Matchups
YTD: 8-6-1 (+0.80*)
LW: 4-3-0 (-0.05*)
Outrights
YTD: 0-5 (-2.00*)
Dodgy task of capping a match play event featuring the 64 top players in the world. Of course the numbers I've been tracking for a month lack much relevance, although the themes are all still there. Good judgment at my end this week means getting things done at work (so far), and leave the heavy digging for those so inclined. The choices I like and post this week will be fewer than are justified by the ocassion, with an emphasis on subjective factors which are a comfortable part of my handicapping, anyway.
Outrights @ 0.40*:
Olazabal(30-1)
No extended comments are needed on the attributes of Olazabal's game that make him attractive in match play. For the near term, at least, on the road to Augusta, Olazabal's current stint in the States has been building for this championship, I'd say, and he is as on form as anyone to seize it. Olazabal would be my selection regardless of the draw, which can get blown upside down in a single day. Advancing over Leonard (and if form holds, Goosen) holds the possibility of contributing momentum. Olazabal would be my choice if he was a reasonably priced favorite, but I find him far down the list, bringing value to boot. Dodgy call any way you slice it.
Matchups:
Olazabal(-120) over Leonard
Leonard has what it takes to pull the surprise, but it seems more than merely possible that he will have his hands full in this one.
Faxon(+105) over Perry
Faxon is on his game, and if I had to pick someone to make a putt under any circumstances on a Monday through about a Friday, this guy would surely be hovering near my top ten.
I like the Howell suggestions on catching him before he gets there, and finishing high at Augusta; I like Lehman to be tough out of the box; and I'm intrigued by the 125-1 on Niclas Fasth. Keep 'em coming.
GL
(remember he finished 3rd last year)
