Players Championship Betting Preview

In the overall hierarchy of world golf tournaments the Players Championship has a special position. At the top of the pile come the four Majors, and nobody can really question the validity of their existence there. The biggest aspect setting them apart is history, and this is all that leaves it ahead of the Players in terms of being the tournament that the competitors most want to win.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The PC has arguably a stronger field than any of the other four, and the purse is on the same level. With 19 of the 22 stagings having been held at the TPC at Sawgrass, it also has a venue that is immensely popular, and with every year comes another notch in the historical bedpost. The World Golf Championships offer huge money but are relatively infantile, and the Tour Championship can never be compared due to its elitist nature which only allows the top 30 on the PGA Money List to take part. Coming just two weeks before the US Masters, this event also offers an invaluable insight into form, and there is never any shortage of drama with the infamous island hole being the 17th, or more poignantly, the 71st. Another aspect that this event has in common with the Majors, is a tendency to be unkind to Europeans. Only one man from Europe has ever taken the title, and that was Sandy Lyle in 1987. It may be worth noting that this success was merely the spark for a trail that Lyle blazed for players from the continent, and another such stalwart is badly needed. The experience of winning at Sawgrass stood Lyle in good stead when standing over that legendary bunker shot on the 72nd hole at Augusta 12 months later when the US Masters was won by the Scot. Looking at the European contenders, there is a sizeable batch ready to take the next step up the ladder towards greatness. A whole posse of young English tyrants are chomping at the bit but look largely out of their depth in America at present. Luke Donald may be the exception with a win under his belt already, but his game is not quite firing right now. Paul Casey is playing well, but has a massive hurdle to overcome due to the hatred that the US crowds have been dishing out to him following some ill-advised post Ryder Cup comments. Padraig Harrington on the other hand has always been popular with the crowds in the States, and by winning the Honda Classic in his last start two weeks ago made a positive leap in the right direction. This was the first fully-fledged PGA Victory for a European in 40 events, and the first ever by an Irishman. Harrington has been a prolific bridesmaid in his career, coming 2nd 26 times, including at the Players Championship for the past two years. Many things can be read into this statistic, but the one we prescribe to is that his golf is good enough to be champion, but a mental fragility has let him down. With the Honda now safely tucked away, and the manner of victory was a playoff success over world number two (now returned to number one), Vijay Singh, there is no longer any excuse for lacking belief. 22/1 is available and this is a price worth taking. At the very top of the world game, there would appear to currently be four players ahead of the rest. Any one of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els could be number one in the world rankings at the end of the week, whilst Phil Mickelson completes the quartet due to his high standard of play which is quite reminiscent of the golf he played this time last year. Few will need reminding that the Masters fell into his possession during that period. Of them, only Woods has taken this title, in 2001, and he is also the only one not to have missed a cut. Of all the records, perhaps that of Retief Goosen is the most surprising. For one of the most consistently high performers on the tour to have missed the cut in five of six outings at Sawgrass is astonishing. Players tend to take time to adapt to this course, and of the top ten rated entrants with the bookmakers none have come inside the top 25 on their first visit, and seven have missed the cut. For this reason we are going to ignore the credentials of Zach Johnson despite some excellent form which has seen results of 3rd and 8th achieved directly previous to this. This will be his first visit. Stephen Ames followed the trend of most first timers at the Ponte Vedra course in being spared any weekend activity, but the 39 year old Trinidadian has amassed a decent selection of finishes since also missing the cut the following year. For the past three seasons his results have been 2nd, 17th and 13th, and this is as impressive as nearly anybody in the field. 2004 was a break through season for Ames, coming 8th on the Money List, and so far 2005 has not quite lived up to these heights. However, three fine rounds put him very much in the mix at Bay Hill last week, and we saw enough in these rounds to be encouraged regarding his prospects. A final round of 80 was very disappointing but also meant that his price has been pushed out to 80/1. This is worthy of an each way selection for a man who can win events, as shown at the Western Open last season. Another statistic that illustrates the quality of this tournament is that all but four of the winners here since 1982 have also won Majors in their careers. Our two selections so far do not fit this mould, although it would not be a massive shock if, certainly Harrington and possibly Ames were to add their names to the pantheon of true greats sometime in the near future. David Toms is a Major winner however, from the 2001 US PGA Championship, and the American fills our third and final betting verdict berth this week. Go to VCBet now and get a fifty pound free bet! As has been said, most players take some time to adapt to Sawgrass, but Toms took longer than most. In fact, the cut was missed on his first six visits. However, he came of age in 1997/1998. Having not won previously, he went on to take 7 titles in the following 4 seasons, and his record at this tournament also dramatically improved. 20th, 38th, 12 and 19th were the results that followed. It should be said that the 38 year old has fallen on the wrong side of the mid way severing for the past two seasons, but his golf this term has been back towards his best. He is currently 4th on the Money List, with just one of seven outings during 2005 being worse than 13th, and the last four have been in the top 5 which would secure a pay out this week. The highlight came when winning at the WGC-Accenture Match play in fine style and there is no doubting that he has the class and the game to succeed at Sawgrass. In all of the vital areas of the game Toms rates highly, including 5th for Greens in regulation and 7th for putting average and we see every chance for him to shine.Go to VCBet now and get a fifty pound free bet!