Outright plays (1pt):
Shingo Katayama to win 10/1 e.w. @ Stan James and BetInternet
Against a much weaker group of internationals this week (Rose, Monty, Schwartzel, Mahan), I can't see beyond the top two Japanese players in this event. Katayama brought his run of top-8 finishes on this Tour to end last week, though he did recover well from an opening 75 to finish 17th. With a top-5 finish in three of the last five years here, he should certainly re-start his run and look to secure the Money List title this week.
Toru Taniguchi to win 14/1 e.w. avalaible generally
Trailing Katayama by 5 million yen in the Money List and with 28 million yen on offer for the winner this week, Taniguchi looks to be another who will have a greater incentive than most to keep trying to the very end. His record on this course has not been as good as expected, but with two wins and a top-10 finish in each of his last five starts, he is clearly playing well enough to win on this course.
Joe (Naomichi) Ozaki to win 66/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet, Sporting Odds, BetDirect and GolfingGods
Ozaki finished 12th last week, which is a very creditable performance against that field, but it is easy to forget that he was 2nd after 54 holes and had to play the final round in the same group as Tiger Woods. To shoot 74 under that pressure is understandable. It also the week after he finished 13th in another Japan International Tour event, having been in the 3rd-last group in the final round. So he is clearly in very good form and having finished in the top-10 in four of his last five visits to Ibusuki and having won this event in 1991 on this course, he should stand a better chance of earning a return than a standard 66/1 shot.
Shingo Katayama to win 10/1 e.w. @ Stan James and BetInternet
Against a much weaker group of internationals this week (Rose, Monty, Schwartzel, Mahan), I can't see beyond the top two Japanese players in this event. Katayama brought his run of top-8 finishes on this Tour to end last week, though he did recover well from an opening 75 to finish 17th. With a top-5 finish in three of the last five years here, he should certainly re-start his run and look to secure the Money List title this week.
Toru Taniguchi to win 14/1 e.w. avalaible generally
Trailing Katayama by 5 million yen in the Money List and with 28 million yen on offer for the winner this week, Taniguchi looks to be another who will have a greater incentive than most to keep trying to the very end. His record on this course has not been as good as expected, but with two wins and a top-10 finish in each of his last five starts, he is clearly playing well enough to win on this course.
Joe (Naomichi) Ozaki to win 66/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet, Sporting Odds, BetDirect and GolfingGods
Ozaki finished 12th last week, which is a very creditable performance against that field, but it is easy to forget that he was 2nd after 54 holes and had to play the final round in the same group as Tiger Woods. To shoot 74 under that pressure is understandable. It also the week after he finished 13th in another Japan International Tour event, having been in the 3rd-last group in the final round. So he is clearly in very good form and having finished in the top-10 in four of his last five visits to Ibusuki and having won this event in 1991 on this course, he should stand a better chance of earning a return than a standard 66/1 shot.
