One of the best golf courses on the PGA Tour is in use this week as the Tour heads to Colonial Country Club for a tournament under a new name, the Dean & Deluca Invitational, formerly the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
Colonial is best known for the track which Ben Hogan won five times around and is often referred to as ‘Hogan’s Alley’. All of the players on show this week will be eager to join Hogan as a champion on this golf course.
Recent Winners
2015 – Chris Kirk
2014 – Adam Scott
2013 – Boo Weekley
2012 – Zach Johnson
2011 – David Toms
2010 – Zach Johnson
2009 – Steve Stricker
2008 – Phil Mickelson
2007 – Rory Sabbatini
2006 – Tim Herron
The Course
Colonial Country Club is a par 70 which is laid out at a yardage of 7,204 yards. The first thing that strikes you when you look down the roll of honour here is the number of ball strikers that win here. That is because length isn’t a factor at all this week.
Many of the holes are doglegs so position off the tee is all important as is finding the greens so we are after tee to green specialists and pure ball strikers over bombers which I believe always makes for a better tournament.
The weather isn’t looking great this week so the course might play a little bit longer so the rough definitely isn’t the place to be. The straighter hitters should really enjoy themselves for once this week. Usually the man who putts the best wins here so those with short stick form are worth a go.
The Field
Jordan Spieth heads the field this week. You would have to say in terms of absolute top name depth this field is quite light but there is a competitive little list of players below Spieth who all fit the criteria to go well around here.
Major champions are littered up and down the field. Spieth himself is one and then there’s the South African pairing of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel as well as Adam Scott and the current Open champion Zach Johnson. Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson are among a few more of the major champions teeing it up this week.
Market Leaders
As you would expect Jordan Spieth is a pretty warm order this week around the 7/1 mark. Punters taking him will require a leap of faith that he has gotten over his demise in the final round last week where he had the lead going into the final round of the tournament and never even made the top 10. He’s short enough to swerve I think.
Adam Scott comes next. The former champion is a general 12/1 shot and if he plays like he did earlier in the season when he won back to back at Doral and The Honda Classic he could walk this tournament. He’s gone a little quiet since then which isn’t ideal.
Matt Kuchar seems a popular pick this week and at 14/1 with back to back third placed finishes on the PGA Tour why wouldn’t he be? He’s entitled to go well here but it has been over two years since he won on the Tour and with that in mind he’s far too short for me.
Beyond that trio it is 28/1 the field with Kevin Chappell, Zach Johnson and Texas specialist Charley Hoffman all that price and then comes Patrick Reed at 35/1. It is 40/1 bar those named but there are plenty of contenders at bigger prices.
Main bets
You could argue that given he has never won on the PGA Tour that Kevin Chappell is too short to back at 28/1 this week and I certainly wouldn’t put up much of an argument with that but I would counter it slightly with the opinion that he is flushing the ball so well from tee to green that the winners door will open soon and it is likely to come on a course like this.
Chappell has made four out of five cuts on this course with a top 10 finish two years ago and I don’t think we’re labouring the point too much to suggest that he’s in the best form he’s ever come here in so I’m expecting a big week from the American.
Chappell has been in the top 10 in four of his last six tournaments including being Jason Day’s nearest challenger at TPC Sawgrass two weeks ago. He is 10th in strokes gained from tee to green which is very good given he’s not the longest and is inside the top 20 in the all-around ranking. With the form he’s in I can see this being his week.
My other main bet this week comes on a man who I backed last week and who returned a place and I’m expecting him to go very close again so there is no reason to desert him. Regular followers will know that is Colt Knost.
Knost, like Chappell, went very well around Sawgrass a couple of weeks ago so it was encouraging that despite an average first round last week he was able to come good and finish in the top five.
Around here Knost is a statistical machine. He is second in driving accuracy, 14th in strokes gained putting and 15th for proximity to the hole, all of which is going to serve him very well this week. If we needed another reason on top of his form to back him he’s in the top 15 for scrambling too so Knost is ready to kick on again here.
Outsiders
I’m going to chance my arm on a couple of men who are wizards with the short stick and competent enough from tee to green to be a factor along with a man who has served me well this season already to complete my team.
The first of those players is Patton Kizzire. Kizzire has been a regular on my betting slips this season and I’m convinced he is good enough to win soon. He is 10th in the strokes gained putting statistic this season which is no mean feat given that this is his first season on Tour. He’s one of the best putters on tour and on a track that isn’t terribly demanding off the tee I think he has to be in the mix.
Steve Stricker has already placed for me this year and there is no reason why he can’t get involved in the deep end of this tournament either. He has already won this tournament which is encouraging and the lighter schedule he now plays seems to bring out the best in him when he does tee it up.
Stricker has made seven out of nine cuts in this event and comes into this renewal leading the tour in strokes gained putting. He is high up on the scrambling stats and is fourth in par 3 scoring which when there is four of them and only two par 5s that is no bad thing either. He’s worth a punt at the prices.
Right back at the beginning of the season Emiliano Grillo won on a course not too dissimilar to this in the Frys.com Open and I’ve a feeling this tee to green monster could get back involved here. He has put a few tweets out this week which suggest he is liking the golf course and given his prolific tee to green game he has a great chance here.
Ultimately it will all come down to the putter but we saw him hole really well when he won the Frys.com and if these greens can bring the best out of him with the short stick the Argentine could be an unlikely winner for the second time this season.
Tips
Back K.Chappell to win Dean & Deluca Invitational (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back C.Knost to win Dean & Deluca Invitational (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Boylesports (1/4 1/5)
Back him here:
Back P.Kizzire to win Dean & Deluca Invitational (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back S.Stricker to win Dean & Deluca Invitational (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 91.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back E.Grillo to win Dean & Deluca Invitational (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 103.00 with NetBet (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
