Final Selections –
Billy Horchel 1 pt EW 22/1
Jason Day 1 pt EW 15/2
Patrick Reed 1 pt EW 22/1

First Round Leader –
Matt Kuchar 1 pt EW 14/1
Ryan Moore 1 pt EW 22/1

Total staked = 10 pts

Good Luck and enjoy the golf,

Doublebogey6

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Doublebogey6

Golf Writer providing betting previews on the PGA Tour week in week out unless something terrible happens….but lets hope not.

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