If you think that youve heard the name of this course before then your probably thinking about Rory McIlroy's win in the 2011 US Open and his sheer demolition of the course in carding -16, and a 8 shot lead, for the title. Although Rory stole the show only 19 others players managed to score anything under par in the end but it wont be set up to be that way this week. The weather played a big part in last years event, aided to the fact that it was the US Open, the course would have been set up to be hard - They just didnt tell Rory if the fact...!!! Well this particular tournament has been held here before and technically its for Tiger Woods to defend his trophy. The winner, back in 2009, the course then got altered to accommodate the US Open last year and so we now return to Congressional on the PGA Tour for the first time since then. Its a long course, playing at 7,574 yards with a par score of 71, and ranks in the top 10 of toughest course on the PGA tour. If the bad weather keeps away then the greens play very fast and will be a tough test for the players, but any rain will slow the greens and make scoring easier but not a -16 type of course. Woods won in 2009 with -13, Anthony Kim won with -12 the year previous, so you will have to shoot a sub -10 to be right in contention. And again driving is equally important here with all fairways hiding testing traps of water, deep bunkers and trees. So with that in mind i have looked at the following. No surprise to see Tiger Woods (11/2) fav for the title but i cant be having him winning this. He faded so badly in last weeks US Open that you have to think that he need more time to get back to winning ways. Jim Furyk (18/1) has again had a very consistent year this year, as has Hunter Mahan (12/1) who shot a very impressive -9, 61 last week, in the fianl round but both are a little bit short for me. Coupled with the fact Matt Kuchar is missing also ive got 4 new picks to go at... Bo Van Pelt - I seem to be sticking with Bo more than my other 2 year picks but i do think he is close to winning one of these soon. His putting is strong, 8th ranked player, which equates to being 3rd in strokes gained by putting. Driving is long and accurate, and ranked 8th in all round game... Has a good chance... Ryan Palmer - Currently the hottest player on the tour without a tour victory. 3rd at the Fedex two weeks ago he has had a break since and that hopefully will have him fresh for this challenge. 9th in the rankings on shots gained putting, plus he is top 20 in driving distance, birdie average per round and scoring average... Rory Sabbatini - Just hitting a bit of form at the moment after struggling with his game recently. He has changed coach and has now posted T47, 2ND, T18 in his last 3 tournaments after missing the cut in 7 out of the previous 10. He is putting a lot better now the earlier in the year, plus his driving stats have gone up also after these last 3 tournaments. Carries a bit of form so worth a shout... Brian Davis - Coming here on the back of a 4th place finish at the Travelers last week, his 3rd such finish this year. Has super accuracy with his driving, ranks 6th on tour, though isnt the longest on tour has good stats for scrambling and 3 putt avoidance... Bo Van Pelt @ 33/1... Ryan Palmer @ 35/1... Rory Sabbatini @ 66/1... Brian Davis @ 66/1... All with the usual £2.5 e/w...PadPow pays 1/4 top 5... Good luck of you play...
Hey Red Hardly looked at this tournament whatsoever, and my picks were quickly done online last night before i played poker Adam Scott 22/1 Jason Day 40/1 Harris English 90/1 Johnson Wagner 125/1 Am i missing something with johnson? not been in sparkling form but the course set up is hardly against him, has proven he can shoot low rounds 4 days running?
I'm just having a bet on the Irish Open this week and it's 10euro each way on Padraig Harrington @10/1, what better way to start his bid to make the Ryder Cup team than to win his National Open, he's been doing well of late, finally seems to have cut out the many huge errors suffered each round and he loves this course(Royal Portrush) and will relish the challenge of the conditions he's going to encounter especially tomorrow, so that's my only golf bet of the week, apologies for posting European tour on the American thread, hopefully it's ok. Gluck with yer bets as usual guy's.
Smokin, i think Johnson needs a little time to get back to the top golfer and the form that we know he can play. He was mightily impressive at the St. Judes and then bombed at the US Open, but thats no shame with the way that course was set up. I have read that he still needs to alter the position of his wrists at the top of his swing as this is the one thing that has stopped him kicking on...(but hey, what do i know, i watch all the top pros swings and they all look the same to me...) He is long, ranked 9th for distance, but isnt the most accurate, 137th... He is still one of the players i look out for and he might pop up with a few big wins yet, but i will wait for a while before im backing him again... This tournament isnt the strongest one around so if he is back to his top form he can win this, as he isnt ranked number 13th for the season and 30th in the world for nothing... STH - As for the Irish Open Paddy Harrington is indeed in a bit of form and maybe the home venue and crowd can inspire him to win it... He certainly tries his socks off but i do get the feeling that his putting lets him down too much... Good luck lads as we all need it...
True red , he used to be one of the best putters around until he started fiddling with everything but a solid start and shoulda had at least another bird on the 9th (reached par 5 in 2 and was 15ft from pin and only made 5) but happy with the start and conditions have got slightly trickier for the later tee-offs so another - 3 or -4 tomorrow and he'll be in good shape for the weekend.
Just had a bet on Nick Watney @ 5/2 in the 3ball with Tiger and KJ Reason being Tiger is very underpriced i think. Remember his 2/7 odds in a 2ball recently? KJ is hit n miss and i think Watney can have a solid round. He will probs be cautious but that could play to the strengths of this bet. And lets face it, its the only 3 ball were gunnna see on sky tonight lol That and 12/5 for germany -1 tonight!!
Only seen some of the highlights but the 16th hole cost Bo, and me, a chance to win and collect the big money... Got to say that Tiger held on well but having looked at the stats Tiger isnt using his driver, and basically held his nerve better than Bo in the end... Looks like he is still at his 'winning' best, but a long way away from his destructive best... Got me money back with the e/w on Bo, but i may leave him alone for a while now as i think that defeat might take a bit out of him... Cheers lads...
Well done matey Got some ew back on Adam Scott, and was annoyed to find jason day ended t7 in the end...poo!
