Ford Seniors Players Championship Preview

Sky Sports are covering this event live and it has a strong reputation on Tour as one of the premier tournaments. In fact it's classed as a Major on the Champions Tour. The course, The TPC of Michigan is also highly regarded and will prove a solid test as usual. The favourite this week with Stan James is Jay Haas at 9/1 and he'll be looking to stamp his authority on these big Champions Tour events. On his day he could blitz this field, but it'll probably not pan out that way. There are too many gritty characters playing to let that happen.There is a new breed of personnel heading the big Champions Tour events. Whereas Hale Irwin was always the favourite when he played, he's been relegated a bit now by the likes of Craig Stadler (11's), Mark McNulty (11's) and Peter Jacobsen (12's). Irwin finds himself 5th favourite at 14/1, but that doesn't mean he's in decline. This man has an inner steel that you disregard at your peril and he always plays well in this event. He has come in the top ten in 4 out of the last 5 years. He also won it in 1999 and has earned over a million dollars in this event alone. The "big event" experienced players like Tom Kite and Tom Watson also have great records here. Tom Kite has been in the top ten in every event in the last five years and Watson when he plays here always gets in the frame. An interesting runner at a big price is Mike McCullough at 150's. He also has been in the top ten on four out of five occasions. He clearly has an affinity with this event and seems a good each way bet. Jim Thorpe at 22's has a similar record around here. Horses for courses is a very important feature in this event. Last year's winner was Englishman Mark James and he goes into this event in reasonable form. He has won once so far this year and he'll enjoy the big occasion. At 25/1 he seems pretty decent value. Others up there in the betting are Dana Quigley at 18's who has a second here in 2000 and a 5th place last year. He is currently the best player on Tour at the moment in the Stats. D A Weibring (18's) came 13th in his debut last year and will be hoping to improve on that. Tom Jenkins' record here is patchy, but he is top in Greens in Regulation on the Tour and is third in the Scoring Averages.Mark McNulty has been impressive in his maiden year on the Champions Tour. He is second on the All Time Stats and has the leading Scoring Average of 69.54. The Dapper Don from South Africa could burst on the scene big time if he were to win this. Last week's winner Ron Streck is a 100/1 chance, but the value could be in someone like Gil Morgan at 40's. He's a big event player, will relish the stage and is far from being over the hill.It should be an eventful tournament. All eyes will be on Jay Haas, but he has been a little quiet lately and maybe the experience of Morgan, Irwin, Kite and Watson will rise to the top this week.