Thursday, July 29th through Sunday, August 1st: The PGA Golf Tour of golf continues this week, and it is off to West Virginia for the Greenbrier Classic. The Old White Course is a par 70 at just a touch over 7,000 yards with some challenging bunkers and greens. With it being one of the classic tighter courses, some finesse in the short game is needed by the players, and the tournament could be decided by putting prowess. These are some tough greens to navigate, as they sweep and fall quite drastically, so accurate approach work is vital. There is a good mix of veteran presence, along with a strong crop of solid players who are just itching at the seams to get a win under their belt. This field is pretty wide open, so there is some careful golf betting strategy to consider. You will be looking for a consistent player who excels in accuracy. That sounds pretty obvious in picking a winner, but approach to the greens and putting powers really will make a difference here.
Jim Furyk: 16/1 at BetFred
He is going to be favourite in betting because of his veteran status, and with this being a new course on the PGA Tour, it makes some kind of sense that such an experienced player will be able to offer a steady hand and a cool head. The course looks well set out for him, simply because it is a course, which in ways, heralds the old style short courses. Has won twice on the tour this year, and that makes extra good betting sense for this tournament. Having another good solid season, and standing fifth in the FedExCup points standings and therefore represents a safe bet.
Matt Kuchar: 18/1 at Bet365
Kuchar is probably the bet of the tournament and well worth getting behind. One of those understated players, who barely puts a foot wrong, and is usually in the top ten. In fact he is a very solid top ten finisher, and finished T4 in Canada last week. Won his first Tour title last year, and his best finish in 2010 has been a second place at The Bob Hope Classic. A very sound average of 69.68 (better than Furyk’s) really should see him in the hunt for the honours here. He is in good form, and fully deserving of a victory and standing seventh in the FedExCup points for the season.
Jeff Overton: 25/1 at Totesport
Surprising that he is quite as far out in the golf betting as this, because just like Kuchar, he is an incredibly consistent, metronomic performer. He has a higher average than Kuchar, but has two second place finishes and two third place finishes, as well as four other top tens out of his 19 tournaments this year. Missed more cuts than Kuchar has though, but don’t count him out in this one. No reason why he cannot aim for the top five, and if he gets off to a strong start, then will be a major threat. Has been dubbed the best tour player without a win this year.
Charlie Wi: 35/1 at SkyBet
Back in the betting a little bit, but is having something of a sparkling season and is hard to ignore in your golf betting for this week. Still looking for his first ever Tour title, but with two top five finishes in his last three outings, he is in great nick at the moment and therefore worth looking at. The Korean is not one of the longer drivers in the game, and at this course that will not be a problem. This is a shorter course where accuracy in hitting the fairways is more important than booming long drives. Decent price and a decent outside bet.
Ben Crane: 35/1 at Bet365
Crane is another one who is having an excellent season, and standing at 8th in the FedExCup points list. He has won one tournament this year, the Farmers Insurance Open, as well as having a third and fourth place finish on the Tour this year. Only he, Furyk and Pettersson out of the genuine title contenders here have won on the Tour in 2010, and for a player standing as the 12th highest earner on the PGA Tour this year, he can’t be overlooked. You can put him, Kuchar, Overton and Wi in a hat and pull out a name. Expect to see him up there challenging. Good price, good punt.
Sergio Garcia: 40/1 at Stan James
Is it possible that the Spaniard could win his first title since 2008? Actually has a higher average than last year so it suggests not. However, he was one of the more enjoyable players to watch at The Open at St Andrews recently, and still pulls out some wonderfully smooth and sublime shots from his repertoire. Only had the one top ten finish this year, but has made 11 out of 12 cuts. Way off the pace when it comes to challenging for major titles, but the accuracy he has could work well at the Greenbrier Classic.
Carl Pettersson: 40/1 at Bet365
Last week’s winner of the RBC Canadian Open, will be looking to win back to back tournaments by putting in another impressive display. It is not often that you will see a player win back to back tournaments, so it could work against him. But clearly what he does have is form, and he was solid and consistent around St George in Toronto last week. Not spectacular, or a stand out player, but a solid bet.
Trevor Immelman 40/1 at Stan James
Just needs one little extra push and he should be challenging for titles wherever he goes. A former Masters champion really has the ability to pull it together, but just needs to find a little more consistency. Finished T13 in his last outing at the RBC Canadian Open, but the South African is still looking for his first top ten finish of the year.
Kenny Perry: 45/1 at BetFred
If charitable causes were to win PGA Tour titles, then Perry would cake walk this one. For every birdie that he hits, he will donate $2,000 to the families who were affected by the West Virginia mining disaster in April. Is he going to score a plethora of birdies and win? Probably not, but will be worth watching and tallying up his generous birdie count. Maybe the extra incentive will push him higher than expected.
