Golf.
US Open.
The USGA always ensure that US Open courses are a
brutal test of golf and Oakmont will be no
exception. It is not stupidly long at 7355 yards,
but the fairways are narrow, the rough thick and
there are 210 bunkers to be avoided. Accuracy will
be rewarded but there will be no respite when the
players get on the greens. Lightening fast and
sloping, the winner this week will have to have
magic week with the putter.
2 points e/w Jim Furyk @ 20/1 with Ladbrokes, Hills,
SportingOdds.
won 8 points (2nd)
I expect that Furyk will be the most tipped player
in the Championship and 20/1 will have gone by
Thursday. He has all the right assets and simply
cannot be passed over. Furyk is one of the
straightest players in golf, 2nd for
driving accuracy and 11th for GIR, so he
should be able to keep out of trouble and make
plenty of pars. Usually that is not enough to win,
you need lots of birdies (something that Furyk
struggles to do, ranked 97th for birdie
conversion), but on an US Open course, pars are
good, avoiding bogies is the key. Furyk can just
grind out a win here and add to his US Open win back
in 2003. He knows the course well, having grown up
nearby, and he likes it as he knows it suits his
game.
1 point e/w David Toms @ 66/1 with Hills and VCBet.
won 6.75 points (T5)
A decent price about a major winner who is returning
to form at the right time (3rd at the
weekend following a top 20 in the preceding event).
His putting was not great in 2006 but he is now
ranked 14th for putting average which
explains his improved form. He is not a big hitter,
but is straight off the tee and a solid iron player.
Toms is something of a forgotten man on the US tour,
but he has won a major and 12 tour events, has not
missed a cut in 2007, and has seven top 20 and four
top 10 finishes.
6 points Scott to beat Els @ 10/11 with Boylesports.
lost 6 points
Els simply looks like a pale shadow of his former
self, and despite his good event record, he has to
opposed with the very much in form Adam Scott. The
young Aussie has just had his third top 10 finish in
a row while Els has made just one top 20 in his last
4 events. His driving is anything but accurate as
139th in the rankings testifies and he
just struggling to put 4 decent rounds together. If
he has an ‘ugly’ round on this course in round 1 or
2, he might just have the weekend off.
5 points Toms to beat Goosen @ evens with Hills.
won 5 points
Just as Toms is hitting top form, so Goosen is
losing his. The South African has a great U.S. Open
record (two time winner) but his last 5 events show
finishes of 43/28/mc/mc/30 and just 2 rounds in 16
under 70. Toms is playing better golf and unless
Goosen is inspired by his past glories, he should
have the beating of the wild driving South African
(ranked 175th for DA).
5 points Pampling to beat Ames @ 1.88 with Unibet
lost 5 points
Pampling comes here in good form, having made his
last 8 cuts in a row with 4 of his last 5 top 16
finishes. He has finished ahead of Ames in their
last 4 mutual events and is averaging around 2 shots
per round less.