Justin Thomas vs. Marc Leishman: Who Will Win Round 2 Matchup at WGC Match Play?
The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play tournament is officially underway. There have already been some surprising results from the opening day, but we still have two full slates of head-to-head matchups to bet on before the bracket stage begins on Saturday.
One of the most intriguing matchups on Thursday is a Group 6 matchup between Justin Thomas and Marc Leishman. WynnBET has yet to release odds for this match, but Thomas will likely be a sizable favorite.
Both players will need to win to keep their hopes of advancing alive. Thomas fell to Luke List 3 & 2 on the opening day, and Leishman fell to Kevin Kisner 4 & 3.
So who will win this pivotal round 2 match? Let's dive into it.
Justin Thomas vs. Marc Leishman Prediction and Pick
As great of a golfer as Justin Thomas is, he hasn't thrived in the match play format in his career. He's just 10-13-1 in his career heading into this match.
Leishman hasn't been fantastic either. Today's loss drops his career match play record to 10-11-5.
This will be the first time that these two golfers will face each other in one-on-one match play, and I think this is a good spot to back the underdog in Leishman. He's having an underrated season on Tour, ranking 22nd in total strokes gained and 11th in birdie average.
JT is certainly the better golfer, but bad putting can cost you in match play, and he ranks 100th on Tour this year in strokes gained: putting. There's a reason he has a losing record in match play in his career, and he tends to be overvalued in these events.