WGC Accenture Match play at Dove Mountain
I haven’t done a blog for the past two weeks due to laziness and not having the time, and I haven’t really had a punt either. A few of the fellas (tipsters) I follow on Twitter had a couple of nice winners, which is good. This week we have the Accenture Match Play at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain, Arizona. Some people, mainly tipsters, think this is a bit of a lottery and tend to stay away from it as a punting event, which is fair enough. The problem (the reason I love it) is that you’re playing the man, not the course. If it was a 72 hole stroke event you’d be happy to see your player jockeying for position over the weekend, however, in this event if you start slow, or just come across somebody hot, you could be on a flight home on the Wednesday evening. Like last year I’ve decided to do the bracket betting and maybe have a couple of doubles or trebles on the matches during the tourney.
Bobby Jones bracket
This bracket seems to be the most open, well according to the bookies anyway. The big names in this one are McIlroy, Fowler, Big bad DJ, Gmac, Harrington, Bubba and Schwartzel. The most interesting part is that the four Irish guys have been drawn against each other. I expect Rors to eventually outclass Lowry but I can’t call the other game. Of the other matches I expect DJ to win, he's been poor of late but mainly because of running up big scores at holes, though that's less costly in Match Play, that said, I see a few fancy Noren. A lot of people like Schwartzel's chances this week and he’s the main danger to my pick in this bracket. Rickie Fowler has a far from an ideal draw on paper, with Rors, DJ and Gmac all potential opponents, but when you look closer, he could have two guys that are bang out of form and another who could still be rusty. I like Fowler as a match player, though knocked out early last year; his game is more ideal than most for this format.
Gary Player bracket
Now, the problem with the brackets is they can throw together players that you may want to keep apart for outright betting reasons. After watching Hunter Mahan last weekend, the defending champ went straight on to my shortlist. But since the Ryder Cup I’ve had Martin Kaymer firmly in mind for this event, alas, they get put in the same bracket. In this ultra competitive bracket they also have Tiger, Westy and Dufner to contend with. I expect a big showing from Tiger this week, although his course form isn’t good, he was impressive at Torrey Pines and it should be interesting to see if he can take that form to a course he finds a lot more difficult, I suspect a lot of punters will be taking him on at the prices in each of his matches. I really can't split Mahan and Kaymer so I’ll hedge my bets and put a few quid on each.
Ben Hogan bracket
Out of all the brackets this is the one that will be the easiest to win. I don’t think it has the same depth as the others. Oozty, Kuch, Sergio, Rose, Ernie and Haas…actually when I roll the names off my tongue, it’s actually competitive enough! All tidy golfers on their day, but they’ll all know that the bracket is there for the taking. My pick in this bracket is Sergio Garcia. Too many times I’ve backed him because my heart ruled my head, but this time I’m more than sure it’s the head talking. He went backwards after a promising start last week at Riviera but has been in solid form (hasn’t been out of Top 20 in last 7 events worldwide) and he loves Match Play.
Sam Snead bracket
This bracket is the one I’m most confident with, cue the first round disaster! Luuuuuke, Poults, Watney, Scott and Stricks are the main acts in this one but I fancy one past champion to out dual another to win this bracket. Luuuuuke (sorry I can’t help myself) was the 2011 champ here and was on his seasonal debut last week where he hopefully shifted all rust from his game, he didn’t seem to have too much! It won’t surprise me if Poults is wearing his Ryder Cup outfit for motivation (jokes) and I expect him to be in the last eight against Donald.
For my ‘one and done’ this week I’m going to go for Rickie Fowler. Mainly because I can see him going deep in the tourney and I don’t know when I’d use him again anyway (Open did cross my mind). The last two weeks haven’t been good for me in the competition so really need a big week, no pressure Rickie!
Be Lucky!
My Selections:
Luke Donald to win the Sam Snead bracket @ 9/2 with Will Hill
Sergio Garcia to win the Ben Hogan bracket @ 15/2 with Bet 365
Hunter Mahan to win the Gary Player bracket @ 8/1 with Bet 365
Martin Kaymer to win the Gary Player bracket @ 10/1 with Paddy Power
Rickie Fowler to win the Bobby Jones bracket @ 12/1 with Bet Victor
Rickie Fowler to win the WGC Outright @ 66/1 each way with Ladbrokes
