While the big boys are battling it out in mano e mano combat in Texas the next string of the golfing world head to the Puerto Rico Open this week to do battle for a PGA Tour title which comes with most of the add ons that winning any PGA event brings.
In years gone by this tournament has had a weak field but such is the strength of the world game these days that is no longer the case. You wouldn’t have thought the likes of Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Retief Goosen would tee it up in an event of this kind but such is the dash for world ranking points they all do.
They will tee it up at Coco Beach, a par 72 course which can measure up to 7,506 yards at its longest. A look at the course profile and the previous winners here would suggest we’re looking for those who can flush the ball from tee to green but the wind has been known to impact on events so being comfortable in the wind is a necessity too.
I’m looking for competent ball strikers but those who can hole putts too but the overriding thing is that they can play in the wind because the wind is expected to blow again this week and looks like having an effect on the tournament.
Scott Brown is a former winner around here and he is the 16/1 favourite ahead of Graham DeLaet who is a popular pick at 18/1 this week. William McGirt and Patrick Rodgers are both 25/1 ahead of Fredrik Jacobson who is 28/1 and then comes Ian Poulter at 33/1. It is 35/1 bar.
If I had any faith in DeLaet’s putter co-operating if he gets in contention I would probably be all over him because he is striking it as well as anyone in this field but I don’t have that faith so he is easily passed over.
Ian Poulter should be capable of taking this field apart but each time he gets something going a mistake comes along which costs him multiple shots and all of a sudden he’s back to square one which isn’t ideal either.
I’m going with four this week which includes a main bet and three at big prices which I think could go well and maybe deliver some sort of pay out. Only five places are being offered this week so I’m not going too mad on the event but hopefully we can get some interest for Sunday.
William McGirt is inside the top 20 on strokes gained from tee to green on the PGA Tour and when you think the majority of those ahead of him are in Texas playing the match play there is an open door for the American to come through and land a title here.
We need to have a bit of faith that McGirt has recovered from the mauling he took at Bay Hill last week but better players than he have come a cropper there it must be said. Prior to that though he was in the top 10 at PGA National, in the top 10 again in Vegas when he closed with a 62 and he was second behind Peter Malnati in the Sanderson Farms prior to Christmas.
He’s clearly hitting the ball well at the minute and this is an opportunity to put that ball striking into a tournament victory with many of the elite absent in this event.
The rest of my picks are at three figure prices. I notice that Emiliano Grillo lost in the playoff in this tournament last year and in many ways Thomas Aiken resembles Grillo in that they are both very tight from tee to green and both have the odd week when the putter cooperates but also both learnt their trade on the European Tour where surviving in the wind was a necessity.
With that in mind I think Aiken is overpriced this week. He earned his PGA Tour card via the Web.com Tour Finals which shows he can perform in these supposed second string level events and on a course that should suit he’s well worth a punt this week.
Another ball striker who came to fruition on the European Tour is Fabrizio Zanotti and he looks a big price this week too. If he can get the putts to drop he should be perfectly suited to this course because very rarely does he miss the fairways or the greens.
His time on the European Tour will have sharpened him up in the wind and although this is a PGA Tour event I see no reason why he can’t go well here. He has a similar game to Cejka and Grillo who were right in the mix last year so I’ll take the Paraguayan this week.
Finally Brian Davis is third in proximity to the hole on the PGA Tour this season which shows how well he’s clouting his irons at the minute and in this weaker field I expect that to count for something this week.
Davis will be fine in the wind given his British upbringing so it all comes down to holing putts but in what is expected to be a fairly high scoring week we might not need him to hole as many as we might in other weeks so at 200/1 it makes sense to see how many chances he can convert into red numbers.
Back W.McGirt to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back T.Aiken to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Boylesports (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back F.Zanotti to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back B.Davis to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
