There are big names, and big events, everywhere you look this week, from Northern Ireland to Washington, and Chicago to California.
The PGA Tour resumes in Napa Valley with Wyndham Clark and Max Homa spearheading a surprisingly strong field for the Procore Championship, formerly known as the Fortinet.
Major winners Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are the main attractions in the Irish Open at Royal County Down - about 30 miles south of Belfast - while Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann will battle it out for the season-long individual title at LIV Chicago.
And the Solheim Cup, featuring the best women golfers from either side of the Atlantic also promises plenty of thrills just outside the USA capital, especially after last year’s 14-14 tie - which followers of this column were advised to back.
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Golf tips
Homa, a winner in Napa in 2021 and 2022 before finishing seventh last year, would be high on the shortlist for the Procore if he was not in such a shocking run of form.
He has not had a sniff of a top ten finish since he claimed third place at the Wells Fargo in early May, and is desperately hoping to regain his mojo ahead of the President’s Cup at the end of the month.
World No 6 Clark and defending champion Sahith Theegala are also using this as prep for the President’s Cup, along with three members of the International team.
But I prefer to go with players who are concentrating solely on this week, and the standout for me is the in-form Maverick McNealy, a 22-1 shot. He finished just one stroke behind Homa here in 2021, and looks capable of going one better.
There is tons of hype surrounding Luke Clanton, the world’s top amateur, who has gone close to winning a couple of PGA Tour events. But he is the same price as McNealey, and that seems too short.
Neil Shipley is another star amateur who has quickly put his name on the Tour leaderboards, and at around 80-1 he makes more appeal than Clanton. Last year’s runner-up SH Kim, may also be worth a small interest at 150-1.
McIlroy and Lowry dominate the Irish Open market. I would be more tempted to take the 10-1 on offer for Lowry than the skinny 11-2 odds for McIlroy.
But 30-1 about the still-improving Thriston Lawrence, and 35-1 for proven links exponent Ryan Fox are more attractive - while Nicolai Hojgaard has the talent to make a nonsense of his 40-1 quote.
Qatar Open winner Rikuya Hoshino returned to form with a share of eight at last week’s European Open. Odds of 100-1 are not to be sniffed at.
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Rahm and Niemann are the only LIV players who can claim the $18million prize awaiting the individual player of the season in Chicago. That is a big motivation to produce your best stuff.
But it is a surprise to see Brooks Koepka down in fifth place in the market for this week’s event, after he claimed his fifth LIV victory by edging out Rahm in a play-off at Greenbrier last time out.
At 14-1 Koepka looks like the man to be on. The evergreen Richard Bland and Aussie Marc Leishman shared fourth place at Greenbrier. Both are listed at 28-1, and both offer each way value.
Europe are now unbeaten in the last three Solheim Cups, even though the world rankings always heavily favour the Americans. The Europeans have been brilliant at rising to the occasion, but it is hard to see that trend continuing.
The form book, the course, and the hot temperatures all seem to add to the home advantage, and the Yanks have to get it right some time.
I am torn between backing the USA to win by 1-3 points at 7-2 and 4-6 points at 9-2. Splitting the stake may be the solution.
In the individual market, I can see Allisen Corpuz improving on her debut performance last year, when she claimed 2 ½ points from her four matches. She can be backed at 12-1 to be the leading USA points scorer, and 18-1 as the top overall scorer.
Olympic silver medallist Germany’s Esther Henseleit is going to be a superstar. She also played some great golf in the Women’s British Open, and is 8-1 to be Europe’s top points-getter.
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