Find Me A 100 Winner: WGC Match Play special!

Find Me A 100 Winner / Paul Krishnamurty / 16 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

Michael Sim's price of [160.0] is too big

"The stats are against Sim, but [160.0] is just too big about such a fine player in excellent form. Having won three times and dominated last year's Nationwide Tour, Sim is on most 'players to follow in 2010' lists."

Paul Krishnamurty selects a three-figure outsider from each bracket of the WGC Accenture shootout in his weekly search for big winners

As always in this World Golf Championship event, I enjoy the luxury of having four cracks at this daunting task of finding a triple-figure priced winner. The plan is to pick one player from each bracket, keeping alive the dream scenario of backing all four semi-finalists. Back in the real world, I'd take one!

Michael Sim [160.0]

Making his tournament debut at the age of 25, the stats are against Sim, but [160.0] is just too big about such a fine player in excellent form. Having won three times and dominated last year's Nationwide Tour, Sim is on most 'players to follow in 2010' lists. He's immediately started to reward that optimism, finishing runner-up at Torrey Pines on his penultimate start. It's also encouraging that the Aussie starts slight favourite for his opening match, against another outstanding prospect in Ryo Ishikawa.

Oliver Wilson [110.0]

Wilson performed creditably on last season's tournament debut, registering victories over KJ Choi and Anthony Kim before losing in sudden-death to Justin Leonard at the last-16 stage. That bodes well for this year, as do top-15s on his last two starts against world-class company in the Gulf. Oliver is the highest ranked player in the world without a professional title to his name; a statistic that must surely change soon.

Ryan Moore [110.0]

It's been a while since Moore was available in triple-figures, as he too carries many expectations into 2010. Now 27, Moore is at last beginning to fulfil the great potential shown when making the top-15 in the 2005 Masters as an amateur. A breakthrough title in August's Wyndham Championship was soon followed by five straight top-tens through the Fall Series into the first two events of 2010. Furthermore, Moore has already shown a liking for golf in the Arizona desert, making the top-10 in three of his last five events in the state.

Brian Gay [160.0]

My fellow columnist Stephen Rawlings has identified Gay as a player to follow in the coming weeks, and I agree. His last three events have yielded top-25s, on courses where his previous record was disappointing. His price of [160.0] seems crazy about a player with three PGA titles in the past two seasons, especially given that he's in arguably the weakest bracket. Gay certainly has nothing particularly to fear from first round opponent Kenny Perry, who has lost at this stage on five of his seven previous attempts in this tournament.