PGA Tour Golf, The International

As promised...

Th Aug 5 – 4:00 pm EST
Fr Aug 6 – 4:00 pm EST
Sa Aug 7 – 3:00 pm EST
Su Aug 8 – 3:00 pm EST

This week’s event is decided by a stableford scoring system, rather than the usual strokeplay format, which means that attacking play is rewarded, and therefore favours certain types of player. Ernie Els is our favourite this week and it is not difficult to see why when you consider he has finished no worse than sixth in the last five years! The question is whether he will want the extra pressure that a win will put on him going into next week’s USPGA Championship, the final Major of the year, especially considering he has finished runner-up in two of the three Majors
played so far. He has twice let-down short price backers the week before both of the last two Majors. At the odds, better value can found in the shape of Charles Howell, who boasts three top-20’s here in the last three years, and who is obviously suited by the format here. A prolific scorer of birdies and eagles in strokeplay events, but often with plenty of bogeys too, his aggressive play can be rewarded this week (two points for a birdie, five for an eagle), whilst he will not be over punished for his bad holes – only minus one point for a bogey. Another player with an obvious
liking for this event is Australian Geoff Ogilvy, after finishing eighth and 14th in his last two starts here. He has yet to win on Tour but is shaping up into one of the most consistent players around. Rookie Vaughan Taylor is tops in the field for eagles and 14th in birdie average on Tour, so he can be expected to score some points this week. With two top-10’s in his last seven starts he could be ready to breakthrough this week.

Again, keep looking for more Nigel’s tips, coming soon on your LVConfidential.com blog!