Round 1 plays (2pts):
Lee Westwood to beat Ben Curtis and Shingo Katayama +125 @ Unibet
Couldn't find any 2-ball matchups that I liked, so will opt for play some rare threeball matches instead. Hard to dismiss Westwood's chances this week, at least for 54 holes. He was 2nd here last year and his form reads 2nd, 8th and 3rd in his last three events, though he had every chance to win in his last outing at Turnberry. Curtis has been playing well, but not at Westwood's level and has a best finish of 30th in three events on this course, whereas Katayama is playing in his first event outside Japan since The Masters as there had been fears that the travelling would have worsened his persistent back problem.
Justin Leonard to beat Henrik Stenson and Prayad Marksaeng +145 @ Unibet and The Greek
While not in Westwood's vein of form, Leonard can boast finishes of 8th (British Open) and 14th (Buick Open) in his last two starts and has a decent record on this course: runner-up in 2000, but more recently top-20 in three of his last four visits. If we discount Marksaeng - he has missed six of his last ten cuts and failed to shoot a single sub-par round on his course debut last year - that leaves good odds in a straight matchup against Stenson. However, the Swede has been very inconsistent between events all season, so that should put the value firmly with Leonard.
Jim Furyk to beat Sean O'Hair and Martin Kaymer +150 @ ToteSport and Boyle Sports
Back to someone more consistent. Furyk has played in this event nine times since it because a WGC event and has finished in the top-10 on six of those occasions, including a playoff loss to Tiger in 2001. His recent form has similarly been very predictable: a worst finish of 34th and top-10 finishes in four of his last seven starts. Across the same period, he has failed to open with a sub-70 round just once. He's not really looking like a title winner, but very backable in matchups. The opposite can be said for Kaymer who won twice in July, but he finished 68th (of 80) last year on his course debut and in 15 events on American soil, he has yet to record a top-10 finish. O'Hair has also won recently (Quail Hollow Championship in May), but since that victory, Furyk has finished ahead of him in five of their six common events; O'Hair is also yet to record a top-10 finish on this course.
