Best bets
2pts each-way Si Woo Kim/Tom Kim @ 14/1
3pts win Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele @ 16/5
1pt each-way Sungjae Im/Kevin Mitchell @ 12/1
0.5pt each-way NickTaylor/Adam Hadwin @ 33/1
With a flash of the Sheffield steel he revealed when winning the US Open last year, Matt Fitzpatrick outduelled the great Jordan Spieth in a thrilling Heritage showdown to give Europe its second big Ryder Cup boost in a row following Jon Rahm’s Masters triumph at Augusta.
And while it was galling to have our headline tip edged out at the third extra hole, the twin consolation was that it was a Brit who cost us and he did it with a shot from the gods that left him only a tap-in away from a winning birdie. The 25/1 shot came from behind to beat the defending champion at his very best – the American shot 66-66 on the weekend – and Spieth backers can have no complaints.
Now Fitzpatrick, a whopping $3.6m richer for taking the enhanced top prize at Harbour Town, rolls up with his rookie pro brother Alex for this week’s pairs event in Louisiana, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a far gentler affair than the last two tumultuous weeks.
Alex has made a promising start but this is deeper than he’s used to and Matt may want a relaxing week after finishing tenth at the Masters and coming up trumps in a marathon test at Heritage. If they won it would be a surprise but a nice one.
The $8.3m up for grabs at Avondale has attracted plenty of good names among the 80 two-man teams checking in for two days apiece of fourball better-ball and alternate-shot foursomes. But first they have to be among the 33 (plus ties) who make the weekend.
The tournament did not become a team event until 2017. Before then, Billy Horschel and Nick Watney were the only members of this week’s field to have won the old-style, regular Zurich.
Last year’s record-breaking winners, great pals and Presidents Cup partners Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are back to defend and, having finished third and fourth right on the tails of Fitzpatrick and Spieth at Heritage, are going to be devilishly hard to beat. They are priced accordingly and 16/5 might not appeal to everybody. But they do look a class apart.
Their games compliment each other, particularly in the more demanding alternate-shot discipline. If there is a chink in their armour, Schauffele is missing quite a few from inside six feet this campaign and neither has won.
They were imperious last year, shooting a fabulous 29 under par and never looking like being caught although the Horschel/Sam Burns combo made a good fist of it to get within two. The runners-up were also fourth in 2021 but with Horschel not in great form (five missed cut out of ten), it’s hard to see them turning round last year’s result.
Bigger threats could be the bubbly Koreans Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, star turns for the Internationals at the Presidents Cup when they defeated Cantlay and Schauffele in the fourballs, Si Woo going on to top-score for his team.
Don’t be put off by both of them missing the cut at Harbour Town – it’s such a quirky course it’s not for everyone. They had a good week at the Masters. Si Woo won first time out at Waialae, Fearless Tom, still only 20, has won twice with plenty more to come.
They look the each-way value against the favourites as they enjoy each other’s company and raise their game accordingly. Though less chummy, the scratch pairing of Sungjae Im, seventh on Sunday, and long-and-straight Kevin Mitchell could spring a surprise. Mitchell impressed when fourth to Justin Rose at Pebble Beach and fifth to Rahm at Riviera. Im formally sent Mitchell a form to fill in if he wanted to partner him, so clearly means business.
The other obvious contenders are Collin Morikawa/Max Homa but both looked in need of a break when disappointing at the Heritage. This is a more straight-forward Pete Dye layout at 7425 yards, par 72, and a more relaxing format could paint them in a better light. Yet it’s a concern that neither shone with different partners 12 months ago – Morikawa only 29th with Viktor Hovland, Homa 21st with Talor Gooch.
Outside the brothers Fitzpatrick, there’s plenty of European interest: Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald teams up with his vice-captain Eduardo Molinari, recent PGA Tour winner Mark Wallace with Callum Shinkwin, Victor Perez with Thomas Detry. Danes Thorbjorn Olesen and Nicolai Hojgaard might get closest.
A third Euro triumph in a row is asking a lot but with captain Donald there, these contenders for a spot on the plane to Rome in September will be out to impress.
More to my liking if there is to be a surprise are the Canadian duo Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, who putt well, boast plenty of decent form and know each other’s game well.
Best bets
2pts each-way Rikuya Hoshino @ 22/1
1.5pts each-way Christiaan Bezuidenhout @ 20/1
1pt each-way Taiga Semikawa @ 33/1
1pt each-way Lucas Herbert @ 22/1
0.5pt each-way Yuto Katsuragawa @ 100/1
The DP World Tour breaks new ground this week with its belated debut in the Land of the Rising Sun for the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan in what should be a riot of birdies on the sporty Ishioka course at Omitama.
This co-promotion with the Japan Tour was scheduled for last year but Covid and the resultant travel restrictions ruled out the visiting Europeans. It still went ahead but for home consumption only with Yuto Katzuragawa on only his 12th start shooting 67-63-65-65 for 24-under 260 on what was then a par 71 to beat Rikuya Hoshino by one.
Now streamlined to a 7039-yard par 70 with just the two short par fives, Japan greets an International field headed by Rasmus Hojgaard, Bob MacIntyre and Christiaan Bezuidenhout and it looks a question of who has the hottest putter on the week.
While few Japanese golfers seem to travel well, they are a different kettle of sushi on home ground as the results of their big home tournaments like the Taiheiyo Masters and Dunlop Phoenix testify and they may have been underrated by the layers.
When you can get 100/1 about an improving youngster like Katsuragawa who has shot the lights out at Ishioka, it would be rude not to play. The Japanese players we know in Europe like last year’s JTGO Order of Merit winner and multiple champion, little Kazuki Higa, and the talented Takumi Kanaya, fourth at the weekend on the Asian Tour in Vietnam, a tournament that doesn’t sound much but Britain’s Paul Casey could finish only 27th, will relish home advantage.
The price for Hoshino, only a shot behind Katsuragawa on the course 12 months ago, is less enticing but the case for this world traveller is enhanced by a subsequent visit to Ishioka in October for the Heiwa PGM. He won that by five with a score, 258, that improved by three on what he had shot earlier. At 45 under par for those eight rounds at Ishioka, he looks a must-play for punters.
If you go back to 2015 you’ll find course form for Chinese veteran Ashun Wu who finished runner-up to KH Lee in a tournament called the Honma Tourworld Cup, the same KH Lee who has developed into a PGA Tour winner and Presidents Cup player.
If that form is too much like ancient history for you, then hot off the press take a look at Taiga Semikawa, victorious by four shots in the Kansai Open at the weekend. That was the ambitious 22-year-old’s third Japan Tour victory but his first as a pro. He could be the next Hideki Matsuyama in this golf-mad country.
Of the Europeans, Hojgaard has barely been seen because of injury and could be rusty. MacIntyre’s results don’t match his reputation and Jordan Smith may have won the Portugal Masters in October but six efforts this year have been nothing out of the ordinary. So all three look vulnerable.
More persuasive is classy South African Bezuidenhout, 13th at the Players and finishing with a flourish for 19th at the Heritage on Sunday. He has a magic putter that could make mischief at Ishioka, the flat stick also being the main weapon of Aussie Lucas Herbert who made the last four at the Match Play, is a winner on both main tours and could shine in this lower grade.
They are my two against the home side but the Japanese in their comfort zone are not to be underestimated.
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