Steve Palmer's The Match 7 predictions and free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for The Match 7 at the Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Florida on Saturday

Where to watch

Eurosport 2, 11pm Saturday

Best bets

Jordan Spieth & Justin Thomas
4pts 5-6 BoyleSports

The Match 7 Preview

Night owls can enjoy watching four of the most popular golfers on the planet perform under floodlights in Florida, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy taking on Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas at Pelican Golf Club.

The 12-hole match, which will conclude in the early hours of Sunday morning UK and Ireland time, is the latest in the series of exhibition golf challenges. The first was 'Tiger v Phil' (Mickelson) at Shadow Creek, Las Vegas, in 2018. This week sees Match VII and a previously unused Donald Ross-designed venue.

Pelican has generous fairways and is widely regarded as a 'second-shot course', where accurate approaches are essential, so Woods and Thomas should be in their element. The big difference between these two pals, though, is their fitness. Thomas seems much more likely to show off his laserlike iron-play than the old master.

Woods would probably not be playing in this event were it not raising so much money for the Hurricane Ian relief fund. He could not tee up in the Hero World Challenge last week because a foot problem meant it was too painful to walk. He will be allowed a buggy for The Match, but discomfort over shots seems likely.

Tiger's last competitive round was in the Open Championship in July at St Andrews, where rounds of 78 and 75 meant he missed the cut by nine shots. Recovering from his car crash sufficiently to play well at the highest level again seems a pipe-dream.

McIlroy is the world number one and can obviously do plenty of damage in a betterball contest even if his partner contributes nothing. Woods is the world number 1,280, though, and strong preference is for Thomas and Spieth - eighth and 14th in the rankings.

The American duo won three points from four matches together in the 2018 Ryder Cup. McIlroy (partnering Ian Poulter) was on the receiving end of a 4&3 foursomes drubbing as the Spieth-Thomas combo took off at Golf National, then Thomas went on to defeat McIlroy in the singles. Four of the 10.5 points that USA won in their heavy Paris defeat were courtesy of Spieth and Thomas.

In the subsequent Ryder Cup last year, Spieth and Thomas won one point from two matches together, suffering defeat to Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia in the foursomes. Then in September, paired together for the first time in the Presidents Cup, they steamrolled their opposition, winning four points from four matches.

The TV companies will obviously be hoping for a close Match and plenty of banter between the stars. If Spieth and Thomas show no mercy, though, and approach the contest in their typically ruthless fashion, McIlroy is probably going to need a fantastic 12-hole stretch to keep his side in the game.

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