Follow Clark, Guthrie and Steele in California

Tim Clark, Luke Guthrie and Brendan Steele are the best bets in the Frys.com Open, the second event of the PGA Tour`s Fall Series, at the CordeValle Golf Club in California.

The San Martin course, hosting the Frys.com Open for the third time, is a tougher test than it looks on paper. Even though the CordeValle Golf Club ranks as the second shortest of all PGA Tour tracks in terms of driving distance, it is extremely important to put the ball in play off the tee.

Clark, whom bookmakers are offering at odds of around 25-1, is a sound pick for a tournament in which driving accuracy is one of the key statistics. The South African is ranked second for fairways hit on the PGA Tour this year, putting the ball in play 600 times out of 838 attempts. Only Jerry Kelly has a better percentage than Clark`s 71.60 number.

It has not been a vintage season for Clark but he has spent 2012 on the way back from elbow surgery and his statistics - one runner-up effort, a total of three top-10 finishes and another four top-25s placings - have earned him more than $1.4 million. He tied for sixth place on his one and only appearance at the CordeValle Golf Club so he has excellent course form to go with his high driving accuracy ranking.

Guthrie is one of the rising young stars of American golf and that is why he is only around 40-1 to win the Frys.com Open on what will be just his fourth PGA Tour start.

Born in Quincy, Illinois, Guthrie played college golf at his home university and won seven events, including two Big 10 Conference Championships. He turned professional after the college season and began playing on the Web.com Tour while still taking classes. He had four top-10 finishes in his first five Web.com Tour tournaments and won the Albertsons Boise Open on his sixth start. Seven days later he won the WNB Golf Classic. Meanwhile, his three PGA Tour appearances have resulted in ties for fifth, 18th and 19th positions.

Guthrie will not be as big as 40-1 to win an event such as the Frys.com Open in the years to come. Accurate off the tee, prolific in making birdies and a proven winner, albeit at a lower level, he is one for the portfolio at his odds.

Steele completes the Frys.com Open three off the tee at around 50-1. The Californian was in decent form before the FedExCup Playoffs interrupted his campaign, posting top-10s finishes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, including a tie for eighth place in the Reno-Tahoe Open. He played very well at the CordeValle Golf Club last year, leading the field in greens in regulation and finishing joint seventh following rounds of 67, 71, 68 and 67 for 11 under par.

Bookmakers have installed Ernie Els as the Frys.com Open favourite at around 16-1 but the Big Easy has not made the top 25 in any of his seven tournaments since winning the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes. He is not playing terribly but Clark, Guthrie and Steele make more appeal at the odds available for this week`s competition.

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09/10/2012     © Frixo 2024