Oosthuizen favourite to claim match-play crown

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The story so far
Local boy Brett Rumford led the field by five shots after 54 holes of the World Super 6 but the unique final-round match-play format leaves the Australian in the same position as the 23 other rivals who have made it to Sunday.

In the innovative new format, the top eight players after the first three rounds automatically qualify for the second round of six-hole knockout matches. The remaining 16 players have been drawn into eight first-round matches.

Ante-post favourite Louis Oosthuizen heads the market at 11-2 with Rumford, advised pre-tournament by Racing Post Sport's Ian Wilkerson, a 13-2 shot.

Final-day advice
Anyone wishing to have an outright bet in Perth should certainly tread carefully. In a six-hole event, consistency will be crucial and any player's challenge could be over in a matter of minutes if they make early mistakes.

Oosthuizen is the obvious candidate to grab the title. The South African is the only star name in the 24 and he is a fine matchplay performer.

He reached the quarter-finals of the WGC Match Play in 2014 and 2015 and lost out to Jason Day in the final last year. He also won the Perth International at Lake Karrinyup last year and is certainly deserving of being favourite.

But Rumford has been the form man on his local track this week and should go close. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing who the big guns will face in their second-round matches.

The holes in use for the six-hole contest are the first, second, eighth, 11th, 12th and 18th and it is worth looking at who fared best on those sections of the course over the opening three days.

Jason Scrivener, Adam Blyth and Hideto Tanihara played the six holes in six-under-par for their three rounds, which compares favourably with Oosthuizen (-2) and Romford (-3).

Punters are probably better off focusing their attentions on the first-round matches and Englishman Ryan Evans should be backed to see off Nick Cullen.

Evans propelled himself into the top 24 with a third-round 68 and had shot seven-under through the six match-play holes. He should account for Cullen, who has gone through that stretch in three-under-par.

Recommendation
R Evans to beat N Cullen
1pt 6-5 bet365

Already advised outright by Ian Wilkerson
B Rumford
1pt each-way 50-1 general

First-round matches
H Tanihara v D Stewart
N Cullen v R Evans
M Millar v C O'Toole
J Veerman v D Fox
A Bland v T Detry
S Brazel v P Khongwatmai
D Bransdon v J M Singh
W Orsmby v P Angles

Best prices
11-2 L Oosthuizen, 13-2 B Rumford, 10 J Scrivener, 18 L Herbert, 20 A Blyth, A Connelly, H Tanihara, J Higginbottom, 25 S Jeffress, 28 S Brazel, 33 bar.