TWO winning weeks for Louis Ross (@LouisRoss67), now he looks at The Greenbrier Classic.
The Greenbrier Classic | Thursday – Sunday | Sky Sports
It was really nice to have a winner last week, but I was gutted Zach Johnson missed a place with a bogey on the 72nd hole. I also spent the last hour, furious that I had missed Paul Casey. How on earth did I not pick him? Oh well, on we go and another odd little tournament in West Virginia.
The PGA Tour arrives in the quite brilliantly named White Sulphur Springs and Old White TPC. A Par 70 of 7287 yards, this is a fairly short course and recent scoring reflects that. Angel Cabrera won last year with a 16 Under total, whilst in 2010 Stuart Appleby posted -22. After an extremely wet early summer, we could see anything up to -25 winning this week.
A little like last week, we have guys playing for spots in The Open (four places up for grabs), a late push in the FedEx Cup and even their cards for next year. That combination has thrown up some huge price winners lately. The last five started at 100/1, 125/1, 500/1, 175/1 and 60/1. Stopped reading yet?
I know a lot of you read these pieces, with no intention of blindly backing my picks but more to get a feel of the tournament. Quite often, you can narrow down choices to a certain type of player or course form. I'm afraid this is one of those where that just doesn't apply. This place doesn't really favour a particular type, length is no real advantage, recent form is only partially a factor and as the last two winners were appearing here for the first time, course form seems to be irrelevant.
I left Paul Casey alone last week because he had never seen the course before. It's also his debut here. I don't like backing players after a play-off defeat but the guy hit one bad shot in 20 holes last Sunday and to be honest, at 25/1 I'm prepared to break my rule. Casey owes us big time.
This is normally the Kevin Na section. Oh I do like Kevin Na but nobody else seems to. In fact on pain of death, I have had to promise @w2dyer and @bettsjulian that I will never pick him again. He is on what I like to call the ‘Sergio List'. He will rest peacefully with Luke Donald, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott !
Patrick Reed. No I don't really like him either but I do think he has a good chance of a second win in 2015 here. A slightly unlucky 14th at the U.S. Open, Reed has everything in his game. Apart from humility. Personality isn't what we are here for though. 30/1 seems big in this field.
Kevin Streelman was a fairly brilliant 12th at The Masters, 9th at the Wells Fargo in May and 18th at The Memorial. He missed the cut last week as reigning champ ( -1 wasn't THAT bad) but don't forget this time last year he won finishing with seven birdies. An all time PGA record. It makes plenty of sense to have a go at the 80/1 on offer with Bet Victor.
Last one for me is another fairly popular one amongst the guys who really know what they are talking about. Tony Finau. This Tour rookie is a brilliant 41st in the FedEx Cup and hits the ball further than Dustin Johnson. His time is coming. He's amongst a crop of brilliant American youngsters who may make the Ryder Cup not such great viewing in years to come. Patrick Rogers, Justin Thomas, Finau and the leader of the gang Jordan Spieth. There are another 20 behind them as well. That maiden win is coming for Finau. 40/1 is not huge but when he wins it will be exactly this type of tournament. And he will win. Soon.
Best Bets
The Greenbrier Classic – Paul Casey each way (25/1 BetVictor)
The Greenbrier Classic – Patrick Reed each way (30/1 888 Sport)
The Greenbrier Classic – Kevin Streelman each way (100/1 888 Sport)
The Greenbrier Classic – Tony Finau each way (40/1 BetVictor)
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