RORY MCILROY is on a mission of redemption as he prepares to tee it up at the BMW PGA Championship this week.
The 6-1 clear favourite is still licking his wounds after throwing away the Irish Open last weekend, with an untidy finish opening the door for Ramus Hojgaard to finish with a hat-trick of birdies and pip McIlroy by one shot.
The bookies clearly feel he can make amends at Wentworth. But it is worth remembering this is not really his favourite course.
His only win here came ten years ago. Sure, there have been plenty of near-misses since, but at 6-1 close calls just don't cut the mustard. So the value lies elsewhere.
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Golf tips
Aaron Rai looks attractively priced at 22-1. He finished joint runner-up here last year, just a shot behind Ryan Fox, and has gone on to enjoy a stellar season on the PGA Tour.
His first US victory, at the Wyndham Championship, came on the back of three top tens, and he played his way into the Tour Championship for the first time.
The Midlands golfer is now up to 22nd in the world rankings, and is capable of continuing the upwards trajectory.
I’m prepared to forgive him a mediocre display at last week’s Irish Open - where he finished 42nd - as the windswept conditions at Royal County Down were totally different to anything he has experienced in the States.
He will feel more at home on a course where he finished 17 under par a year ago, especially with warm and calm conditions forecast for this week.
Open championship runner-up Justin Rose, widely available at 35-1 is another home hope with plenty of form to underline his chances of an overdue victory here.
This is an event he has dreamed of winning since he was a kid, watching his boyhood heroes at his local course, and he has gone agonisingly close.
Two runner-up finishes and three other top tens prove he knows how to play the West course. If he putts like he did at Troon - where only the brilliance of Xander Schauffele thwarted his charge - he could pull off an emotional triumph.
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It is hard to believe 11 years have passed since a twenty year old Matteo Manassero became the youngest winner of the BMW PGA, claiming the title after an epic three-man play-off.
The Italian wonderkid seemed to have the golfing world at his feet back then, only for his form to nosedive soon afterwards.
But a decade in the doldrums seems to have toughened him up. He was back to winning ways in South Africa earlier this year, and followed up his sixth place at the British Masters last month by finishing a close third in Ireland.
Odds of 35-1 seem reasonable, while Victor Perez - who finished like a train to take fourth place at the Olympics - also looks competitively priced at the same odds.
The pick of the outsiders could be 100-1 shot Sami Valimaki, who caught the eye with a top ten at Royal County Down.
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