Having looked at the Top American point scorer market ahead of the Presidents Cup which begins in the early hours of Thursday morning UK time it is now time to gander at the equivalent market for the Internationals.
Inevitably all eyes will be on Jason Day for the International team this week. He had a decent 2013 competition when he partnered Graham DeLaet successfully and then took Brandt Snedeker to the cleaners in the singles. Since then he has come on leaps and bounds and is the second best player in the world right now so he’ll be looked upon as a talisman for Nick Price’s team.
To be fair Day fits all the criteria needed. He is highly likely to play all five sessions, he is a wonderful matchplay golfer as we saw when he landed the Accenture last year in that thrilling final with Victor Dubuisson and his irons and putter are red hot. The only thing that isn’t hot is his price.
The good thing about this tournament is like with the American side where someone partners Spieth and should be able to ride the top dog someone will partner Day for four of the five sessions here. If that man is the same person throughout then he’ll score the same as Day so if we can find the right man then there is value around.
If we look at the rest of the International team a couple of partnerships look obvious. Given their Korean heritage I expect Danny Lee and Sang-Moon Bae to pair up and the Asian duo of Thongchai Jaidee and Anirban Lahiri look another obvious pick although I’m not sure the latter two will play all the matches which turns me against them.
It makes sense to put two of the three South Africans out together so maybe Grace will go with Oosthuizen and then partner Schwartzel when Oosthuizen is rested which he inevitably will be given that he pulled out of East Lake recently with a hamstring injury. There’s no chance the former Open champion plays every session so that will go against him.
Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott paired up successfully two years ago and that partnership could remain intact although the Japanese star could also pair up with Schwartzel and Scott guides the rookie Steven Bowditch around early on.
Jason Day has only ever partnered one Australian in Presidents Cup. That was Aaron Baddeley so it isn’t set in stone that he’ll partner one here but there is enough mileage elsewhere to suggest he will go out with a countryman. I don’t see Price pairing up Day and Scott. I think each will take one of the lesser recognised Aussies on the team with them.
To be honest when I looked at the Internationals team I thought hard about backing Danny Lee. There is a lot to like about him this week. He’s playing in the country of his birth. He made the most birdies on the PGA Tour this year and having won the US Amateur in the past he can clearly play 18 hole matchplay but I just wonder if he’s ready for the occasion yet.
If he is 12/1 is a huge price on a ridiculously underrated golfer. I wouldn’t put anyone off backing him and if I was taking two in the market he would be the second pick but I’m not just yet. I might have a saver once the opening foursome pairings are announced though.
Another man I considered deeply was Thongchai Jaidee. Strokeplay form shouldn’t be confused with matchplay form as this is a different ball game but it does no harm to know a player is playing well and having won the Porsche European Open in his last start we know the Thai is on form.
We know he’s a good matchplay player too from his record in the various events down the years. My only worry is whether at his age he’ll play all five matches. I have my doubts especially with only eight of the 12 players in action in each session on Saturday.
The forecast is for the wind to get up a bit over the weekend which leads me to my selection of Marc Leishman. Leishman is a steady golfer which is the type who tend to go well in these team events. If we think of Luke Donald or Lee Westwood’s record in the Ryder Cup or even someone like Zach Johnson then solid gets it done.
Leishman could well be the early partner for Jason Day which would be a fantastic position to launch a decent tilt at the top scorer from but he could have a handy second partner in Adam Scott so being well partnered up is a positive.
Leishman took care of Matt Kuchar at Muirfield Village two years ago which is an eye catching result and he saw off Justin Rose in the Accenture this year so he can play matchplay, fairs well in the wind as we saw at St Andrews and should be well paired so at 16/1 he looks grossly overpriced in this market.
Back M.Leishman Top International (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-3)
