Tuesday 5 January 2021

Tournament of Champions 2021 - Plantation Course, Kapalua, Hawaii

 An extended field beyond just the winners of 2020 sees 42 players tee it up for the opening event of 2021, The Tournament of Champions. Played at The Plantation in Kapalua Hawaii, wind and low scoring can be expected as Justin Thomas aims to win for the 3rd time whilst Dustin Johnson looks to do the same and add another title since his last win here in 2018(winner too in 2013). Patrick Reed is another former winner and playoff loser here and all three have the course form that is reflected in the market. Of the three I'd prefer to side with JT but have settled on just two selections for the year's opener.

Joaquin Niemann did well for me last season/year and despite playing well below his best last time out I expected the Chilean to kick on again this year and contend quite regularly and the Plantation Course should be ideal to kick start the year ahead. Niemann's iron play is well suited to the winds and he showed that when finishing 5th on debut 12 twelve months ago and indeed held the first round lead with a 66. Ignoring his result last time out (44th), Joaquin produced 3 TOP-20s previously and now rested and refreshed he certainly should outplay his odds of 35/1 with 6 places abegging (40/1 - 5 places)

Sergio Garcia surprisingly makes my staking plan this week and I mean surprisingly in that he's not a player I look to often and indeed he's not a player that hasn't played here for quite awhile at that either! He did however win this way back in 2002 and was a recent winner at The Sanderson's Farm Championship in October. Having tested for COVID-19, the 41 year old may be keen to hit the ground running and I think at the prices we might just get a run for our money where his wind/coastal form over the years should help him. As always, the putting may cost him a few shots but if we have a happy Sergio in attendance for the week, then the 60/1 for 6 places may look very good come Sunday!


Selections

1 pt e/w J. Niemann @ 35/1 - 6 places
1 pt e/w S. Garcia @ 60/1 - 6 places



 


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