The first round of the Paul Lawrie Matchplay is in the books now and on Friday both the second and third rounds will be played after a change to the schedule to allow the organisers room to move around a horrible forecast for Sunday.
That means that at the end of the day’s play just eight men will remain on target to win this tournament and take all the benefits that come with it.
Thursday Recap
We saw some great golf on Thursday and some indifferent stuff but all in all it was an excellent start to the competition. I say that from a golf fan’s point of view and very much from a betting point of view.
All three of our match bets won on the day with two of them very comfortable indeed and only really Alejandro Canizares gave us any scares but he eventually got the job done on the 19th hole, the real one not the one we all enjoy! Along with that three of our four outright bets made it through so we can have no complaints even if we did lose Oliver Wilson from our portfolio.
The four favourites for the tournament all came through unscathed on a day where a number of seeds went out. Alex Noren, Chris Wood, Mikko Ilonen and Matt Fitzpatrick all had no issues in making it through while there were also huge wins for David Horsey, James Morrison and Renato Paratore.
Friday Matches
The entire last 32 will now be played in a busy morning session ahead of the last 16 in the afternoon. Once again we have every match priced up so there is plenty for us to go at in the 16 morning matches in total.
Some of the matches look like crackers on paper. Alex Noren vs Renato Paratore will get a lot of the attention after their play on Thursday while Matt Fitzpatrick faces Matt Ford in an all-English battle. Richard Green vs Paul Lawrie is a nice battle of the elder statesmen.
I’m focusing on two matches on Friday. One of them is on a man who delivered for us on Thursday and one in a match between two men I didn’t bet on at all on the opening day. The guy I’m following again is Marc Warren.
Warren lost in the semi-final of this tournament 12 months ago to the eventual winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat and he is well on his way again this year after a comfortable win over the in form Jorge Campillo on Thursday. He played solidly in that match and now takes on Magnus Carlsson of Sweden.
Carlsson had a good win of his own on Thursday. He came past Chase Koepka 4&3 with some very good golf but there is no doubt in my mind that he is up against a much stronger opponent here and he will probably need to raise his game a little more.
There is a lot to like about Warren here, his matchplay record, his comfort in these conditions and his style being suited to this format and I will take him to come through this match with the win.
The other match I’m interested in involves taking on the other Carlsson, Johan this time. He goes up against Robert Rock and I fancy the Englishman there. Carlsson came past Morten Orum Madsen in the first round but he only shot two under par which in those conditions was nothing special.
Rock meanwhile was a lot more convincing in a win over Gary Stal in which he was five under for his own ball after the 16 holes that he played and that included an eagle along the way to emphasise how well he is hitting the ball. Rock has a win over Adam Scott in this format in the past so he clearly knows how to play it and 23/20 is a shade too big on him in this one.
Tips
WON – Back M.Warren to beat M-A.Carlsson for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
Back R.Rock to beat J.Carlsson for a 4/10 stake at 2.15 with Betfred
Back them here:
