Bridgestone Invitational

[Stanley]

Outright plays (total stake per play: 1pt)

Stewart Cink to win 35/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler
Cink really should have won this event last year: he had chances inside 20-feet in each of the first three holes of the playoff last year, before Tiger won on the 4th hole. But given that he had also been the wire-to-wire champion in 2004, that performance last year was clearly no flash in the pan and he is expected to play just as well around Firestone this year. On each of those occasions, he came into the event in good form and that is also the case this year: he was impressive when finishing 6th in the British Open two weeks ago and had finished in the top-5 in three of his previous seven PGA Tour starts. I would have expected no more than 28/1 given this record.

David Toms to win 40/1 e.w. available generally
Ignore Toms' missed cut at Carnoustie, he had finished in the top-50 in the British Open just once since 2000. Instead, concentrate on his form on the PGA Tour - 3rd, 5th and 6th in his last three starts - and his form in this event - 6th, 9th and 8th in the last three years - and it is easy to see why he will be well-backed this week.

Kenny Perry to win 80/1 e.w. @ BetInternet
Backing Perry this week in the hope that he can hit the front early on as he is one of the best front-runners on this Tour. Of the last six occasions that has held at least a share of the lead heading into the final round, he has won five times. The sole occasion that he was unsuccessful was in this event (2005) when he was tied with Tiger for the lead. But there is more than just a 'Tiger intimidation' factor here: because of bad weather, he had to return to the course early on the Sunday for a 10-foot birdie putt on the last green (which he missed) and then had to wait six hours before teeing off with Tiger in the last round. He was winning the duel and had a two-shot lead at the turn, but, presumably, fatigue as well as pressure caught up with him and he faltered down the stretch. He may be 47 next week, but he has turned his game back to the levels that it was in 2005 (top-15 finishes in each of his last five starts) so he may win yet again in Ohio.

 

[Whalers Rule]

Hensby 400-1

 

[c20916]

Been away for a long time, dipping my toe back in the water with these:

Tourney matchups all to win 1 unit except Furyk which is 1 to win 1.9:

Furyk ov Woods +190
Cink ov Scott -115
Toms ov Harrington -115
Poulter ov Allenby -115

Be back for round one matchups tomorrow night.

 

[phar.lap]

72 hole matchup

Perry -108 to beat Verplank
At Sportsacumen

 

[abc]

els +105 over furyk

 

[Another Steve]

By Christian Peterson
Senior Editor

July 30, 2007




Date: August 2 ? 5, 20067
Location: Firestone Country Club ? Akron, OH
2006 Champion: Tiger Woods
2007 Purse: $7.5 million ($1,350,000 to winner)



2006 Recap
10 years to the day after he turned professional, Tiger Woods won his 52nd career PGA TOUR title by besting Stewart Cink in a four-hole playoff. It was Tiger's fourth consecutive win and sixth of 2006, and it also represented the fifth win in eight events at Firestone Country Club.


2005 Recap
Woods earned his fifth victory of the season and his fourth career win at Firestone Country Club by one shot over Chris DiMarco. Tiger shot a one-over-par 71 on Sunday, but still finished atop a congested leaderboard with a 72-hole score of six-under thanks to a birdie on Firestone's signature 16th hole. DiMarco fired a 68 and was in the clubhouse with a share of the lead until Woods' late birdie. Kenny Perry entered the final round tied for the lead but carded a 74 on Sunday and finished tied for sixth. Vijay Singh was one of three players who tied for third, two shots back of Woods.


The Course
Each of the three courses at Firestone have hosted professional golf events, but it's the South that draws the best the world has to offer this week. The South course, which will be the site of the Bridgestone Invitational for the seventh time, is a daunting track. It measures more than 7,300 yards, but has only two par fives and plays to a par 70. The 16th is the South's signature hole, and it could be even more intresting this year after an extension to the tee box that will now bring the fairway bunkers back into play. A creek meanders down the right side of the par-5, 667-yard monster and opens up into a pond that protects the green very well, especially if the pin is placed on the front right on Sunday.


