2022 WGC-Dell Match Play Day 2 Best Bets, Picks: Fading Bryson DeChambeau and a Shot With Max Homa

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The first day of the WGC-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club was a bit mundane by the standards of this particular event. We didn't see nearly the amount of big upsets that have become a staples of this tournament in recent years as only Justin Thomas, Joaquin Niemann and Louis Oosthuizen were top seeds in their group to lose on Wednesday.

The fashion in which Niemann lost was certainly shocking as he didn't win a single hole and lost 8 & 6 to the No. 64 ranked player in the field, Maverick McNealy. Otherwise, though, the top seeds held serve with just a couple of halves mixed in, keeping much of the top of this field in great position heading into Day 2 on Thursday.

Despite the fairly straightforward results from the opening day, it certainly doesn't change my perspective about the volatility of this event. I expect we will still see plenty of high profile upsets the rest of the week and I'll be looking for ways to exploit the potential for those upsets heading into Thursday.

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Best Bets

Lee Westwood +135 over Bryson DeChambeau (ties lose) (FanDuel)

While Bryson DeChambeau escaped his opening match with a half point, it was one of the uglier matches of the day. Both DeChambeau and opponent Richard Bland struggled throughout the round and found themselves battling to tie holes with bigger numbers.

It was clear Wednesday that the reports of injuries for DeChambeau were true as he looked like a player who hadn't been playing or practicing much. He was really rusty in his opening match and I'll look to jump on that edge Thursday with Lee Westwood, who I think has some value at a +135 number heading into Thursday.

Keith Mitchell +100 over Sungjae Im (BetMGM)

One of the best matches of the day Wednesday in terms of both competitiveness and the quality of golf was between Keith Mitchell and Patrick Cantlay. They ended up with a half point each, but really the story was the way they played. Mitchell birdied four of his final six holes down the stretch to climb back to even through 17 holes before they both parred the last.

Sungjae Im, on the other hand, opened his tournament with consecutive bogeys and added a third in his opening nine holes. He would then just flatly give away the 11th hole en route to getting dusted 5&4 by Seamus Power.

I'll take the guy with positive momentum going into Thursday, especially at even money, and that's Mitchell.

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Max Homa +4400 (FanDuel)

If I am going to take a shot on a winner at this early stage it would be by indirectly attacking what I see as one of the weaker groups. The Group 8 winner is set to play the winner from DeChambeau's Group 9 when they get to the Round of 16 heading into the weekend.

I feel pretty good that the winner of Group 8 will be in a great spot to move onto the Round of 8 regardless of who comes out of that other group, so I'll take a shot on Max Homa after his opening round win on Wednesday.

Homa was solid in his round, defeating Matthew Wolff, though he left a few chances out there. He is still in a good position, especially if he can take care of business over MacKenzie Hughes on Thursday and set up a possible group-deciding match with Dustin Johnson.

Homa showed last year that he can compete in this format, falling just short of advancing when he lost a playoff for the group to eventual tournament champion Billy Horschel.

I like the odds we are getting for Homa as an underdog for his group, but again, if he can escape group play, he has a nice path for a deep run in this event.

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