It's all to play for at the WGC Match Play after another day of twists and turns.  

We're very much enjoying the tournament so far, four of our five outright selections have a chance to progress to the knockout stages.  In addition, we gave two match bet winners yesterday, taking our weekly record to 4 wins and one loss.  Yesterday's 40/1 in-play selection, Kevin Kisner, also won and now needs just a tie against Justin Thomas to progress.

We think there's a bit of value to be had today in backing those players who stand an outside chance of progressing today.  Anything can happen in this format and the odds on offer are too generous for some players.

You can see all the group permutations in this excellent article here.

Conditions for day three will be ideal with sun forecast and little breeze (not expected to blow harder than 5mph).

Day 3 Bets

• 0.75pts EW Xander Schauffele 125/1 @ Bet365 (1/4 1-4)

We think Lucas Herbert could potentially be beaten by Takumi Kanaya and with that in mind, it makes sense to back Xander.  He plays an out of sorts Tony Finau and must be expected to get the win.  If Kanaya does win we'd see a three way sudden death playoff, for which Xander would be the favourite.  Odds of 125/1 will look pretty good if he progresses.

• 0.5pts EW Tommy Fleetwood 200/1 @ Skybet (1/4 1-4)

Tommy was impressive yesterday in beating Scottie Scheffler and needs to beat Ian Poulter today.  That's a match he should win given Poulter has lost both of his games this week and given he was 3 over par for his first 14 holes yesterday, he needs to turn around his form quite dramatically.  Fleetwood will need Scottie Scheffler to beat Matt Fitzpatrick but we suspect that may well be the case.  Tommy would need to win the 3 way playoff but with 200/1 available, we're happy to take that chance.

• 0.25pts EW Sepp Straka 400/1 @ Bet365 (1/4 1-4)

Sepp was outstanding yesterday as he played the opening six holes in five under par.  He should take care of Cameron Tringale today and given Will Zalatoris plays Viktor Hovland, there's optimism that Zalatoris wins.  Should those results play out, Sepp would be in a sudden death playoff with both players and we're happy to roll the dice at 400/1 that he prevails.

• 0.25pts EW Mackenzie Hughes 500/1 @ Bet365 (1/4 1-4)

Mackenzie is in a similar scenario to Tommy Fleetwood and Sepp Straka, he needs to take care of Matt Wolff and rely on Max Homa beating Dustin Johnson.  Both of those are entirely possible and a playoff between Hughes, Homa and DJ would ensue.  Again, Hughes must then dispatch of DJ and Homa but at 500/1 we're happy to take a risk on a player who progressed from his group last year.

24 March 2022, 00:50am

Day one largely went as planned with over two thirds of the matches going to players with the higher world ranking.

Performance of the day came from Maverick McNealy who embarrassed Joaquin Niemann 8&6.  McNealy was five under par for his 12 holes, even more impressive when we take into account he was only called into the field at short notice when Sam Burns withdrew.

Justin Thomas was the biggest casualty in the opening round and he now has his work cut out to make the knockout stages.

As expected, Bryson DeChambeau was badly out of sorts after injury and was lucky to earn a tie against Richard Bland.  His luck didn't end there, the American receiving a free drop from a sprinker head when only an hour before Thomas Pieters had been denied a drop with his ball in exactly the same spot.   

Conditions for day two will be pleasant with sun expected and the wind forecast to blow around 10mph.

Day 2 Bet

• 1.25pts EW Kevin Kisner 40/1 @ Bet365 (1/4 1-4)

Kevin played really nicely to defeat Marc Leishman 4&3.  Bogey free and three under par through 15 holes, he was never in any danger and will now move on to face Luke List.  A win would leave him as the only layer in the group to have 2 wins and in pole position to progress out of the group.  He's got an excellent Match Play record and the draw looks favourable so 40/1 is a great price.