Wyndham Championship 2013 - Sedgefield CC, Greensboro

Following on from the PGA Championship at Rochester, the PGA Tour turns its attention to the Wyndham Championship on another Donald Ross design course at Sedgefield GC, Greensboro where Sergio Garcia defends and others try and make the final 125 for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

This course is of similar length to that at Oak Hill, par 70- 7100 yards with small greens. We can however expect low scoring where anything around the –18 mark to possibly the –20 mark will be the number for the winning score. Carl Pettersson holds the course record of 61 (on the way to his win in 2008), as too does Arjun Atwal who won in 2010. Kevin Na and Tim Herron have also shot 61s. But its defending champion, Sergio Garcia that really has an affinity with Sedgefield having won in 2012, Ryan Moore also pipped him in ’09. As an amateur, Garcia finished T3rd at the Greensboro Open in 1998 here. The bookies may reflect that in the prices though this week.

Being the last event before the final TOP125 move onto the play-offs and The Barclays, its last chance saloon for those hovering around the cut-off mark.

Martin Kaymer sits just above it at 116^th and is my first pick this week following a good showing at Oak Hill. The German is slowly but surely getting back to his best and was making a good charge at Oak Hill before the course bit back on Saturday where he shot a 78. He was heading for another poor round on Sunday before producing birdie-eagle-birdie over 3 holes on the back nine to finish in T33.He was one of only 5 players to shoot 3 sub par rounds at Oak Hill. Kaymer will be keen to move up the rankings and stay involved as long as possible in the playoffs and this course and tournament gives him a good chance to get some valuable points.

My second pick is Boo Weekley following the withdrawal of Nicolas Colsaerts. Boo has found some form this season. He won at Colonial, was 2nd at Tampa Bay, made the cut at Muifield, finished T33rd at Firestone and was T12th last week at the PGA. He's 18/22 cuts made,with 4 TOP 10s. He is currently ranked 6th in total driving, 3rd it total eagles & 11th in total birdies! If he comes here in good form and gets a decent start he may make the 55/1 on offer with Bet Victor look massive and with 6 places available he cannot be ignored here

**********Adding a third selection, Wednesday 14th August*********

Having mulled over it last night and having reviewed my shortlist, I cannot leave out Jordan Spieth @ 40/1 with Paddypower . He has already won on tour this year and at 20 years of age is one of the up and coming players on the PGA Tour. Has 6 TOP 10s in his rookie year and looks set to beat Russell Henley for that rookie of the year title. He can make it a certainty with a win here on a course that he has some excellent form on in his amateur days. He is 12th in Total Driving and 5th in All Round Ranking. He currently lies 16th in the FedEx Cup. I just couldn't leave him out this week.

Staking Plan 6 units (pts)

TIP 1: 1 pt e/w M.Kaymer @ 25/1 Betpack * (Paddypower now offering 33/1)

TIP 2: 1 pt e/w B.Weekley @ 55/1 Bet Victor

TIP 3: 1 pt e/w J.Spieth @ 40/1 Paddypower

PGA Championship 2013 - Oak Hill CC, Rochester, New York

Oak Hill CC hosts a major for the first time in ten years, where Shaun Micheel burst through to surprise everyone and win in 2003. Rory McIlroy will defend this week. The final major, known as “glory’s last shot”, may well be an appropriate term for Mssrs Woods and McIlroy as they try to win a major in 2013.

The East course is a par 70, 7100 yds, which requires straight long driving and excellent short game. Scoring will be very difficult as the stats show in the previous five majors played here; only 10 players have finished under par! Those that played well at Firestone will be well suited to Oak Hill. The PGA has often produced a first time Major winner and there are plenty knocking on the door this time round too. Since 2006 when the WGC Bridgestone was held the week before the PGA, the winner played in and finished inside the TOP25 at Firestone.

The surprising statistic is that in the last 11 PGA Championships since Micheel’s victory, the winner had already won that year. Shaun Micheel hadn’t.