The Field
It wouldn't do fantasy golfers much good to play their top draft pick when he doesn't plan on teeing it up, which is why fantasy owners have to be very cognizant of who is playing each week. As a courtesy, we've provided this link to the official field as provided by PGATOUR.com.

Note: It's a good idea to check this list for the official field of players again on Wednesday, as it is not unusual for golfers to drop out of tournaments in the days leading up the first round.

**WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Official Field.


Leaderboards

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (2006 Top 20)
Player Scores Total To Par Earnings
Win Tiger Woods 67-64-71-68 270 -10 $1,300,000
2 Stewart Cink 70-67-64-69 270 -10 $750,000
3 Jim Furyk 69-65-69-68 271 -9 $450,000
T-4 Davis Love III 67-65-70-71 273 -7 $246,250
T-4 Paul Casey 69-69-64-71 273 -7 $246,250
T-4 Lucas Glover 66-69-69-69 273 -7 $246,250
T-4 Angel Cabrera 70-68-70-65 273 -7 $246,250
T-8 Luke Donald 67-69-70-68 274 -6 $153,500
T-8 David Toms 67-74-65-68 274 -6 $153,500
T-10 Adam Scott 63-71-71-70 275 -5 $120,000
T-10 J.J. Henry 70-68-68-69 275 -5 $120,000
T-10 Arron Oberholser 70-71-69-65 275 -5 $120,000
T-13 Kevin Stadler 68-67-70-72 277 -3 $95,000
T-13 Trevor Immelman 69-70-68-70 277 -3 $95,000
T-13 Ian Poulter 71-71-67-68 277 -3 $95,000
16 Ben Crane 73-67-70-68 278 -2 $85,000
17 Michael Campbell 67-71-70-71 279 -1 $82,000
T-18 Thomas Bjorn 72-67-67-74 280 Even $77,000
T-18 Robert Gamez 70-67-72-71 280 Even $77,000
T-18 Vaughn Taylor 71-67-71-71 280 Even $77,000
T-18 Stephen Ames 69-70-71-70 280 Even $77,000


WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (2005 Top 20)
Player Scores Total To Par Earnings
Win Tiger Woods 66-70-67-71 274 -6 $1,300,000
2 Chris DiMarco 67-70-70-68 275 -5 $750,000
T-3 Paul McGinley 71-66-67-72 276 -4 $354,667
T-3 Ryan Palmer 72-68-67-69 276 -4 $354,667
T-3 Vijay Singh 66-71-72-67 276 -4 $354,667
T-6 Kenny Perry 70-69-64-74 277 -3 $200,000
T-6 David Howell 70-68-70-69 277 -3 $200,000
T-6 Luke Donald 69-67-74-67 277 -3 $200,000
T-9 Jose Maria Olazabal 72-68-66-72 278 -2 $135,000
T-9 David Toms 71-67-69-71 278 -2 $135,000
T-9 Zach Johnson 70-70-69-69 278 -2 $135,000
T-9 Colin Montgomerie 70-72-68-68 278 -2 $135,000
T-13 Stuart Appleby 68-70-67-74 279 -1 $94,400
T-13 Sergio Garcia 68-70-67-74 279 -1 $94,400
T-13 Henrik Stenson 66-71-72-70 279 -1 $94,400
T-13 Davis Love III 67-73-69-70 279 -1 $94,400
T-13 Rod Pampling 71-70-71-67 279 -1 $94,400
18 Thomas Bjorn 70-67-72-71 280 Even $83,000
T-19 Justin Leonard 72-66-71-72 281 1 $77,000
T-19 Paul Casey 75-68-67-71 281 1 $77,000
T-19 Jay Haas 76-69-67-69 281 1 $77,000
T-19 Kenneth Ferrie 71-70-73-67 281 1 $77,000
T-19 Trevor Immelman 73-71-71-66 281 1 $77,000


Recent History
Year Champion Runner Up
2004 Mark Hensby John E. Morgan
2003 Vijay Singh Lewis/ Riley/ Byrd
2002 J.P. Hayes Robert Gamez
2001 David Gossett Briny Baird
2000 Michael Clark II Kirk Triplett

