Each-way terms: 1/5 odds, 6 places
Weather forecast for Thursday: "It's raining today, which is a little bit strange, but the weather looks good for the rest of the week so should be good," said Scottie Scheffler on Wednesday. That could just soften it a little for the early starters. It's fairly chilly conditions for the first hour or so but winds are very light. Temperatures hit a maximum of 72 in the afternoon.
Make it Matt
Riviera is a great fit for Matt Fitzpatrick and the Englishman has shown it with a solid tied 30th on debut in 2020 and an excellent tied fifth last year.
In that 2021 edition, he opened with a 66 to sit second after 18 holes and the following week he was the first-round leader at the WGC-Workday Championship thanks to another 66.
Fitzpatrick doesn't tend to shoot stupidly low scores so he's a better FRL bet when scoring is tough and 66 really does mean something. That's definitely the case this week.
In addition, his confidence must be flowing heading to Riviera after finishing tied sixth at Pebble Beach and tied 10th in Phoenix over the last fortnight.
He shot a pair of weekend 67s at TPC Scottsdale so the Yorkshireman has some great momentum as he looks to shine again in LA.
Fitzpatrick goes off in the first group from No. 10 at 06:40 and looks a worthy bet at 50/1.
Count on Clark
From a very early tee-time to the penultimate one and my afternoon starter is Wyndham Clark, who heads out at 12:43 from the 1st tee.
His two experiences of Riviera are full of positives and he's never ended any round worse than 17th place.
Most notable are his first-round scores: a pair of 67s that left him second after 18 holes in 2020 and fourth after day one in 2021.
The negative would appear to be current form as he's missed the cut in his last two starts although last week's early trunk slam came after a Friday 68 so there's no real concern on that front.
As for other Thursday scores, he's finished in the top six following the opening lap in two of his last six starts thanks to a 66 in Houston and a 65 at The American Express where he finished tied 13th.
There's plenty to like and he looks a fair bet at 100/1.
Noren can nail good early number
I thought about Alex Noren for the outrights due to his combination of course and current form.
The Swede's fade is built for this course and he's shown it with two good finishes in his three visits - tied 16th on debut in 2018 and tied 12th last year.
Twelve months ago he opened with a 67 to finish day one in fourth and he was still fifth after 54 holes.
Noren returns on the back of a tied sixth in the Phoenix Open where a 67 put him sixth after round one.
A leader in round one at Torrey Pines last year and sixth after the first day of the 2021 American Express, he has plenty of fast starts in California under his belt so let's hope he can make another one here.
Back Noren for FRL at 75/1. He tees it up alongside Fitzpatrick at 06:40 so hopefully the two Euros can spur each other on.
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Recommended bets
Back Matt Fitzpatrick e/w at 51.050/1
Back Wyndham Clark e/w at 101.0100/1
Back Alex Noren e/w at 76.075/1
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