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Stearns is world number 48 with a 10-6 record on the year and a title in Austin on hard courts. On the other side, Sierra is world number 65 and is 6-8 on the year, as she isn't at her best on hard courts and is more of a clay-court specialist. Stearns is in excellent form, having won 6 of her last 7 matches, while Sierra lost 4 of her last 5 matches, and all 8 of her losses this year came in straight sets. Stearns is better and is at home in front of a hostile crowd that will be behind her, so got to expect her to dominate Sierra and continue her fine form with another victory.

Stearns is world number 48 and is 10-6 on the year, highlighted by winning the hard-court title in Austin. On the other side, Sierra is world number 65 and is 6-8 on the year, as she hasn't been playing that well. Stearns is playing very well at the moment, having won 6 of her last 7 matches. Sierra hasn't been that competitive in many of her matches, as all 8 of her losses came in straight sets. Stearns is the better hard-court player and will be in front of a home crowd against the clay-court specialist Argentinian in Sierra, so got to expect in-form Stearns to dominate and win this one swiftly in straight sets.

Stearns is 17 places higher ranked than Sierra as the American is coming off an impressive title in Austin that helped her improve to 10-6 on the year, all on hard courts. On the other side, Sierra is 6-8 on the year, also all on hard courts, and with all 8 of her losses coming in straight sets by an average of 7.4 games difference. Stearns' last 9 wins came by an average of 5.1 games difference, and 4 of those wins came in deciding sets. Stearns is much better on hard courts, and in front of a home crowd should make easier work of Sierra here, so got to expect her to win this one very convincingly.

Chiefs are 2-1 after a loss to the Crusaders, so they will look to bounce back in a major way here. On the other side, Moana Pasifika is 1-2 after two straight losses, which came by 42 points on the road and by 16 points at home. Chiefs won all previous 7 head-to-head meetings against Moana Pasifika, with those 7 wins coming by an average of 41.1 points, and 4 wins at home in Hamilton came by an average of 53.5 points, including a huge 78-point win last season. With Moana Pasifika battling some injuries and leaking points defensively, while the Chiefs are getting back some important pieces and are at home and hungry after a loss to the Crusaders last time out, the hosts to win this one by a big margin is a solid pick to go with.

Chiefs had a total of 76 points in their last game, while Moana Pasifika had totals of 66 and 62 points in their first two road games. Their two H2H meetings last season saw totals of 85 and 92 points. Also 3 of 4 of their previous H2H meetings played here in Hamilton went over this total, so got to expect another high-scoring game with a lot of tries which should result in the over.

Ireland responded very well after an opening loss to France in Paris as they handled Italy at home before impressively demolishing England at Twickenham by 21 points. On the other side, Wales have been by far the worst team in the competition, getting destroyed by England and France before a spirited effort at home against Scotland in which they crumbled late and lost narrowly for their 14th straight defeat. Ireland won the last 4 H2H meetings against Wales and also the last 3 played in Dublin, all by 20+ points, so got to expect Ireland to keep their momentum and win this one convincingly enough to get the bonus point and cover in the end.

Daniel van Tonder is a 12-time winner on the Sunshine Tour. He plays some of his best golf around these parts. He is coming off T6 last week at the SA Open Championship, where he finished with a strong weekend of 64-68. Daniel also has a strong record here, finishing 3rd in 2022 and 5th a year ago, so he is coming off a fine result and arrives at a place where he played very well previously, which makes him a solid pick to contend for the win come Sunday afternoon.

Skov Olesen had a really good 2025, which saw him rack up 6 top-10 finishes and book his place at the DP World Tour Championship to finish the season, where he was again very good with a T11 finish. He has also been playing very well this year, notching finishes of T3 at the Qatar Masters and T5 at the Magical Kenya Open. Last week he was just T63 after a bad 75 round to open, but bounced back nicely with a 66 and 3 straight birdies to close out and make the cut. He was T7 here on debut a year ago, with another poor round of 72 on Friday, so if he manages to avoid that one weaker round, simply got to fancy the Dane to contend for the win.

Reed has been playing some amazing stuff to start this year en route to booking his place back over the pond on the PGA Tour. He won two titles, dominating the Dubai Desert Classic and the Qatar Masters, and also finished 3rd at the Bahrain Championship. Getting those two wins should relax him even further, so after a bit weaker showing at the SA Open Championship and a T29 finish last week, simply got to expect Patrick to bounce right back, and get back in contention here in Johannesburg, and then another win could be on the horizon.

McIlroy opened the year well, notching T3 at the Dubai Invitational, and since he came to the States he notched T14 at Pebble Beach and T2 at the Genesis Invitational, playing some really good golf. Rory has a stellar record here at Bay Hill, with 11 of his prior visits all being top-27 finishes, including 6 top-10 finishes highlighted by a win in 2018. He ranked 4th and 3rd for Approach in the first two tournaments he played on the PGA Tour this year, while also ranking 3rd and 1st for Tee to Green, which mixed with his usual excellent putting on these tough TifEagle Bermuda grass greens, makes Rory a strong pick to win his second Arnold Palmer Invitational title.

Lowry is having an interesting start to the year. He has been playing very well but managed to pretty much choke two clear wins on the final holes. He ended up finishing T3 at the Dubai Invitational, where he led on the last hole. Then he was solid in his first showing in the States with a T8 finish at Pebble Beach, and last week he agonizingly finished T2 at The Genesis Invitational after choking a three-shot lead with just three holes to go, with some terrible first shots. However, he is playing great, and visits to Florida always bring out the best in him. He finished 3rd and 7th here in the last two years, so got to expect Shane to continue playing great, and that dam has to break at some point and a win should come.