Hyundai Tournament of Champions > Jan 7th - 10th

[Aidymac]

The Value Bets

 

JUSTIN THOMAS (30/1, Betfred) is a player with more to prove than most here and this is a great chance for him to get his season off to the perfect start. We all know he is a young player with tonnes of potential and he got off the mark at the end of October in Kuala Lumper when he won the Malaysian Open, beating Adam Scott by a single shot. That win will no doubt give the lad a huge amount of confidence and will relax him too as he now knows he has what it takes to WIN!

 

He is now up to 37th in the World Rankings and I expect that to rise and rise in the coming months. The man from Kentucky went on finish T3 in the Frys Open right after his win in the CIMB Classic so comes here with a real swagger this week. He had seven Top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour last season and would have won much sooner only for a couple of Sunday's where he went AWOL. He hits the ball a long way but his downfall was his concentration and trying to play the big shot. I think he has matured and you will see a man develop this season.

 

BILL HAAS (66/1, Bet Victor) is far too big a price to ignore this week too. He tends to start off fast and he did so last season when he won the Humama Challenge with a fine four round total of -22. He looked destined to go on and have a sublime season after that victory but it did not materialise. His form dropped quite drastically and although he showed glimpses of brilliance when T4 in The Players Championship and T4 in the Quicken Loans National, he could not get into a rhythm.

 

However, his year could not have ended in better fashion as he was controversially picked for the Presidents Cup team, by his father Jay Haas. He sank the winning putt for USA and he said in an interview afterwards that his goal is to make the Ryder Cup team for 2016. This guy won the FedEx Cup in 2011 so he is a lot better that many give him credit for, possibly down to his massive failures in majors. He is long off the tee and is an extremely good iron player, and I think he has every chance in Hawaii this week.

 

FULL PREVIEW --> https://www.punterslounge.com/hyundai-tournament-of-champions-justin-thomas-can-become-a-man-in-2016-2016010408

[Bamford]

Happy New Year to all. The standard start the calendar year with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. The course is long, coastal and undulating, safe to say it's difficult to get close to pins, so this really turns into a test of approach play in the wind, allied to converting birdie opportunities, often from distance. 3-putt minimisation is also a real-task here with big greens and plenty of undulations making lag putting tricky. 

It's often a quirky track, so those with experience have an advantage and you need to be up with the pace from Round 1 onwards as scoring is low, when the wind is breezy. Kona winds make for a different test than standard this week. 

I'm sure that Rickie Fowler and Kevin Kisner will go well, and Justin Thomas with his recce to Maui pre-event is sure to fast start. However purely for their ability to shoot-low, play consistently in the wind and putt well on TifEagle Bermudagrass I've gone with Patrick Reed at 12/1 (prices were yesterday afternoon) and Graeme McDowell at 28/1.