The draw has been made for the opening session of the Presidents Cup but before we preview that there is just enough time to go through the markets for the leading players on each side.
With 12 players in each team but the only time all 12 are out on the course at the same time being in the singles on Sunday picking the winners is not necessarily the easiest thing. The good thing is despite both markets only being 12 deep they are both 9/2 the field with decent each way terms.
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USA
As you would expect given the seasons that they have had Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson are the favourites for the Americans with the likes of Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed all not far behind them.
Reed and Spieth have the chance to resume their partnership in the foursomes on Thursday but the way Spieth was driving the ball in Atlanta last week I’m not convinced they will be as strong as they were last year. The Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas pairing is quite interesting too.
Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell have been sat down from the first session so anyone taking a chance of those will need to remember they are playing for a maximum of four points now and that is if they play the rest of the competition.
The player I like here is Matt Kuchar. He has the ideal scenario of partnering Dustin Johnson in the opening round and I would imagine that pairing has every chance of staying together if they perform well. If Kuchar can ride the form of Johnson and then win his singles match I don’t think he’ll be far away as they look the strongest pair form and fit wise. 11/1 on The Open runner-up looks acceptable to me.
Internationals
Generally through the years we haven’t needed too many points when nailing the winner for the Internationals and given that I expect them to be fairly well beaten this week I’m not expecting to need five points here.
You have to start with the likes of Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott when analysing this market and it is interesting that Nicky Price and his team have put them all out in separate groups so he wants them leading pairings. All three would have leading claims off the back of that.
Adam Hadwin and Anirban Lahiri have both been left out of the opening set of matches. I would imagine Lahiri will get a good deal of game time having been a captains pick but he has the potential mental demons of messing up two years ago to get over.
I don’t think you can look too far away from the all-South African pairing of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, which we knew was going to be put together after their success two years ago. I expect these to go well together and I would be surprised if they are separated at any point. I would fancy Oosthuizen marginally more in his singles match so he is my pick.
Tips
Back M.Kuchar Top USA Point Scorer (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 12.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-3)
Back him here:
WON – Back L.Oosthuizen Top International Point Scorer (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 8.50 with Betfred (1/4 1-3)
Back him here:
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