Soudal Open
Thomas Pieters heads the home challenge in Belgium this week at the Rinkven International GC in Antwerp. Born, raised and living in Antwerp, Pieters is surprisingly 2nd in the betting market this week behind Bernd Wiesberger. One week out from the years 2nd Major, the PGA Championship, it's always tough to decide if players are "warming up" ahead of the Major or whether there will be a determined effort to grab a win and I'm fully convinced given the status of a fledgling DP Tour, players will make every effort every week to do as well as they can, afterall next stop can only be the PGA Tour or the LIV association. At 16/1 - 8 places (7 places general and will settle to 7 for the blog's P&L)I'm onboard. A settled Thomas Pieters playing at home can only be a positive and think there's plenty of value in the price against the field here. Along with the Austrian he is well ahead of the field in terms of class and quality.
Adrian Meronk is certainly in fine fettle of late having posted 4 TOP10s from his 8 starts which have included 3 TOP-5s. A missed cut last week can be ignored but a TOP-3 in Girona means he can tee it up here in confidence where a strong game is required to go low @ 22/1 - 7 places
Very tempted to get back onside with Victor Perez but he's obviously been backed in already this week(down to 33s) so I'll pass and go back to Ewen Ferguson who had a mare at The Belfry last week. 80/1 is fair enough, I wouldn't have taken lower, so he's added to recapture the form shown before the "once-off" in the MIdlands last week. At the same price I'm having a stab at Lucas Nemecz given his form to date is consistent (yes he also missed the cut last week) but 3 TOP-20s from his 11 starts is encouraging and his strong ranking in the T2G stats may prove to beneficial at Rinken.
Selections
2.0 pts e/w T. Pieters @ 16/1 - 7 places
1.5 pts e/w A. Meronk @ 22/1 - 7 places
1.0 pts e/w E. Ferguson @ 80/1 - 7 places
1.0 pts e/w L. Nemecz @ 80/1 - 7 places
Byron Nelson Championship
As mentioned in the Soudal Open preview above, the DP Tour is slipping more and more into oblivion I feel, as the quality of fields are diminishing each week, so my focus is undoubtedly switching to a more vibrant PGA Tour where so many new young players are coming to the fore. My initial preference was always for the Europeantour but the overall product in Europe from on course attendees (no spectators) and poor fields complemented by very poor Sky TV commentary makes the tour more unattractive each week and it's becoming increasingly frustrating to stay engaged.
Onto Dallas so, and the birdie-fest that awaits us here as
TPC Craig Ranch ranks in the TOP-5 easiest courses on the tour. We have only one edition to refer to for course form so my approach this week is to see who is in current form, who likes low scoring tourneys and who is value to take on the market leaders that may very well be treating the next fews days as a warm-up for Southern Hills next week.
I'll opt once again for Sahith Theegala @ 100/1 - 8 places given he has been in form this season. Indeed his 3 TOP-10s this season have been at low scoring events so he's up for a birdie fest it seems. TOP25 last time out in Mexico, Sahith can continue a good season here this week at a decent price.
I don't normally rush out to back Marc Leishman but did so earlier this year to no avail and yet he was high up on my shortlist for this. Alas, he's been backed solidly it seems already this week and the 60/1 has evaporated and is now best price, 50/1 - 7 places. (60s with B365 with just 5 places). It could be tempting but feel I'm missing out on the value if I do, so instead I'll chance Luke List again here @ 90/1 - 8 places. List is in good form and ranking 4th on tour for SG:T2G and high in SG:APR, he can and should go much better than his 61st placing twelve months ago.
JJ Spaun @ 100/1 - 8 places also appeals. Winner 3 starts ago just 5 hours down the road from here in San Antonio, the Californian may not add a second title so soon having won his first but in his 150th PGA Tour start he can hit the frame here. He did win the event before The Masters - can he do it again ?
Selections
1.0 pt e/w S. Theegala @ 100/1 - 8 places
1.0 pt e/w L. List @ 90/1 - 8 places
1.0 pt e/w JJ. Spaun @ 100/1 - 8 places
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