Round 1 plays (4pts):
Miguel Angel Jimenez to beat Steven Bowditch +100 @ 5Dimes
Opposing Bowditch who is playing like the season can't end soon enough so he can take some rest. This will be his 7th event in the last eight weeks and in that run, he has finished: mc - mdf - 71st - 40th - mc - mc. Those last two events have been on the Australasian Tour against much weaker fields and his only top-70 finish was in the limited-field HSBC Champions. Playing for the first time in this event, he is a player to oppose in his final event of 2015. Jimenez's form has been better and he did finish 6th here last year, As the final player added to the field on Monday, his motivation levels should also be higher than the Australian's.
Scott Piercy to beat Soren Kjeldsen +100 @ 5Dimes
Both players are making their debut in this event, but with the course measuring over 7,800 yards, this is clearly a course that suits Piercy a lot more than Kjeldsen. Whereas Piercy has ranked 41st and 27th in Driving Distance in the last two season on the PGA Tour, Kjeldsen has ranked 181st in each of the last two seasons on the European Tour in this category (28 and 24 yards shorter than his opponent across those two years). There were no driving distance stats collected at last year's Nedbank Golf Challenge, but in its first year as an official European Tour event two years ago, the top-4 in Driving Distance filled four of the top-6 places on the leaderboard, including 1st and 2nd. The Dane's recent form will not overcome the handicap that he faces this week.
Miguel Angel Jimenez to beat Steven Bowditch +100 @ 5Dimes
Opposing Bowditch who is playing like the season can't end soon enough so he can take some rest. This will be his 7th event in the last eight weeks and in that run, he has finished: mc - mdf - 71st - 40th - mc - mc. Those last two events have been on the Australasian Tour against much weaker fields and his only top-70 finish was in the limited-field HSBC Champions. Playing for the first time in this event, he is a player to oppose in his final event of 2015. Jimenez's form has been better and he did finish 6th here last year, As the final player added to the field on Monday, his motivation levels should also be higher than the Australian's.
Scott Piercy to beat Soren Kjeldsen +100 @ 5Dimes
Both players are making their debut in this event, but with the course measuring over 7,800 yards, this is clearly a course that suits Piercy a lot more than Kjeldsen. Whereas Piercy has ranked 41st and 27th in Driving Distance in the last two season on the PGA Tour, Kjeldsen has ranked 181st in each of the last two seasons on the European Tour in this category (28 and 24 yards shorter than his opponent across those two years). There were no driving distance stats collected at last year's Nedbank Golf Challenge, but in its first year as an official European Tour event two years ago, the top-4 in Driving Distance filled four of the top-6 places on the leaderboard, including 1st and 2nd. The Dane's recent form will not overcome the handicap that he faces this week.
