Brandt Snedeker (30/1)
Although only tied 33rd in last weekends WGC Sneds won the Canadian Open the previous weekend. He is yet to win a major tournament but he is very consistent, with 8 top 10 finishes this year leaving him in 3rd on the FedEx Cup Standings.
Webb Simpson (66/1)
Not in fabulous form this year with no wins and only a handful of top 10ās, but last weekend at the WGC saw a return to form with an opening 64 and a final round of 65 - the two rounds in between costing him a decent finish. He is a good putter, thanks to his broom handle, and that could see him fair well at Oak Hill where par is 70 and low scoring will be difficult.
Billy Horschel (125/1)
1 win this year but performed very well at this years US Open to tie for 4th. His best form was in April where he placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 9th. Iām hopeful of a top 6 place with PP.
Just dashing off some thoughts that are obviously my own.
Ryan Moore @ 100s
[SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana]World No.45 Ryan Moore was quietly fancied going into the US Open at a similar price to this - after all, the demands off the tee at Merion arenāt dissimilar to this and coming off of an incredible driving performance at Muirfield village (54 from 56 fairways) it was easy to put 2 & 2 togetherā¦naturally that equalled a missed cut and disappointment for scores of punters. Iām happy to give the 30 year-old Las Vegas resident another chance though as the logic was correct even if the result wasnāt what everyone wanted, plus thereās more than a passing affinity to Donald Ross tracks if you care to browse Mooreās golfing CV. Ryanās first of his 2 career victories came on the Ross design at Sedgefield CC in 2009, however further positive results at East Lake (9th 2010; 3rd 2012) and Aronimink (2nd, 2010) also add fuel to the fire. The bentgrass-based putting surface is a positive for Moore, as is the classical nature of Oak Hill - whether heās got the mental strength to go all the way remains to be seen, however a top-6 finish is certainly not out of the realms of possibility as he looks to improve on his 2 Major top 10s from 2006 and 2009 in this event and the US Open respectively. 22nd in driving accuracy for 2013 is the most obvious stat when looking at Ryan Mooreās fit for this event, however with back-to-front sloping greens and long up-and-downs required when greens are missed itās also noteworthy that he sits 5th in scrambling from 30+ yards and inside the top 10 for putting between 5-15 feet, both of which could be great assets this week when battling to save par.[/FONT][/SIZE]
Fancy pants Poulter @ 55
[SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana]f sheer determination and single-mindedness can win a Major Championship then Ian Poulter has it in spades - and you just get the feeling that the Orlando-domiciled Englishman has targeted both Muirfield and Oak Hill as his key targets this season. Why? Well Ian hasnāt got the firepower to win at Augusta, but this tough sub-7,200 yard test plays to his strengths as he can use his tactical experience to grind out a performance. Ian builds his seasons around his target Majors and always plays better in the latter half of a season as heās used to peaking for the Ryder Cup. If heās in the mix come Sunday afternoon we know that Poults wonāt wilt and thereās no doubt that his game is trending upwards. 21(Merion)-43(River Highlands)-25(Le Golf National)-3(Muirfield)-19(Firestone) is consistent and his game last week in Ohio was quietly impressive. Yes 19th doesnāt sound brilliant, but the length of Firestone makes it difficult for Ian to be competitive. I also like Poulter in the New York area where the fans are at their most vocal. His domestic PGA Tour record at The Barclays includes 5 Top 20s, including 2 Top 10s; with a āBig Appleā Major Championship record totalling Top 20s at Winged Foot (06), Bethpage Black (09) and Oakland Hills (09). Justinās win at Merion will motivate Poulter even more and he knows that the PGA Championship in general and Oak Hill in particular is a huge chance to at least add to his 7 Major Top 10s. Poults is also available at 50/1 - 7 Places EW with [/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana][U]Betfred[/U][/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana].[/FONT][/SIZE]
Zachary Johnson @45s
[SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana]rom the enigmatic Phil Mickelson we move to the neat and tidy 9-times PGA Tour winner and 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson. The early 60/1 and 55/1 about Zach is long gone but Iām more than happy to back a guy whose Par 70 record is very hard to beat. 5 of his 9 wins have been on Par 70 formats and if he can keep the ball on the fairway this week I think that Johnson, who is striking his irons very well right now, can seriously feature. A disappointing 2013 has started to peak just as the Presidentās Cup team qualification is about to close (Zach squeezed past DJ and Bubba into the last automatic spot last week) so 3rd at Colonial, 2nd at Deere Run (whilst defending) and 6th at Muirfield have been the perfect tonic of late. However Zach clinched his place in this weekās team for me when he finished a magnificent 4th at an alien (to him) Firestone last week, which was a career best finish at the totally unsuitable 7,400 yard Par 70 bomberās paradise. He ranked 1st in Driving Accuracy, 12th in Greens Hit and 18th in Putting Average last week in Ohio and on a course where Micheel hit 48 of 72 (66.67%) greens to win back in 2003, I think Johnson can seriously contend for his 2nd Major win this week in tough technical conditions he can handle when on the top of his form. You can back Zach at 45/1 with 7 Places EW with [/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana][U]Betfred[/U][/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11px][FONT=Verdana] if you prefer.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[quote=āmyboyblue, post: 814037, member: 180ā]Hon the Biffo
2013 PGA Champ
Robert Garrigus -2
Hiroyuki Fujita -2
Shane Lowry -2
Ryan Palmer -1
John Senden -1[/quote]
Wouldnāt it be some gallery if Lowry won this? Iād go drinking on the strength if it anyway. I met him at Bruce in Nowlan park and a sounder more down to earth fella you couldnāt meet.
I watched an hour and a bit of this earlier and caught the McIlroy/Westwood pair playing the first 6 or so holes. Westwood had 2 double bogeys, was in water and missed practically every fairway. Anyway, I rejoined it as they played the 18th and that gimp Montgomerie was stating how Westwood had yet another faultless ball striking round but enjoyed no luck on the greens. The lying orange bastard.
