PGA Tour Player's Championship Betting Tips

The PGA Tour takes an irrefutable leap in class this week for the Player's Championship. It is an event that the top competitors will have been preparing for since the start of the season, as it boasts the strongest field of any event in the sport. It also offers a massive winners' cheque of $1.44 Million, and with the US Masters just two weeks away, it provides a great indicator of form for the first Major of the season. As always, the TPC at Sawgrass is the venue, and it is a tremendous one. The island hole at 17 is the signature, but the 18th is equally formidable (the 18th actually ranked as the hardest hole in 2005) and the overall setup is a thorough test of any player. The list of champions includes both power exponents, and the more cautious. Fred Funk personifies the latter, and he defends the title he won in fine fashion 12 months ago at the Ponte Vedra Beach setup this week. The natural place to start looking for a winner this week is at the top of the world rankings and the five players collectively known as the big five. Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson have been at the very top of the game for several years now, but it is interesting to note that they do not have especially good records at the event. In fact, other than when Woods won with a superb final round in 2001, only Mickelson has ever been atop a Players Championship leaderboard, after the first round in 2000. He went on to finish 28th. We are actually going to swerve all five this week. Woods has earned more money at the Player's than any other player and some will no doubt be drawn in by the 9/2 on offer at Blue Square. However, his overall record is far from exceptional, with less than half of his rounds being under par. And he may have won the Ford Championship at Doral three weeks ago, but he has been struggling with his game in general. Four rounds in the 70's left him well behind at Bay Hill last week, and whilst his recovery skills are beyond comparison, we are not happy supporting a man who is struggling to hit fairways at this price. It has been quite a fortnight for English golfers in America. On Sunday there were three placed in the top eight at Bay Hill (Greg Owen, Lee Westwood and Justin Rose), and Owen would have taken the title had it not been for a brain explosion on the 71st hole where he three putted from under 8 feet. The previous week is was the best of the current English crop who stole the headlines however. Whilst Owen's victory would have been seen as a shock in many trans-Atlantic quarters, the win of Luke Donald was far from it. The 28 year old has been getting progressively better with every season, and consistently challenging for honours. Experience of winning twice on the European Tour (as well as the shortened 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic) clearly helped in the final round of the Honda Classic, and the title was taken in excellent style. This took Donald into the top ten in the world rankings and a price of 22/1 puts him up with the infamous big five in the eyes of the bookmakers. Considering he came second at Sawgrass 12 months ago, this holds much more appeal than the others at this mark or shorter. A final round of 76 on that occasion pulled him down from first place overnight and prompted many to say that there was a temperament problem. His superb five-iron approach under pressure on the 72nd hole at the Honda dispelled this myth for us though, as did some critical clutch putting throughout the back nine. Donald is a precision player and as Funk showed last year, this type of game can prevail at Sawgrass, despite it's length of 7093 yards. His all round statistics are impressive, ranking at 6th on the tour overall, and we feel the Ryder Cupper is ready to take the step up and win an event of this magnitude. His last four outings have seen a worst result of 12th place, and with doubts over the other top contenders, we are happy to include him as our headline pick. Moving well down the betting list, our next selection is simply down to current form. Tom Pernice has been enjoying his time in Florida over the last month or so, recording results of 12th, 20th, 5th and 8th is his last four starts. Three of these have occurred in the last three weeks, and any man with this kind of consistency looks appealing at 125/1. A dismal record at Sawgrass is a concern, but it should be noted that Donald had never previously made a cut before coming second last year and so if Pernice can continue playing the way he has been, there is every chance of a tasty each way payout. He is not a fashionable player, and is unremarkable in many ways, but the 46 year old has won twice on Tour before (1999 Buick Open, 2001 International) and we feel is worth a small investment. Another man who has been incessantly troubling the leaderboard controllers of late is Geoff Ogilvy, and as such 50/1 looks like a decent price. The Australian is currently second on the US Money list, largely thanks to a tremendous win at the WGC- Accenture Matchplay last month. He defeated all comers, coming from the position of underdog in every match. The 28 year old has used this as a spur to his season, and has played well every week since. Second place was claimed at the Honda Classic, and last week in Orlando he came 26th. The bookies may have highlighted his final round of 76 as a reason to push the odds out, but this was his first round worse than 72 since the impossibly hard Mercedes Championship at Kapalua back in January, and so this can be put down as a mere blip in our opinion. At Sawgrass his record is mixed, with two missed cuts, but also two top 21's in four visits, and at this price there is every chance for a man high in confidence to fare well. He stared the best players in the face at the Accenture and showed no fear, winning four of his matches in extra holes. This is a good sign that the nerve of the reigning Chrysler Classic of Tucson champion would stand up if required in the heat of battle on Sunday evening, regardless of the company he may have.