The USPGA Championship gets underway on Thursday when the leading lights in the game head to Valhalla in Kentucky for the second major of the year, and with a few hours to go until the first tee ball is hit we have just enough time to look at the side markets that are on offer.
As ever in a major tournament there are markets on a wide range of things from nationalities to finishing positions to situations within the week and a whole lot more. I’ve looked through the various markets and there are three that I like.
Top Englishman
The first of those is the top Englishman market. There are eight English players teeing it up in the tournament this week, one of which is Luke Donald who is unlikely to be a factor in this company on a course as long as this.
You can certainly make cases for the former US Open champions Justin Rose and Matthew Fitzpatrick while Tyrrell Hatton would have been high on my shortlist had he not gone to LIV. That leaves me with Tommy Fleetwood who should enjoy the test here. He drives it far enough but more importantly straight and he is very good with the irons. He has a decent touch on and around the greens and a major record which really is only missing a W. I don’t think that will come here as others outside of this market are just naturally longer and therefore better suited than him but in this field even as favourite Fleetwood looks like a good thing to me. He has five top 10 finishes in his last eight majors and another one here should get the job done.
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Top Continental European
One of the deeper nationality markets this week is the one for the top Continental European player where we have just over 20 runners with the likes of Ludvig Aberg and Jon Rahm among the favourites. The former missed last week because of an injury which is a negative, while it is hard to assess the form of Rahm with his move to LIV.
There are positive vibes around Viktor Hovland now that he has returned to the caddy he had all his success with last year but it remains to be seen whether they have an instant connection again. The likes of Alex Noren, Stephan Jaeger and Matthieu Pavon merit respect but I like Sepp Straka here. There is a chance that a lack of length might count him out but he is probably the best iron player in this field and he is putting well enough to deliver a strong week. Straka arrives here off the back of successive top 10 finishes so he is hitting the ball well and at a double digit price he looks a cracking each way bet in a field which isn’t as deep as the numbers suggests.
Top Australian
The other market that I like a bet in comes in the top Australian player one where we have six runners, three of whom have won majors and the other three have all either won on the PGA Tour or gone very close to doing so.
In terms of length, Min Woo Lee and Cameron Davis are the interesting ones here but I like Cameron Smith. He has finished second twice on the LIV Tour this season and if there were any concerns about the depth of that form he was T6 at The Masters last month. He is at his best on tracks where there is a bit of freedom off the tee where the second shot is the key one and that is the case here. We know he is a brilliant putter and that he is playing good golf and I fancy the former Open champion to come up with a strong enough week here to get the better of the other five Australian players in the field.
Tips
Back T.Fleetwood Top Englishman for a 2/10 stake at 3.40 with Boylesports
Back S.Straka Top Continental European (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-4)
Back them here:
Back C.Smith Top Australian for a 2/10 stake at 3.75 with William Hill
Back him here:
