Preview & outright plays:
This is a big week on the golf calendar. While the ladies tee it up for their first Major of the year, the men compete for what has long been considered the 5th Major. That does not mean to say the event is considered an equal. When Sandy Lyle won this event in 1987, he was asked what was the difference between winning this title and the British Open. "100 years of history" was his reply! The course itself has a great number of critics, particularly from traditionalists such as Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus who comment about the course that he had "never been any good at stopping a five iron on the hood of a car" encapsulates many a view about this course. Sawgrass boasts extremely fast and undulating greens with shaved slopes leading invariably to water.
But it is a true championship course that sorts out the best from the rest. No-one has ever recorded their maiden win at the Players Championship and every winner since 1991, bar Duval in 1999, has also won a Major. The nerves of a Major champion are needed down the stretch. Not only does the 17th hole present the scariest shot in golf, but five of the last six holes were in the top-100 hardest holes on the 1999 PGA Tour and the last hole was the 2nd hardest on the Tour that year. Under these circumstances, the course does not need to be long and at less than 7000 yards it is positively short, but that focuses the attention away from good drivers to good iron players and putters who fare well here.
This is the richest event of the year and will probably boast the strongest field of the year. Despite the course's detractors, this will undoubtedly also be one of the most exciting finishes this year as well. One more point, if Hal Sutton were to be involved in that finish he would be breaking with tradition: no-one has even been placed, let alone win, when being the defending champion of the TPC!
The three selections this week are Davis Love, Nick Price and Scott Verplank. Love rested last week to prepare fully for this event and comes here as a former winner (1992). He has since had three top-10s finishes here and would have added a fourth in 1997 had he had been disqualified for a rules infringement. But it is his rejuvenated form rather than paste experience that gives him every chance this week. His long driving will not be rewarded this week, but he looks set to extend his run of top-10 finishes to five and figure on a quality-dominated leaderboard.
Nick Price has an incredible record in this event. He has finished in the top-10 six times in the last ten years, including the last three and has finished 3rd the last two. He even won this title in 1994. The emphasis on par golf is perfect for his game and he comes here off a 7th place finish at another tough course, the Blue Monster for the Genuity Championship two weeks ago. His putting is commonly maligned, but he has finished 24th in the PGA Tour putting stats for the last two years and that is not too shabby! He certainly capable of winning this event outright.
Maybe Scott Verplank has more of a place chance as he does not fit the bill of being a Major winner, but it is hard to ignore someone who is 4th in driving accuracy and 2nd in greens in regulation on the PGA Tour, especially when 66/1 is on the table! He has finished in the top-20 twice in the last three seasons and since medical advances has meant his diabetes can be dealt with while playing golf, he has been a player re-born. He finished 12th at the Genuity and had finished 4th twice in the month before that. Can't see him winning, but will probably challenge.
Outright plays:
Davis Love to win 20/1 e.w. @
Blue Square
Nick Price to win 28/1 e.w. @
Victor Chandler
Scott Verplank to win 66/1 e.w. @
Victor Chandler or
Surrey
All e.w. bets are with 5 places. Note that
Paddy Power are offering to refund all losing outright bets if the selection beats Tiger. Very tempting, but sticking with the above.
