R. GARRIGUS (-115) over F. Molinari (-115) 2nd Round Match-up 7am Friday 6/24 Congressional Golf Club.
Hey Pregame, long time reader and RJ Bell fan here. I've been involved in the gambling biz since my father taught me to shoot craps when I was 12. I'm a 43 yr old golf club pro from California. I don't gamble very much any more but I always check the odds and this PGA TOUR Match-Up really got my attention. I've been lucky enough to have played many holes with Robert Garrigus and he is an amazing athlete as well as an unusually long golfer with a knack for shot making. Other than being really long, he is also a truly gifted putter, especially on fast greens. He is one of those guys who has a ton of imagination and loves playing a ton of break, when his putter gets hot it tends to stay hot for days because what is really happening is he is seeing the lines clearly. When he is on his confidence skyrockets, when he is off he snowballs the other way as well. THIS WEEK HE IS ON. He hit it everywhere yesterday (66.67 GIR) and made everything (3.202 SGP). 7 birdies, 3 bogeys, -4 under. He absolutely loves this track, T4 2011 US Open, he's a course horse, always has been. He's been playing streaky this year (3 MC's and then T72, T28, T4, and T50 in his last 7 starts) like he always does, and now he is going to try to win this tournament. He knows how good he is when he's putting well and he's not afraid to go really deep. I remember one day he shot 29 on the front nine and he was upset that he didn't shoot 27, no joking around, he truly believed he could make all 3's on the front nine. The guy has immense self confidence. Molanari is a world class player for sure. This is not a play against Molanari. He shot a bogey free -2 under while hitting 83.33% GIR and averaging 283 yds off the tee. That's what he does, hits greens and putts well. I think he will shoot right around par tomorrow. I understand the match-up from the oddsmakers POV, Molanari is the more consistent, higher ranked player with the lower scoring avg. (70.72 vs 71.56), but Garrigus + 20 yds off every tee at Congressional with the flat stick blazing is a big ask for this little Itialian guy! I am going with the significantly longer (302 yds avg.), hot handed, streaky player in his comfort zone vs. the short hitting plodder on a really long course. I predict Robert will hit more than 6 fairways and 10 greens and continue to make putts. I realize it's 18 holes of golf, and anything can happen but I like this situation a lot! 5 unit Max Play for me. GL to all. Thanks RJ for a great site!