Allianz Championship

[Stanley]

Outright plays (2pts):

Bruce Fleisher to win 14/1 e.w. @ SkyBet
Last year was a frustrating one for Fleisher. After he won the Verizon Classic stole the Verizon Classic from Hale Irwin in dramatic style in February, he would finish 2nd three times, but would not win again. That has been corrected with two wins in ten starts this season and just four finishes outside the top-10. On a course on which he has a good record - 7th and 2nd in the last two years - another top-10 looks highly probable and he has had some useful practise in beating this field already this season.

Morris Hatalsky to win 28/1 e.w. @ Stan James
Not much wrong with Hatalsky's form either. Two top-15 finishes in two starts is encouraging enough and with finishes of 5th and 3rd in his last two events, I would have expected him to be available at much shorter odds, particularly as he is a multiple winner on this Tour.

Keith Fergus to win 66/1 e.w. @ Stan James and Paddy Power
No course form for rookie Fergus who will be playing in only his 5th Champions Tour event. But with one top-4 finish already against a very storng field for the Toshiba Senior Classic, these do look very generous odds compared to the main players. I'll take the value here with so many others no more than 10/1.

 

[Stanley]

Matchup plays (2pts):

Tom Kite to beat Bob Gilder -110 @ SkyBet
Not one of Kite's best seasons, but at least he did secure his best finish of the season (5th) in his penultimate start and he still leads Gilder 7-2-1 h2h in 2004. Having also finished ahead in two of the last three seasons here, I'll side with him to continue the feat.

Graham Marsh to beat John Jacobs -115 @ Five Dimes
Simply siding with the player in better form. Marsh has two top-15 finishes in the last two Champions Tour events; Jacobs has two finishes outside the top-50.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

a couple 72 holes @ 5dimes
Weibring -112 over McNulty
Koch -115 over Darcy

Can't see Weibring a dog here considering he hasn't lost to McNulty in 4 straight tourneys and hold 15 srtoke edge in same.

Darcy has yet to finish a tourney(4 attempts) at par this year, has been thumped in 2 tourneys in common by Koch by 11 strokes and Koch holds almost a 3 stroke adj scor adv.

 

[lostinamerica]

OPENERS:

A. When Iowa hosts or has a team involved in a big sporting event, look to the Des Moines Register for truly outstanding coverage: http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=SPORTS (7 days of coverage through the Golf link)

B. The heat index made it to 115 during last year?s August staging; nothing like that feeling with this year?s event, which is a good thing if I decide to go down to Des Moines on Sunday.


OUTRIGHTS:

Morris Hatalsky(20/1) for 0.50* e.w @ Bet365
It?s looked to me like Hatalsky has been playing beautifully, and if he had had some super true greens to use to his advantage, he could really have done some damage, but at the same time his equanimity didn?t seem too put off by the recent surfaces being well below upper echelon by tour standards. I think the greens this week will feel like a godsend, that the course is a very comfortable fit for all sorts of styles and strengths, and that some sense of atoning is also present given that Mo(T-14) was right there with a real chance last year before slipping badly to start the back nine on Sunday. The week off isn?t what I would have ordered, but I like the fact I had Hatalsky correctly tipped when I saw much the same things in his game last year before the Columbus Southern Open.

Lonnie Nielsen(66/1) for 0.40* e.w. @ Bet365
A beautiful Fazio design over the Iowa landscape and very agreeable putting surfaces paint the right picture in my mind for Lonnie rising to the occasion With this play, I think I like the idea of having had the prior week off. He was impressive among friends and well-wishers in Naples (Ace Group Classic), and draws a favorable tee time this morning.

Gary Koch also gets a nibble.

MATCHUPS:

Hatalsky(-115) over Gilder (Tournament) for 1* @ 5dimes
Nielsen(-115) over Fiori (Tournament) for 1* @ 5dimes

GL

 

[Stanley]

Outrights - Final update: 0-3; -6.00pts

Fleisher 19th
Hatalsky 51st
Fergus 33rd

Nowhere near the places for the first two selections, while at least Fergus was 2nd after 16 holes. He finished his first round bogey-bogey and continued in the same vein for the rest of the week.

Matchups - Final update: 1-1-0; -0.30pts

Kite/Gilder WON by 6
Marsh/Jacobs LOST by 2

Split the plays to ensure a loss on the matchups as well as the outrights. Hopefully this was just a pre-major week blip.

Champions Tour ytd
Outrights: 10-26; +115.75pts
Matchups: 35-34; -4.16pts