The Punter 
/ Steven Rawlings / 11 March 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Hunter Mahan – The early pacesetter at the Cadillac Championship
“Front-runners have such a great record here but if I made a list of players that I wouldn’t fancy leading an event from start to finish, Mahan would be somewhere near the top.”
It's been a busy first day on the golf front, with a storm delay, illnesses and a very disappointing flop by one of Steve's picks...
11.10- March 11, 2011
So much for benign conditions this week in Florida. Play had barely started yesterday when an almost three hour delay was needed, thanks to a fairly vicious storm.
Once the weather front had moved on, the course was left pretty defenceless and scoring was low before play was suspended due to darkness. Few players had completed round one and play will resume at 8.30am local time - 13:30pm UK time.
Before play had started my main fancy, Bubba Watson, withdrew feeling unwell. Although that was obviously disappointing as he was an absolute certainty (tongue firmly in-cheek), at least he didn't tee-off and then decide he wasn't fit to play.
That left just two picks - Zach Johnson, who already looks out of it, and Phil Mickelson, who, like Bubba, also had health issues. Apparently, he hadn't been feeling well for a day or two but when he opened up with two birdies in his first three holes, all seemed fine. Playing alongside Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell, he struggled after that and with three holes left to play of round one, he leads the poor performing three-ball by one but trails overnight leader, Hunter Mahan, who still has seven holes to play, by five strokes.
As I highlighted in my preview, given that front-runners have such a great record here, the plan was to have a detailed look after round one but that's not going to be so easy now. With Mahan a couple clear of a group of players on five under, and with so much of round one to play in ideal conditions, he should be worth backing at [9.8]. However, if I made a list of players who I wouldn't fancy to lead an event from start to finish, Mahan would be somewhere near the top. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he treads water when play resumes and fails to lead after round one.
I'm really tempted by Nick Watney at [14.0] in the group in second place. But I'm going to hang on for now. With so many holes to play today much can happen and I can see one or two players getting hot and maybe opening up a gap. My plan is to monitor the scoring this afternoon and try to get aboard any who start to go clear. It won't be easy.
I was quite confident of a really good showing from Jerry Kelly in Puerto Rico but, as they say in racing, he's clearly bounced. After finishing third last week in the demanding conditions at the Honda Classic, he's very much a different player. In a much weaker event and at a far easier course (that looked right up his street), Kelly has flopped big time, shooting three over.
Rory Sabbatini and Y E Yang (first and second at the Honda) have also struggled badly in Florida. At the risk of making an excuse for a poor pick, it seems last week's main protagonists have all struggled.
It wasn't all bad news though, Troy Matteson shot five under par and trails early pace-setter James Driscoll by four. Driscoll threatened the magic 59 for a while but disappointingly finished with two bogeys in his last three holes.
After my preview, but before play began, I also backed Stephen Ames at [55.0], who had been a poor pick last week. I didn't mention him when I wrote my preview because I didn't think I'd get matched at the price and I wasn't prepared to back him any shorter. He shot three under par yesterday and has plenty to do today. And on one over par, my only other pick, Brett Wetterich, looks doomed.
Pre-Event Picks
WGC-Cadillac Championship
Phil Mickelson @ [20.0]
Zach Johnson @ [200.0]
Bubba Watson @ an average of [55.0] - stakes refunded, withdrawn before the off
Puerto Rico Open
Jerry Kelly @ [17.0]
Stephen Ames @ [55.0] - Backed before the off but post preview
Brett Wetterich @ [65.0]
Troy Matteson @ [120.0]
It's been a busy first day on the golf front, with a storm delay, illnesses and a very disappointing flop by one of Steve's picks......
What's it going to take to win this week? Our man's had a good look at past results, stats, and current form and he fancies Bubba Watson to boss the very best and Jerry Kelly to tame the rest......
It's agony for Steve as [55.0] shot Y E Yang runs Sabbatini close in Florida but not quite close enough........
No comments:
Post a Comment