Seniors British Open, Deutsche Bank & US Bank Ch'ship Previews

Seniors British OpenAfter a stunning British Open at St Andrews, it's the turn of the Seniors Tour to host their Open Championship. This year the venue is the Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, the sixth oldest golf course in the world and a little gem. Played on the Balgownie Course, this is links golf at it's very best and the first nine holes are said to be the finest in links golf anywhere. The line up this year is impressive too, with Greg Norman, Tom Watson, and Loren Roberts to name but a few. Sadly though only three of the current top ten in the stats on the Champions Tour take part, but that does include one of the top two, Mark McNulty. The number one, Dana Quigley, can't make it due to storms in his native Rhode Island and it ends a remarkable run of 278 consecutive Champions Tour events. Staggering. Other notables include Howard Clark, Eduardo Romero, Tom Kite, Craig Stadler, Sam Torrance and Peter Jacobsen. The favourite at 9/1 with Stan James is Loren Roberts. He's playing here despite it clashing with one of his favourite events, the old Greater Milwaukee Open at Brown Deer Park. It could be significant. It's a surprise he's given up Brown Deer. Second Favourite is Peter Jacobsen at 10's and his experience and relative youth will count for him. He's due a big win. Craig Stadler and Eduardo Romero are at 12/1 and both have plenty of experience of links golf, as does a man with a real chance?Mark McNulty. Second in the all round stats, more importantly he's top in Scrambling, and second in Greens In Regulation and also the Putting Averages. At 14/1 he's a great price. The old greats like Tom Kite (16's), Tom Watson (18's) and Greg Norman (20's) all have obvious chances, but they just might be lacking that killer instinct these days. One man you cannot rule out, especially if the wind gets up, is Mark James at 33's. The Thursday especially could see winds of over 20 mph, so things could benefit the Wily One. It's a decent price for a player who is equipping himself well on the Senior's circuit. Last year's surprise winner Pete Oakley is 125's to repeat the feat, but he has shown very little since. Howard Clark is 200/1 as he plays very little competitive golf these days. It should be a great event and Sky will be there to give us live coverage. It will be good to see a hidden gem of links golf as well. It could be quite a test. The tight greens and the possible windy conditions forecast could prove the undoing of many. Deutsche Bank Open No Tiger this year?..but the headliner and favourite with Stan James this week is Reteif Goosen at 15/2. He's been a little disappointing of late especially in his last round challenges and he'll be looking to arrest the decline and show the field just how good he still is. He always plays well in this event as well. A rightful favourite, but maybe one that you want to take on. The second favourite is Padraig Harrington (11's) who had to pull out of the Open due to the death of his father and it might be difficult to assess the impact of this on the Irishman. His record is very good here though, having had three top tens in four appearances and he's also a previous winner.Michael Campbell played well at St Andrews and has to be considered. At 16's he's a decent price and he certainly won't fear anyone. Olazabal also has to be a contender at 22/1. He is swinging the club with the air of a man at peace and that makes him very dangerous. One thing against him is that his record here is pretty poor. He's never been in the top ten. His fellow countryman M-A Jimenez is priced at 25/1 and this could represent value. He's a steady golfer and he has had the experience of playing well around Gut Kaden. The defending champion is Trevor Immelman and after a reasonable effort in the Open, he'll be up for the challenge. He's starting to hit form and at 28's you should at least get a run for your money. KJ Choi makes an appearance in Europe but he is struggling to set courses alight at the moment and at 28/1 he could be poor value. Big hitting John Daly is always capable of blitzing a field and he had a very reasonable Open week. We also can't mention this event without mentioning Bernhard Langer. Fifth in the Open, it seems like the perfect run in to this event. He'll have everything going for him this week and at 40/1 you have to agree that he is well worth a bet. The return to Gut Kaden in Hamburg could be an interesting one but this event tends to go to reasonably established players, so it's unlikely that we'll see a rank outsider winning this week. Stick with the tried and tested. The weather forecast could play a part as well. It is expected to be wet and thundery on the first two days, then fine on the weekend. US Bank ChampionshipThis event used to be The Greater Milwaukee Open, but the course Brown Deer Park is the same and it is a quirky little test. There are five Par 3's and the total length of the course is short by Tour standards. Players who do well here are generally straight hitters and good putters. The rough also can be particularly penal. Carlos Franco, Jeff Sluman and last year's winner Kenny Perry all fit this mould. In fact it is Perry at 7/1 with Stan James who has the favourite's mantle this week as a lot of the big names tend to swerve this event. The only problem could be the tiring journey across the Pond, although he did play well in St Andrews, so this should balance things out. And around Brown Deer he's a force. Four events?and he's never been out of the top ten. There are a lot of local players whose record's show they have the ability to win here. Jeff Sluman (50's), Steve Stricker (125's), Jerry Kelly (28's) and Skip Kendall (100's) all have very good records here and as locals will have the support of the Wisconsin faithful. The Slu has won here twice. Play the Par Three's well and you can expect returns. Noticeably, Loren Roberts is head of the Par 3 stats and he always loves playing this course, but is in the UK this week. Second in the stats though is Stewart Cink, and that means he has to be a runner this week. Priced at 20's you could do worse. Another bigger priced player who always does well on short courses is Arjun Atwal at 50's. Brad Faxon must have a chance as well. He played solidly at the Open and if the putter is working his price of 28's might look a bargain. Similarly Fred Funk at 28's always plays well here and the course will suit his game down to a tee. The weather could be a factor with thunderstorms seeming likely on the weekend, but this should only help those who match the profile of winners here. If the rough gets wet it'll be a dropped shot every time you visit it. Head PGA Professional summed it up like this?.."The course will typically favour a straight hitter," Evans says. "You want somebody who hits straight and pretty much plays no-frills golf, someone who hits to a spot, a player who doesn't try to go outside of his limits too often." The winner will be the one who can play steady greens in regulation golf and then hole a lot of putts. Good luck!Go to Stan James now (free twenty five pounds)