Sobel: Spieth, Mickelson Headline WGC-Mexico First-Round Matchup Bets

Finally.

After a few weeks of muck and slop to start the weeks at Pebble Beach and Riviera, the Thursday forecast in Mexico City for the WGC-Mexico Championship opening round calls for a high temperature of 80 degrees with a zero percent chance of precipitation.

Instead of mudders, I’m looking for fast starters who can kick things off with a foot firmly pressed on the gas pedal.

Let's get to my three favorite first-round matchup bets on Thursday…

Jordan Spieth over Russell Knox by -0.5 (-115)

His weekend struggles are gaining more attention with every event that he sinks down the leaderboard, but Spieth’s starts have offered glimpses of the player he’s proven himself to be.

In his last three tourneys, Spieth has opened 64-66-65, which suggests another one could be coming this week.

Phil Mickelson over Dustin Johnson (+125)

The PGA Tour’s first-round scoring average leader this season? None other than Mickelson, last year’s defending champion at this event.

This obviously isn’t an easy matchup against the previous year’s winner, but DJ started slow with a 2-over 73 at Riviera last week, so the hope here is a repeat of that performance, while Lefty continues that trend of his own.

Ryan Fox over Byeong-hun An (+110)

A glance at our FantasyLabs model shows, perhaps predictably, most of the big-name studs at the top of the list. Mixed in amongst them, though, is Fox, fresh off a win in Australia last week.

A late entrant into this field, he might not be able to maintain that momentum through the entire weekend, but I like him to stay hot on Thursday and has some nice value in this matchup.