Round 2 plays (4pts):
Matt Every to beat Ted Potter -155 @ The Greek [also available @ Carib and WSEX]
Two players who start the 3rd round in 3rd place, but I don't see Potter staying there. In his 26 previous PGA Tour starts, he has recorded just one top-10 finish, albeit a win from well off the pace (64-64 over the weekend). Every comes into this event off the back of a top-10 finish and has a decent record in this event (Potter missed the cut by 10 shots on his debut last year).
Lee Westwood to beat Hunter Mahan -105 @ Pinnacle [available generally]
Mahan leads the event after the first round and this will be the ninth time that he has done so in his career - on none of the previous occasions did he go on to win the event and only once did he manage to stay in 1st place after the 2nd round. Westwood showed good form in Dubai last week and currently sits inside the top-10 after the 1st round, so would be a good opponent. His h2h record against Mahan also reads 8-3-1 in their last 12 common events, so it is clear who the dominant player is in this matchup.
Ben Kohles to beat Scott Brown -150 @ Paddy Power
Opposing Brown. He played in 23 PGA Tour events from January to September last year, missing the cut 19 times, but of the four cuts that he made, three of those were top-10 finishes. This week he makes his season debut after failing to secure his Tour Card via Q-School where he finished 156th. Kohles is a much more promising player who won back-to-back titles on the Web.com Tour last year and so justifies the short price.
Kevin Stadler to beat Steve Marino -111 @ Bet365 [available generally]
At 145th on the leaderboard, yesterday was Marino's 2nd-worst rd1 performance in his Tour career. On the other occasion, he followed his 84 with a 78 and missed the cut in the 2012 U.S. Open. It is hard to see him salvaging this position with just 60 players making the cut, so I'll back Stadler whose 69 around Pebble Beach puts him inside the top-20 on the leaderboard and continues his good run of form in this event.
Brian Stuard to beat Arjun Atwal -120 @ Paddy Power
With finishes of 5th, 10th and 39th in his three starts this season, Stuard looks in good enough form to maintain his current top-20 position. Making his season debut and with finishes of mc, wd and mc in the last three years here, Atwal looks much less likely to maintain his position alongside Stuard on the leaderboard.
Matt Every to beat Ted Potter -155 @ The Greek [also available @ Carib and WSEX]
Two players who start the 3rd round in 3rd place, but I don't see Potter staying there. In his 26 previous PGA Tour starts, he has recorded just one top-10 finish, albeit a win from well off the pace (64-64 over the weekend). Every comes into this event off the back of a top-10 finish and has a decent record in this event (Potter missed the cut by 10 shots on his debut last year).
Lee Westwood to beat Hunter Mahan -105 @ Pinnacle [available generally]
Mahan leads the event after the first round and this will be the ninth time that he has done so in his career - on none of the previous occasions did he go on to win the event and only once did he manage to stay in 1st place after the 2nd round. Westwood showed good form in Dubai last week and currently sits inside the top-10 after the 1st round, so would be a good opponent. His h2h record against Mahan also reads 8-3-1 in their last 12 common events, so it is clear who the dominant player is in this matchup.
Ben Kohles to beat Scott Brown -150 @ Paddy Power
Opposing Brown. He played in 23 PGA Tour events from January to September last year, missing the cut 19 times, but of the four cuts that he made, three of those were top-10 finishes. This week he makes his season debut after failing to secure his Tour Card via Q-School where he finished 156th. Kohles is a much more promising player who won back-to-back titles on the Web.com Tour last year and so justifies the short price.
Kevin Stadler to beat Steve Marino -111 @ Bet365 [available generally]
At 145th on the leaderboard, yesterday was Marino's 2nd-worst rd1 performance in his Tour career. On the other occasion, he followed his 84 with a 78 and missed the cut in the 2012 U.S. Open. It is hard to see him salvaging this position with just 60 players making the cut, so I'll back Stadler whose 69 around Pebble Beach puts him inside the top-20 on the leaderboard and continues his good run of form in this event.
Brian Stuard to beat Arjun Atwal -120 @ Paddy Power
With finishes of 5th, 10th and 39th in his three starts this season, Stuard looks in good enough form to maintain his current top-20 position. Making his season debut and with finishes of mc, wd and mc in the last three years here, Atwal looks much less likely to maintain his position alongside Stuard on the leaderboard.
