Here we are the final major of the golfing season will get underway on Thursday at Oak Hill Golf Club, New York. The PGA Championship is seen by a lot of people as the least prestigious of the majors. It doesn’t have the history of The Open Championship, the glory of The Masters or the brutality of the US Open...
Martin Samuel described it on Twitter this morning as “the Johnny No Mates of the golfing majors". This all seems a little bit unfair when you consider that it has a prize fund of $8 million of which roughly $1.5 million goes to the winner. It is also the only major which does not invite amateurs to compete meaning that, on paper, it has the strongest field in golf. In terms of excitement value it hasn’t disappointed in recent years either with two of the last three tournaments going all the way to a play-off. So perhaps Martin Samuel’s description of the event is a little unfair then, perhaps the nickname of ‘Glory’s Last Shot’, which has been coined in recent years, is more apt.
Onto my tips to lift the Wanamaker Trophy this year. As usual there is only really one place to start: Tiger Woods. It is astonishing really that every time a major comes around every preview written will always begin with Tiger Woods despite the fact that he has not won a major since 2008. It is very, very difficult to look by him for this one though. Last week’s performance in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational where he completely blitzed the field was a glimpse of the Tiger of old. The 61 on Friday when the majority of the field were struggling to hack it around in 70 was something we have not seen in a long time. There is no doubt that the man who has won The PGA Championship four times throughout his career certainly still has the talent, it’s possibly just the mental side of the game that has let him down in recent majors. Paddy Power have him at 9/2 to pick up the Wanamaker Trophy for a fifth time this week, some of the lowest odds I’ve ever seen any golfer for any tournament. And, as a final word on Tiger, just a little stat: he has won 43% of all tournaments he has entered this year, alone. Not what he used to be? I don’t think so.
But, if you don’t fancy going with such short odds on Tiger, there are plenty of each way bets that are certainly worth a few euro. Of all of the individual professional events ever played at Oak Hill, an American has come out victorious in every single one. This is a factor that can’t be ignored this week and is the reason why my first each way selection is Keegan Bradley. Bradley won this tournament in 2011 at Atlanta Golf Club, a course similar to that being played this week. He certainly has the nerve to do it and, with a second place finish last week and five other top ten finishes this season, is in good form. He is also fantastic value at 35/1.
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Another player who is enjoying a good recent run of form is Henrik Stenson. The Swede tied Bradley for second last week and also claimed a second place finish at The Open Championship in Murifield. After slipping way down the world rankings in recent years the big-hitter seems to be making a bit of a comeback. He is also the fourth favourite to win this week at 25/1.
Another player who will enjoy the very American setting of Oak Hill this week is Angel Cabrera. Cabrera is a player who seems to only turn up for major championships. He has only ever won two tournaments on the PGA Tour in his entire career, both coming at major championships. This season he was beaten in a playoff at The Masters by Adam Scott and recorded an 11th placed finish at The Open. 80/1 is excellent value for this major specialist this week.
My final tip for this week is based solely on the layout of the course. It’s looking as if Oak Hill is going to reward straight hitting and will be set up almost like a US Open course. For that reason I’m going to tip Jim Furyk as an outside bet. Possibly one of the steadiest players on tour, he rarely misses fairways and never seems to become flustered. A small stake on Furyk at 70/1 this week could go a long way.
