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Children’s Miracle Network Classic Matchup Preview

Bookmark and Share by D.S. Williamson

Tee-off: 11/12/2009

There are a number of good tournament matchup wagers to be found in this weekend’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Although Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Steve Stricker will skip the CMNC this weekend, enough tough golfers have entered the tournament for the BetUS golf odds makers to create great matchups.

Let’s take a look at some of those terrific matchups in the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Children’s Miracle Network Classic: Tournament Matchups

1. Zach Johnson -135 vs. Justin Leonard +105 - - Johnson finished 62nd in the CMNC last year. He no doubt will finish better this year, but Leonard has been playing, very, very well with a 13th place finish in the Frys.com Open in his last. Leonard finished 6th in the CMNC in 2007. He could be tough for Johnson to beat in this matchup. The odds favor Johnson because of his overall 2009, but Leonard looks to be going slightly better right now.

Pick: Justin Leonard

2. Justin Rose -125 vs. Rickie Fowler -105 - - Rose is already has his Tour card. The young Fowler does not, but Fowler has been on fire in his last two events finishing 7th in the Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hospitals for Children Open and 2nd in the Frys.com Open. For a 20 year old, Fowler can be formidable making the cut in three of the five PGA Tournaments he’s played in this year. Fowler is the now golfer. He’s the bet in this matchup.

Pick: Rickie Fowler

3. Brian Gay -115 vs. Steve Marino -115 - - Both guys can be exhilarating when they’re on. Both guys can be straight up lousy when they’re off. Who’s going to be lousy and who’s going to be exhilarating in the CMNC this weekend? That’s the question in this matchup. Gay is one of the most dominating players on the Tour when he’s got his swing going while Marino can intimidate most anybody he faces. I’m giving Gay the edge in the matchup because he played well against Tiger, Lefty, Paddy and Ernie Else last week in the WGC-HSBC while Marino missed the cut in the Justin Timberlake Open.

Pick: Brian Gay

4. Davis Love -105 vs. David Toms -125 - - Love is the defending CMNC champ and deserves consideration in this matchup because of that. Toms, however, can be absolutely awesome when he’s striking the ball well. Toms wanted to use the Viking Classic to get his swing back, but the PGA canceled that event. Expect Toms to tear up the Palm Course because he drops a lot of birdies. Once the golfers switch to the Magnolia Course, which is longer and tougher, Toms might have too big of a lead over Love to lose in this matchup.

Pick: David Toms

5. Brian Gay Ev vs. Davis Love -130 - - Forget about taking Love at those odds. Going into the CMNC last year, Love was at the top of his game with two top 10 finishes in the Fall Series. He has no Top 10 finishes this year and Gay is coming off of a very good tournament overseas in China. Gay should be good enough to win this matchup.

Pick: Brian Gay

6. Tim Petrovic -115 vs. Rickie Fowler -115 - - Fowler finished better in the Frys.com Open, but Petrovic wasn’t bad. If the kid, that would be Fowler, isn’t striking the ball well, then Petrovic could absolutely dominate him, but the money has to go to Fowler, doesn’t it? He’s been very, very impressive in his last two tournaments and he’s got “it”, the thing that makes good golfers great, while Petrovic is simply a good golfer. Big things are expected of Fowler in this tournament. He’s the one to back in this matchup.

Pick: Rickie Fowler