Oppose marvellous McIlroy with freaky Furyk

Rory McIlroy will attract most of the attention at the Tour Championship as he seeks to continue his remarkable run of late-season form but Jim Furyk is the best value bet.

For 20 years the Tour Championship was, as it sounds, the final event on the PGA Tour calendar in which the top 30 players on the money competed for even more dollar bills. Now it is the final event of the FedExCup, which is best described as a championship trophy for the PGA Tour.

McIlroy is in pole position to win the FedExCup after registering back-to-back tournament wins and bookmakers, mindful of punters jumping on the Northern Irishman`s bandwagon, have installed him as the Tour Championship favourite at around 9-2, a full point ahead of the 11-2 quotes that are next to the golfer known as Tiger Woods.

It is worth opposing McIlroy at such short odds, no matter how well he is playing right now. The East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta has been the permanent home of the Tour Championship since 2004 and the course may not suit the favourite. That is a hunch because never before has he played there.

But it is a good hunch. The East Lake Golf Club, which was the home of the late, great Bobby Jones, is a course on which driving accuracy is a key performance indicator because it is difficult to keep the ball in play off the tee. Only those that do prosper in competitions there.

McIlroy is 142nd in this year`s PGA Tour driving accuracy rankings and that should be sufficient to put off most punters. Most winners at the East Lake Golf Club split an above-average number of fairways. The Northern Irishman is unlikely to do that so swerve him at odds of around 9-2.

Woods is a much more interesting proposition at 11-2. He has won two Tour Championship titles, including one at the East Lake Golf Club in 2007, and he is ranked a respectable 45th for driving accuracy on the PGA Tour this year. He looks sure to go close but there is an even better value option than the 14-time major winner who has come back to form.

Furyk is that option at around 25-1. Only Woods has superior East Lake Golf Club numbers than the man whose swing is the most peculiar in professional golf. And the unconventional golfer seems to have recovered from his US Open final-round nightmare, playing really well in recent tournaments. There is a lot to like about Furyk at such attractive odds.

First, Furyk took out the 2010 Tour Championship, shooting rounds of 65, 67 and 70 twice to beat Luke Donald by one stroke. Furyk has taken part in eight Tour Championship events with his record being one victory, two top fives, five top 10s and no finishes outside the top 20.

Second, Furyk is third in this year`s PGA Tour driving accuracy rankings and the two golfers above him - Jerry Kelly and Tim Clark - have not qualified for the Tour Championship. Furyk is great at getting the ball in play.

And finally, there is Furyk`s price. Surely his form, both in recent weeks elsewhere and in recent years at the East Lake Golf Club, entitle him to be much shorter than 25-1 in a 30-golfer field. Anything over 16-1 is over the odds.

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20/09/2012     © Frixo 2024