World Rankings
The following are the top-ranked players from the current Official World Golf Rankings entered into this event:

1. Tiger Woods
2. Jim Furyk
3. Phil Mickelson
4. Ernie Els
5. Adam Scott
6. Padraig Harrington
7. Vijay Singh
8. Sergio Garcia
9. Henrik Stenson
10. Geoff Ogilvy
11. Luke Donald
12. K.J. Choi
13. Steve Stricker
14. Retief Goosen
15. Zach Johnson
16. Rory Sabbatini
17. Angel Cabrera
18. Paul Casey
19. Trevor Immelman
20. Niclas Fasth

 

[Another Steve]

By Christian Peterson
Senior Editor

July 31, 2007

In eight trips to Akron for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods has left with a big fat trophy and an enormous cardboard check worth well over $1 million five times. And when he hasn't won, he's been right in the mix, finishing no worse than tied for fourth place in the history of this tournament. In other words, if someone gave you 2-1 odds on the rest of the field vs. Tiger, you'd be better off taking Tiger.



The Favorites
Technically, everyone beyond Tiger should be included in one group of "also-rans," but we'll stick with convention and outline a few more "favorites." Jim Furyk certainly qualifies. Furyk has some nice momentum coming off his win in Canada last week and has finished inside the top 10 at Firestone six times in eight attempts. David Toms is also an intriguing option. He had a typical poor showing across the pond at Carnoustie, but before that he was riding a string of three consecutive top-six finishes. That bodes well at the WGC-Bridgestone, where David has three straight top-10 finishes and has dropped out of the top 15 just once in six tries. Stewart Cink has also been playing well of late (see below) and has defeated Tiger at this event twice in the last three years. Vijay Singh came up just shy last week and has two top-six results in the last four years at Firestone.


The Best of the Rest
Many of the usual suspects ? Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, Adam Scott, and Sergio Garcia among them ? haven't fared particularly well at this event. In fact, those four players have combined for exactly one top-10 finish in the last four years at this tournament. Throw British Open champ Padraig Harrington and world No. 4 Ernie Els into that mix, and you've still got just one top 10 since 2002. A couple of European Tour stalwarts have played well at Firestone, however. Paul Casey tied for fourth a year ago and hasn't finished outside the top 20 in any of his four trips to Akron. U.S. Open champ Angel Cabrera has tied for fourth twice in the last three years, but he'll have to get over his Oakmont hangover to record a similar result this time around (see below).


Who's Hot?
Stewart Cink: Dating back to the Wachovia Championship in May, the 2004 Bridgestone champ has four top-six finishes in his last eight events.

K.J. Choi: Including his T8 at Carnoustie two weeks ago, Choi has two victories and three top 10s in his last four events.


Who's Not?
Luke Donald: Since his runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson in early May, Donald has logged just two top 10s his last seven events, both of which were in European Tour events.

Angel Cabrera: His U.S. Open title is one of just two top-10 finishes in 13 events this season. Since winning at Oakmont, Cabrera has finished T60, T19, and 34th in his last three events.


Player Trends
It's not a fool-proof indicator of future success, but golfers who fare well at a particular venue tend to do so time and again. With that in mind, we provide a list of players who have notable trends at this week's event (most recent results are listed first).

The Good
Luke Donald (T8, T6, T16)
Davis Love III (T4, T13, T4, 3, T11, T5, 35, T10)
Angel Cabrera (T4, T41, T4, T23, T19)
Stewart Cink (2, T41, Win, T61, T47, T13, 7)
Paul Casey (T4, T19, T16, T17)

The Bad
Retief Goosen (One top 10 in six appearances)
Padraig Harrington (No top 10s, only two top-20 finishes in eight attempts)
Mike Weir (Never finished better than T22 in seven appearances)
Scott Verplank (T59, T51, T19, T46, T58, T17)
Chad Campbell (T50, T33, T69, T53)

The Ugly
Tim Clark (74, T51, T48, T64)


Weekly Rankings
1. Tiger Woods
2. Jim Furyk
3. David Toms
4. Vijay Singh
5. Phil Mickelson

 

[Another Steve]

August 1, 2007 12:28 PM ET
WGC-Bridgestone: Furyk injures back
The News

Jim Furyk's back tightened up on him on the driving range on Tuesday, leaving his status for this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in question. "Right now, I don't know whether or not I'll be able to play," Furyk told the Associated Press. "I'm a little disappointed after playing so well last week, and coming to a place that is in my top five events. But obviously, the first thing is getting healthy."
Our View

Furyk has traditionally played very well at this event, but sitting out this week might be best for his long-term prognosis ? especially with the PGA Championship coming up next week and the FedEx Cup playoffs soon after that.