I’ve looked long and hard at who might win this week. I don’t think Tiger will. He played awful here in 2003, a year that he had already won 5 times. He complained that the greens were too slow last week when practicing but acknowledged they would be a lot quicker this week, suggesting that he hasn’t been comfortable in his preparation. I won’t mention you know who, but also considered Rose and Westwood again. The latter is sure to go well again and whilst I’d love to see him finally win a Major I can’t back him. Stenson is the in-form player at the moment but cannot get the WIN. He was backable a couple of weeks ago but at 28s, he’s not for me. I really really wanted to back Martin Kaymer this week! He's almost back to his best...but not quite. Oak Hill apparently will suit someone who likes to fade it off the tee, someone like Martin Kaymer. I liked Kaymer's play at The French Open but he pushed too hard. He had a TOP10 at Firestone and that result suggests his game is in fine shape but I'd rather he had more consistency lately before diving in. He's definitely one to watch out for an in-play investment. Brandt Snedeker I just couldn't pull the trigger on due to his lack off length and Zach Johnson and decent odds was considered but was happy to settle on my shortlist of ten.

WGC Bridestone - Firestone, Akron Ohio 2013

Tiger Woods goes searching for his eighth Bridgestone Title in Akron, Ohio this week and his first since 2009. This invitational will see the worlds best in action with all members of both Ryder Cup teams from Medinah eligible to compete alongside the worlds top 50 and tournament winners. The event also comes just one week ahead of the years final Major to be played at Oak Hill CC and tends to be a real strong indicator as to who will win the PGA Championship. Since 2006, every PGA champion has finished within the TOP 25 here at Firestone CC. With this in mind, punters have to be aware that despite the generous prize money on offer, this event will be suited to the in-form players at the top of their game as Firestone is a course that requires accurate long driving amongst the tree-lined fairways. This is a par 70 course measuring 7,400 yards so its not short and recent changes to some of the holes ensure that the potential winner needs to be able to drive it 290 yards or more. They will also need accurate approach play to small greens and have the patience to score.

One trend that has emerged over the years at Firestone is that all winners were coming here in excellent shape and won without any great surprise in doing so. Keegan Bradley won twelve months ago seeing off Jim Furyk with a closing 64. (It was the second time Furyk had been beaten into second following a seven-hole playoff defeat to Tiger back in 2001). Bradley was the then defending PGA Champion and had already pocketed ten TOP25s from nineteen starts that season. In 2011, Adam Scott triumphed having had produced 6 TOP25s from his 11 starts which included a runners up at the Masters.

 I don’t foresee any triple figure price winner this week but as with any betting, the punter is seeking value and with Tiger Woods the favourite, that value can be found as we look to get him beat. My shortlist for this event lists players that meet the criteria above, big but accurate driving with strong approach play and experienced patient play. They are also in excellent form this season and a win is just around the corner. Whether Phil Mickelson wants to make it a hat-trick and a four-timer the week after remains to be seen but he cannot be discarded too lightly given the form he is in now. Darren Clarke is the only European to win this event but there are a handful of players meeting my criteria that can end that trend. Most notably are Lee Westwood and Justin Rose, both have the driving attributes required and both are having stellar seasons with the former missing a win. It’s a course that should suit Rory McIlroy but he doesn’t meet the “in-form criteria” so is eliminated from my list. A lot of people did the same twelve months ago and Rory went on to win the Wanamaker Trophy at Kiawah Island and claim his second major.

With no debutant having won at Firestone, previous course form is a must before the final staking plan is finalized and then the bookmaker’s prices are assessed before value is determined whether we have the right bets selected. My three selections for this week with estimated price are as follows:

Justin Rose – Winner of The US Open in June, the Englishman is obviously in great shape. Ignore his Open performance at Muirfield, as that was a course not to his liking. This is. Justin was T5th here last year (2^nd also in 2007), ranks 27^th in Driving Distance (DD), 20^th in Driving Accuracy (DA) and has an excellent approach game due largely in part to his coach Sean Foley. Along with his Major win this season, Justin has eight TOP 25s from 10 starts, of which five are TOP 10s.  His season is far from over.

