Zurich Classic of New Orleans 28/4 - 1/5

[Bamford]

A modest par 72 featuring Miniverde Bermudagrass greens. Short or long players can be competitive here, where the real key is to keep bogeys off the card, whilst taking your opportunities on the short par 4s and the par 5s.  It's a course where consistency rather than brute force ultimately prevails.With wind in-play and conditions faster than last year expect -16/272 to -18/270 to be the winning totals. Players sub -15/273 will be right in the mix.

 

New winners are a feature here, but elite players who are hungry for a win like Justin Rose last year have also taken the title.

 

I'm going for a mix of winners and non-winners, and players who I think will hopefully be able to hit the +72% of greens required to get into the mix.  So Horschel (22s), Berger (28s), Kirk (40s) and Castro (175s).

 

Best of luck.

[IanH]

Zurich Classic Ratings:

Zurich Classic		TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
		Par 72	7425 yards
Code	Player	FORM	COURSE	SKILLS	TOTAL
1	Charley Hoffman	62	34	0	53.33
2	Justin Rose	27	66	0	51.67
3	Charles Howell	49	36	0	47.22
4	Jason Day	46	17	19	45.67
5	Billy Horschel	43	38	0	45.00
6	Cameron Tringale	9	65	0	41.11
7	Steve Stricker	15	30	20	36.11
8	Boo Weekley	13	51	0	35.56
9	Keegan Bradley	25	37	0	34.44
10	Daniel Berger	44	16	0	33.33
11	Chris Kirk	48	11	0	32.78
12	Rickie Fowler	14	33	10	31.67
13	Danny Lee	11	22	10	24.11
14	Russell Henley	28	0	15	24.00
15	Patton Kizzire	24	0	17	22.89
16	Jamie Donaldson	21	0	20	22.56
17	Ben Martin	25	12	0	20.56
18	Marc Leishman	22	12	3	20.44
19	Jamie Lovemark	36	0	0	20.00
20	Ricky Barnes	17	4	14	19.22
21	Sean O'Hair	0	25	6	17.00
22	Si Woo Kim	28	0	2	16.44
23	Gary Woodland	18	3	0	11.67
24	Smylie Kaufman	12	0	0	6.67
25	Byeong Hun An	0	0	0	0.00

 

[IanH]

Three Against The Big Three in the Zurich Classic

Jason Day and Justin Rose are the obvious main contenders in the betting for the Zurich Classic on the US PGA Tour but other players with decent profiles and more attractively priced are preferred. Winning may be beyond Boo Weekley, Cameron Tringale and Charles Howell but they are viable alternatives to the two market leaders and can make the payout places all priced at 60/1 plus in the outright betting market. 

It’s rare to see two players quoted at single figure odds. Day and Rose have that betting status this week for a tournament that lacks strength in depth beyond the top few players in the betting. The tremendously named Smylie Kaufman is the seventh favourite and he can be backed at 33/1. Day, Rose and Rickie Fowler are in the top ten in the world rankings and the next best player is Charley Hoffman at 34. He won last week and despite a good profile mental letdown could be a problem.

The TPC Louisiana was built to stage the Zurich Classic and has been the host venue in every year since 2005 except in 2006 when a Hurricane blew in and washed it away after just one tournament.  The TPC of Louisiana was designed by Pete Dye and is intended to have similarities with the TPC at Sawgrass which hosts the Players Championship and is known as the fifth major due to the quality of the field. 

It presents an all-round test and the big hitters don’t dominate despite the course being over 7,400 yards in length. The Bermuda greens are below average and approaches must navigate extensive fairway bunkering and over 70 pot bunkers. The course puts a premium on accuracy over distance. Wind can often be a factor and in benign conditions someone could go low so pin positions are used to protect the course.

Day is the world’s number one but has been suffering with fatigue though he is third for strokes gained putting and was tied fourth last year. Rose has built up a solid bank of course form at the TPC of Louisiana and won the Zurich Classic last year. The defending champion has made the top 15 in his four efforts in the event. Fowler has an average course record and is the least favoured of the Big Three by conditions expected this week, despite leading the tour in the all-round ranking. The combined price for the three best players in the field is about 6/4 but that should be swerved.

Any one of Tringale, Weekley and Howell are about 5/1 to make the top five and that looks a more sensible bet. The triumvirate of top 10 players would dominate at their best but backing them is avoided in favour of a more solid betting proposition. Weekley can actually be backed to make the top six with Stan James. Even if Day, Rose and Fowler finish in the top three in any order that leaves three place positions to play for and the three selections have decent profiles in the context of the course.  

Tringale finished one shot behind Rose last season and has made the cut five times in the last six seasons in the Zurich Classic on this week’s course. Howell combines solid course and current form and is a top 40 players for finding the greens in the correct number of shots. Weekley was just a shot behind Tringale last year and a repeat of that form can see him contend and reward each way backers as could Tringale and Howell. 

Outright Winner Bets

10pts Each Way – Cameron Tringale (5 places) Betfred @60/1

10pts Each Way – Boo Weekley (6 places) Stan James @ 90/1

10pts Each Way – Charles Howell (5 places) sportingbet @60/1

[jackierubberleg]

Outright; Boo Weekley EW Stan James 90/1  1)2)3)4)5)6.

 

Boo Weekley has hardly set the world alight with his performances this season. Therefore his price for this tournament would seem fairly fitting. However things have began to look a little brighter for the big Floridian in recent weeks. After five missed cuts from six tournaments till mid March,Weekly has turned it around, making the last three cuts in the tournaments he has played. With a weeks rest he should be ready to go on a course that he obviously takes to. Two top six places and a third in the past four years says that Boo is likely to be in the mix. So, here's hoping there's plenty of cries of Booooooooo! from the crowd, up the stretch come Sunday.  

[IanH]

72 Hole Match Bets:

30pts Charles Howell to beat Marc Leishman Skybet @ 1.91

30pts Cameron Tringale beat Patton Kizzire sportingbet @ 1.80

30pts Billy Horschel to beat Richie Fowler Betfred @ 1.91 

[owenclass]

Jason Day has lost the lead