 

[Joe Pockets]

I could use a little advise

I could use a little advise

Any thoughts on

T CLARK -110
S VERPLANK -120
or

A ROMERO -105
K PERRY -125

Thank you Guys

 

[Another Steve]

Finally Hit an Outright, had to thump on Furyk for what seemed liked forever to get the Win. Side Note, also Had Smoke in Nascar, Hit the double. I did have Mahan and after the first day thought he may run away with it...Is that they Play four rounds....

J ROSE wins WGC BRIDGESTONE pick @+28.00
P CASEY wins WGC BRIDGESTONE pick @+40.00
K PERRY wins WGC BRIDGESTONE pick @+50.00
Z JOHNSON wins WGC BRIDGESTONE pick @+40.00


P CASEY OV/N O HERN pick @-1.75
J ROSE OV/D TOMS pick @-1.20
S GARCIA OV/P HARRINGTON pick @-1.15
E ELS OV/J FURYK pick @+1.05
K PERRY OV/A ROMERO pick @-1.20

Good Luck to All

 

[Stanley]

Any thoughts on

T CLARK -110
S VERPLANK -120
or

A ROMERO -105
K PERRY -125

Thank you Guys

Romero is the real deal and will be very suited to PGA Tour courses, but not this week for 2 reasons: (1) he is paired with Tiger for the first two rounds and that is a raw deal in his first WGC event; and (2) he has played a Tour event in each of the last six weeks and only played last week on the insistence of his manager as it could earn him a place in this week's event by breaking into the top-50 in the World Rankings. He had admitted to being homesick and tired, so great talent, but I'd side with Perry in that matchup.

Can't split Clark and Verplank myself, but if you had the option of playing that matchup for the 1st round, it may be worth backing Clark: he leads Verplank 8-1-0 head-to-head over the last 12 months in the 1st round.

 

[lawmaker1]

Went with Mahan, Rose, Verplank.


Picked Perry over Cabrera


I have a bad feeling that this might be Tiger's tourney to lose.

 

[Joe Pockets]

Stanley

Stanley

Thank you for your insight.

 

[lostinamerica]

Peter Lawrie(40/1), Laura Davies(50/1), Rich Beem(100/1), Kenny Perry(66/1), Ben Crenshaw(?), and Stewart Cink(50/1)

Adding to those e.w. wagers (Crenshaw @ 50/1):

Phil Mickelson(20/1) e.w.
Stuart Appleby(100/1) e.w.

Ryan Palmer(60/1) e.w.

Perry(-130) over Romero (Tournament)
- - I'm on at -110.

GL

 

[Mully]

first round match up

first round match up

Luke Donald +.5 over Harrington Strong :SIB

Good Luck everyone....

 

[LA Burns]

Els -110 vs VJ


A LOT of travel for VJ - think the week off for The Big Easy will make the difference

5 unit play

GL - LA Burns

 

[abc]

els +105 over furyk

Furyk WD.. but i dont think he hit a shot :shrug: I went huge on this.. oh well

 

[abc]

Round 2 ..

Rose -160 -.5 over wetterich

 

[bombercoops]

Late to post but have taken;

Perry over Verplank (72 holes) $1.91
Choi over Rose (72 holes) $1.91
Pampling top 3 aussies @ $2.60

Gl this week

 

[abc]

sabbo should have been an easy pick, since his last 3 rounds in europe were crazy good.

Ive been out of the country so i didnt have time to cap :shrug:

Olazabel was also the easiest fade of all time, due to his injury