Lee Westwood – Having failed to capture his first Major at Muirfield when leading by 3 shots early in the final round, Westwood will be unfazed by yet another “choke” on the big stage and prove that by mounting a serious challenge here. Tee to green; he is one of the best and as recent form shows his approach play and short game have sharpened significantly that can only lead to a win very soon. Firestone is the course for a player simmering for that elusive win and despite a third round 81 last year, he can go one better than his runner-up place to Vijay Singh in 2008.

Bill Haas - With Hunter Mahan becoming a father sooner than he was expecting during the Canadian Open, I fully expect him not to be a factor this week and instead my attention switches to Bill Haas who should provide some value. Haas has won this season at Congressional and has from his eighteen starts has produced eight TOP10s from the thirteen cuts made. Ranking fourth on tour for Par 4 scoring, the FedEx Cup winner, currently in seventh position, will be fired up for this stage of the season.



TIP 1: 1 pt e/w J.Rose @ 22/1  Paddypower

TIP 2 : 1 pt e/w L.Westwood @ 25/1 Paddypower

TIP 3: 1 pt e/w B.Haas @ 50/1 Paddypower

RBC Canadian Open 2013 - Glen Abbey GC, Ontario

Action on the  PGA Tour this week still remains outside the US as we head to Ontario, Canada for one of the oldest professional golf tournamnts in the world. With title sponsors, RBC at the helm, this event has recently been staged on a rotational basis and this year Glen Abbey GC will host for the 26th time. The first solo project of Jack Nicklaus was completed in 1976 and birdies are required here to take the title of Canadian Open Champion, a title that in 2013,19 Canadians are eager to win as no home player has won since the early 1950s. In form Graeme De Laet leads the home charge as he seeks his first win. An awkward week on the calendar, following The Open at Muirfield and before the WGC at Firestone next week and the PGA Championship the week after, RBC have ensured they have a quality field with many of their stable contracted to play.
   One trend though over the years apart from lack of home wins is that those competing at The Open, especially those who did so over the weekend have poor results in this, the week after. Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedker, Dustin Johnson,Matt Kuchar, Charl Scwhartzel as well as Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald to name just a few tee it up here but its hard to see them competing hard following their efforts in Gullane but perhaps a case could be made for Donald having only played 36. But once we look at those players that only played 36 holes another player offers better value and that player is Billy Horschel @ 33/1. Billy won his maiden title in New Orleans at the end of April in a season that has seen him make TOP 10 on 7 occasions from his 17 cuts made (19 starts). He will be fresh this week following just the 36 holes at Muirfield and Glen Abbey is a course that will suit his game where making birdies is a must. Billy ranks 2nd on tour for birdie scoring. He also ranks inside the top 50 for driving accuracy and lies 5th in the FedEx Cup. His game is in good shape and has a nice grouping for the first 2 days playing alongside Hunter Mahan & Dustin Johnson and they tee off very early Thursday

My second and final pick this week is Swede, David Lingmerth @ 100/1. Out very early on Thursday morning also, this is a player who had a TOP 10 last time out at The Greenbrier and who challenged Tiger Woods at Sawgrass in May. With 3 TOP 10s from 18 starts this season (8 MC), the 26 year old, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, will be keen to improve on his FedEx Cup ranking of 37th as the regular season nears conclusion. With his fellow compatriot, Jonas Blixt, winning the Greenbrier I'm hoping the feel good factor from there spills onto Canada and he can compete at decent value.

2 selections for 4 pts

TIP 1 : 1.5 pts e/w B.Horschel @ 33/1 Betpack * paying 6 places

TIP 2: 0.5 pts e/w D.Lingmerth @ 100/1 Paddypower * paying 6 places