Steve Palmer's Workday Charity Open first-round preview, best bets, free tips

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 12.30pm Thursday

Best bets

Hideki Matsuyama to win threeball
4pts 5-6 Coral, Ladbrokes

Justin Thomas & Patrick Cantlay dual forecast
1pt 80-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

First-round preview

Hideki Matsuyama in full flow is a joy to watch – the Japanese ace can tear a course apart with his precision iron play – and Muirfield Village is a layout which has always shown the Presidents Cup star in a good light.

Matsuyama won his maiden PGA Tour title at Muirfield Village in the 2014 Memorial and he should make an impact at the same venue in the Workday Charity Open this week. A strong performance can start by bossing his first-round threeball against Nick Taylor and Dylan Frittelli, which starts at 12.23pm UK and Ireland time.

Matsuyama signalled that his A-game was bubbling to the surface at an opportune time by firing a third-round 65 in the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week. He was good nick prior to the lockdown, carding a course-record 63 at Sawgrass before the Players Championship was abandoned, and will fancy his chances of contending in the WCO.

Matsuyama, twice a top-six finisher in the Memorial since his victory, could get off to a flyer. Taylor, who spent the hiatus in Canada with his wife and young son and is making his first post-lockdown start, can be expected to be slow from the blocks. Frittelli tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week, so may also be lacking early sparkle.

Punters seeking bigger prices should consider the Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay outright dual forecast. Muirfield Village is perfect terrain for this dynamic duo to showcase their skills. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau have triumphed over the previous fortnight – and it may be time for two other heavyweights of American golf to take their turn in the limelight.

Coral and Ladbrokes go 80-1 about Thomas and Cantlay filling the first two places on the leaderboard in either order on Sunday. Sky Bet are offering 66-1 about the same bet.

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