Niall Lyons picks out three selections in this week's Baycurrent Classic at the Yokohama Country Club.
Baycurrent Classic
Formerly the Zozo Championship this event moves from it's usual home at Narashino to a new golf course this time around at the Yokohama Country Club.
Narashino was a tight, tree lined venue and this is similar in many ways but fairways will be much wider and easier to hit.
This course was redesigned by Coore and Crenshaw in 2016 and if you want to look to other courses they have had an influence with look to the Sentry in Hawaii, Pinehurst no2 and more importantly Trinity Forest which has held a few editions of the Byron Nelson.
Trinity Forest had Zoysia grass from tee to green which is the same here at Yokohama and that grass in particular can cause havoc with approach play with it being difficult to control distance.
It appears to be setup for the bombers with no significant rough and the main test will come on around the greens with some severe false fronts and plenty of undulations.
Wind and rain is forecast for a lot of the tournament so conditions could get pretty rough.
Baycurrent Classic Tips
- 3pts each-way H.Matsuyama 18/1 (1/5 6) Starsports
- 2.5pts each-way Min Woo Lee 35/1 (1/5 6) SportingIndex, Spreadex
- 1pt each-way K.Vilips 175/1 (1/5 6) SportingIndex, Spreadex
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Hideki Matsuyama at 18/1 (Six Places)
Hideki Matsuyama put up a decent fight in the BMW PGA Championship a few weeks ago with once again his approach play and work around the greens flourishing.
Approach play and short game looks highly important around Yokohama and with rain and wind looking set to play a big part even more importance will be put on the short game.
Matsuyama has one of the best touches in the game around the greens and if he can find a really good putting week he could be in business here.
He has a win and runner up at Narashino so can clearly cope with the pressure of playing in his home country. A win and runner up at the Plantation course, two top 25s at Trinity Forest and a 6th place at Pinehurst suggests Matsuyama has all the tools to cope with this Coore/Crenshaw redesign.
I'm really surprised there is a 8pt difference between Schauffele and Matsuyama here as I'd have them both at similar prices.
Min Woo Lee at 35/1 (Six Places)
Wide fairways and a tough assignment on and around the greens spells Min Woo Lee to me and I'm taking another risk on him this week. The risk is due to the fact his weakness (iron play) is coming back to haunt him of late.
He started the year off with fair improvement in this department and although this is still currently ranking as his best season statistically in approach player, the last few months or so has regressed.
It was the reason why he missed the cut last week at the Sanderson and it cost him a much better finish than the 11th place he managed at Wentworth last month also.
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I'm optimistic though that approach play will be tough into these greens meaning the playing field is rather narrowed.
The false fronts and big undulations will cause many headaches for the players here around the greens and there is nobody better in the field to cope with that test.
If that turns out to be the deciding factor in this event then Min Woo has a huge chance of contending over the weekend.
2.5pts each-way Min Woo Lee 35/1 (1/5 6) SportingIndex, Spreadex
Karl Vilips at 175/1 (Six Places)
I'm keeping it relatively simple with the above two selections having all the tools to cope with the greens here but I'll have one third and final bet with outsider Karl Vilips.
It took the Australian only three PGA starts to manage his first victory earlier in the year at Puerto Rico. 4th at the Zurich teams event and 11th at Colonial is the best we've seen since and it is fair to say he hasn't quite hit the heights expected of him after that remarkable victory.
However, time is on his side and he's sure to find his stride again some time soon. He managed a top 20 at the Wyndham in August with his game off the tee not quite being up to scratch while a decent long game at the Procore was let down by a slightly underperforming short game.
He won Puerto Rico at 26 under par and with plenty of birdies on offer here this week and more room off the tee he should see this as a much better opportunity than most of his events in the last few months.
