Bethpage Black suits Woods, Garcia and Mahan

It is very difficult to get away from Tiger Woods as the FedEx Cup Playoffs start with The Barclays, the first of four tournaments that will decide this year`s FedExCup champion and the huge prizemoney that comes with it.

The Black Course at Bethpage State Park is the venue for The Barclays and that means consulting the results of the 2002 and the 2009 US Open events that took place on the fearsome public golf course located on New York`s Long Island.

Woods won the 2002 US Open, the only golfer to score under par for the championship and leading from start to finish in what many pundits considered one of the toughest tests ever.

And Woods was unlucky not to finish higher than joint sixth in the 2009 US Open. He drew the short straw in terms of first- and second-round tee times, going out on both days when the conditions were at their harshest. No golfer who played early on Thursday and late on Friday placed higher than Woods, who shot 74-69-68-69 for an even-par total.

Woods is vying with PGA Championship winner Rory McIlroy for The Barclays favouritism but, while the Northern Irishman was tied for 10th in the 2009 US Open, it should be Woods one and McIlroy two in the tournament betting market.

It is not hard to see why Woods has such an excellent record in events played on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park. The layout is long - very long - and demands good all-round driving statistics. Woods ranks fourth on this year`s PGA Tour total driving ladder. And The Barclays is a big-time tournament and there is, quite simply, no better big-time golfer than the 14-time major championship winner.

If Woods does not light your fire at around 15-2, who else is there in The Barclays field who represents decent betting value? Well, there are fair cases to be made for Sergio Garcia at around 28-1 and Hunter Mahan at around 50-1.

It may be asking too much for Garcia to win two PGA Tour events in a row having gone four years without one but his Black Course at Bethpage State Park numbers are very good indeed. The 32-year-old Spaniard was fourth on his own in the 2002 US Open and joint 10th alongside McIlroy in the 2009 US Open. Only Woods, Garcia and Phil Mickelson were top-10 finishers in both the 2002 and 2009 US Opens.

Mahan has struggled in recent weeks but currently he is third in this year`s PGA Tour total driving rankings and, also, he was tied for sixth in the 2009 US Open. He could bounce back to form at what is an unusually big price.

On the European Tour, it is time for the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. Defending champion Francesco Molinari is a worthy favourite at around 11-1, while PGA Championship high achievers Jamie Donaldson and David Lynn have sufficiently good recent and course form to be of interest at around 28-1 and 33-1 respectively.

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21/08/2012     © Frixo 2024