The PGA Tour continues this week with what can only be described as more of a fun event with the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, TPC Louisiana.
Last Week Starting to Cink In
Before I continue, as many of your are now aware, I predicted Stewart Cink at 150/1 to win the RBC Heritage and boy did he duly oblige. Congratulations to the father and son team with Reagan on the bag for his dad.
They were in front from almost start to finish and after the first round they always had a few shots to spare over the field. The 47 year old American carded the first two rounds with a record breaking 16 under par. Cink was cool, calm and collected throughout, with some sound advice from his son and stunning shots on his way to a well deserved victory, only his second in 11 years.
I also advised Cink for a Top 20 finish at 6/1. My other selection, Matt Fitzpatrick 30/1 each-way finished T4th to the joy of many each-way punters.
Over on the European Tour I selected Wil Besseling at 55/1 each way to win the Austrian Open and the Dutchman made it an absolutely fantastic weekend for my selections with a T4th place.
I just want to thank everyone here at MFTs amazing community for all the many kind messages, as I have already mentioned on the site. I’m just so glad I could help, this is what makes it all worthwhile. I’m sure the ones who messaged and sent DMs saying they had been struggling recently ,won’t mind me mentioning how thankful they were to get back on their feet with a handsome win along with the many others who were so grateful.
I’m honoured and feel privileged to have helped so well done to everyone who followed my selections and collected a tidy profit .
We are only a few months into the year and already we have singled out;
- Dustin Johnson at 6/1 to win the Saudi International with the other selection Tony Finau 18/1 EW finishing 2nd
- Antoine Rozner was another winner at 28/1 winning the Qatar Masters
- Stewart Cink to win RBC Heritage at 150/1.
With too many each way selections to mention a few notable to have collected decent place money include Christian Bezuidenhout 80/1 EW Arnold Palmer Invitational, Paul Casey 70/1 EW The Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass and Wil Besseling 55/1 EW Austrian Open.
With golf being one of the trickiest sports to pick winners it’s fair to say we have had a good start to the year so long may it continue to the benefit of everyone who’s part of this amazing community at MFT.
Zurich Classic Overview
So let’s get back to the upcoming action this week and focus on the Zurich Classic. This is a different format to what we are used to on the PGA Tour. It’s a team, pairs event and I’ll explain the format before picking this week’s selections.
- 80 teams of two golfers compete in a fourball and foursomes format over four days
- The top 35 teams including ties will qualify and progress to the weekend
- Thursdays and Saturdays rounds will be four balls ( best ball) with both golfers playing there own shots then selecting whoever has the better score on each hole
- Friday and Sundays final round will be foursomes with alternate shots where each golfer plays off his partner’s previous shot
Exciting stuff! It’s sure to be a fun few days of golf. I always like the foursomes with the alternate strokes where you just hope your playing partner sets you up nicely but it doesn’t always work out like that if your partner sticks you in a spot of bother.
The key attribute around this par 72 Bermuda track will be accuracy with greens in regulation the key to any success.
The 160 players, 80 teams in total will be competing for the $7.4million purse with each member of the winning team collecting a cool $1.069million each.
The weather is forecast to be sunny and warm on Thursday and Sunday with showers expected on Friday and thunderstorms predicted on the Saturday. Breezes will peak at around 15mph.
The event will be screened live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Golf with coverage starting at 1pm GMT Thursday.
So let’s get on with some selections for what is sure to be a fun filled tricky event.
Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman
For my main selections this week I’m going to advise Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman 12/1EW Bet365.
I just feel this formidable Aussie-best-friend-partnership will be on fire at an event like this as it’s all about bonding.
Cameron Smith won this event in 2017 with Jonas Blixt so he knows what it takes to win around this track.
Smith has been in sublime form lately and has finished inside the Top 20 at five of his previous six tournaments with three of them in the Top 10. 9th last week at the RBC Heritage – where he carded a bogey free first round 62, nine under par, the best of his career – T10 th at The Masters a fortnight ago at Augusta and 4th at the Genesis Invitational.
This cool, calm, collected 27 year old Australian is simply a model of consistency and always seems to be on every leaderboard.
Remember he was also 2nd at The Masters less than six months ago, only beaten by world No.1 Dustin Johnson.
He will be playing alongside his best pal, Marc Leishman who also comes here with some decent form to his name, most notably at Augusta last time out with a T5th finish at The Masters. That was after finishing 13th at the Masters back in November.
The 37 year old Australian's best performances in between that six month period include 4th at the Sony Open in Hawaii and 18th at the Farmer’s Insurance Open.
With Leishman 20th on the tour over the past six tournaments on total strokes gained and his partner Smith even better on 9th, I just feel this pair will take all the beating and could well be the winning double act in Louisiana this weekend.
Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler
For my next selections in going to suggest Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler 16/1EW Betfair.
Watson has years of experience around here at TPC Louisiana while Scheffler will be a debutant. Bubba can definitely use his expertise and the master can lead the apprentice at this unique pairs event.
Watson won this tournament in 2011 before it was a team event but finished 5th in 2017 when it was a pairs format. Bubba just simply adores playing golf on this course and is paired with the man in form Scottie Scheffler which makes then dangerous opponents.
Scheffler, the young 24 year old American is currently ranked 21st in the world. He finished a very respectable T18th at The Masters last time out and was 2nd at the WGC Dell Matchplay just two weeks before that.
He also finished 5th at WGC Workday Championship at The Concession, Top 20 finish at The Genesis Invitational and 7th at the Phoenix Open, this is all events in the past few months.
It’s fair to say his partner Bubba Watson can’t boast the same kind of form but 26th at the Masters, 9th at WGC Dell Matchplay, 4th at Zozo Championship and 7th at the CJ Cup, he’s not all that far behind Scheffler.
I just think this pair will light up Louisiana this week and if not winning then they will certainly be there or thereabouts
Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson
For my next pairing I’m going to have a look further up the field in the markets and look for some value so for that reason I’m going to recommend Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson 33/1 EW Bet365.
The Olympic gold medal finalists pairing will prove a tough nut to crack especially if they bring their recent Masters form. Both faired well at Augusta last time out, Rose played some stunning golf , leading for most of the way only to finish a very impressive 7th.
Stenson was a little further up the leaderboard finishing 38th but still played some nice golf . It’s definitely fair to say Rose comes here in much better form than Stenson and also won here back in 2015 but this kind of format will suit the Swede's game.
He has also finished in the Top 20 on his previous two visits at this event. They both have plenty experience between them with far to many wins including majors to mention. I’m taking the two veterans to show the young guns how to get the job done at this unique style golf format and they’ll both be contenders on Sundays final round with the best of the rest .
Smith/Leishman to beat Morinkawa/Wolff
For my final selection I’m going to pick out a 72 hole match bet and stick with my main selection Smith/Leishman to beat Morinkawa/Wolff 10/11 Nap Bet365.
