Presidents Cup Day Two Betting Preview
Hunter Mahan (Courtesy: Zimbio.com)
Team USA got out in front of the International side on Thursday, taking a 3.5-2.5 advantage in the 2013 Presidents Cup. The second session goes on Friday, with the teams playing foursomes instead of fourballs. So, the players will be alternating shots instead of playing their own ball. Let’s look at the matches and the odds for each one, courtesy of Jeff Sherman.
Phil Mickelson & Keegan Bradley (-120) vs. Graham DeLaet & Jason Day (EVEN)
It’s tough to see Phil and Keegan going down on two consecutive days, but this wasn’t the matchup that they wanted to see. DeLaet and Day came back from three holes down against Hunter Mahan and Brandt Snedeker, so they’re going to be feeling good heading into the opening matchup of the day. Phil and Keegan are the rightful favourites here, but Phil needs to be better than he was on Thursday if they’re going to have a chance. He was pretty wayward in the opener, and they let Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen back in their match, leading to the eventual loss. Of the six matches slated for Friday, this is the one that I’m looking forward to the most.
Suggested play: PASS
Hunter Mahan & Bill Haas (-135) vs. Ernie Els & Brendon de Jonge (+115)
Coming into the event, de Jonge was supposed to be a weak point for the International side, but he was the only reason why him and Els didn’t get run off the course by Steve Stricker and Jordan Spieth. Els’ only birdie of the day came on the 17th, while de Jonge made eight in a losing effort. Els really can’t play much worse than he did on Thursday, so there is some value here with the International side. Mahan lost his opening day match, while Haas ended up splitting his, putting up similar numbers to de Jonge.
Suggested play: Els and de Jonge +115
Steve Stricker & Jordan Spieth (-200) vs. Branden Grace & Richard Sterne (+175)
Stricker and Spieth are the biggest favourites for Friday’s session, and it makes sense if watched the way Grace and Sterne played on Thursday. The South Africans were absolutely steamrolled by Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson, falling behind from the very first hole and never getting any closer. They’ll probably bounce back a little bit, but this is a bad matchup for them, as Stricker and Spieth are simply out of their league at the moment, even if they limped in a little bit at the end against Els and de Jonge. To be honest, this matchup actually might be a good thing for the International side, as they might not have a pairing that could beat these two anyway, so having their worst pair go out against them could work in their favour with the other matches.
Suggested play: Stricker and Spieth -200, even though there’s almost no value there. Can’t see them losing.
Webb Simpson & Brandt Snedeker (-165) vs. Angel Cabrera & Marc Leishman
For some reason, I’m not seeing a line here on Cabrera and Leishman, but I don’t think it matters here. Simpson was pretty bad in his opening session, leading to a halve with Scott and Matsuyama and Snedeker didn’t really do a whole lot of note either. Cabrera and Leishman never really had much of a chance in their matchup against Tiger and Kuchar, so it’s tough to really come up with a solid opinion on what to expect here, especially when we’re dealing with a player like Cabrera.
Suggested play: PASS
Tiger Woods & Matt Kuchar (-180) vs. Charl Schwartzel & Louis Oosthuizen (+160)
I know that Tiger and Kuchar played well on Thursday, but these numbers are ridiculous. There’s no way that they should be favoured by this much against Schwartzel and Oosthuizen, especially when you consider that Oosthuizen actually appears to be healthy at the moment. At -180, you’d be expecting Tiger and Kuchar to win handily, in the same way that Dufner and Johnson did, but there’s no way that happens on Friday. At the very least, I think Schwartzel and Oosthuizen will keep it close, but there’s a real chance that they win this match too.
Suggested play: Schwartzel and Oosthuizen +160
Adam Scott & Hideki Matsuyama (-120) vs. Jason Dufner & Zach Johnson (EVEN)
This is the only match the International team is favoured in, and it’ll be interesting to see how Dufner and Johnson respond to playing a team that will actually give them a challenge. This is probably going to be the most back and forth match of the day, and Matsuyama certainly didn’t look like he was nervous or unprepared in his first Presidents Cup, hitting a great approach into 18 to get the halve. I think Scott and Matsuyama come away with the win here, but it’ll be close all the way through.
Suggested play: PASS
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