The LIV Golf event at the JCB Club in Staffordshire takes centre stage this week, with a blank week on the DP World Tour schedule and most of the big stars deciding to skip the 3M Open in the States.
Jon Rahm led the LIV challenge at the Open finishing in a share of seventh at Troon with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
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Almost inevitably, Rahm heads the market this week. But his final day charge hit the buffers on the tougher back nine, and he struggled with the putter for most of the week.
The greens at the JCB club have been labelled “fiendish”, with their many slopes and run-offs. So a best-priced 7-1 about a suspect putter looks a bit short.
The best operator with the flat stick near the top of the JCB market is probably Joaquin Niemann, and 11-1 about him is much more like it. And there are a few tempting alternatives at longer odds too.
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Golf tips
Dean Burmester is better known for his long hitting than his putting. But he still holes his share, and I was impressed with his attitude at Troon, especially when Scottish weather was taking it out on the world’s best golfers.
Burmseter ground out a top twenty finish at Troon, and he still looks hungry, even after starting the year with wins on the breakaway circuit and his native South Africa. At 25-1, he looks a decent each way option.
Fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen is slightly shorter in the market at 20-1. That seems surprising as he finished out with the washing at Troon, missing the cut at eight over par.
But Oosthuizen has been threatening to win on the LIV circuit for a while, and his share of fourth behind Sergio Garcia at Valderrama in the rebels’ last start was another fine effort.
So Oosty could prove to be good value, and I’m also attracted to the 40-1 quote for Dustin Johnson.
He looked like he had his appetite for the game back at the Open, and was well placed until a closing 75 dropped him into a tie for 31st. The former world No 1 is still worth backing at these odds.
And among those at longer odds, the name that stands out is that of Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra - and not just because it is a bit of a tongue twister!
It is about time the 24 year old Spainiard won again after making an immediate impact at LIV with a win in Bangkok, after turning professional towards the end of 2022.
Three top 20 finishes in his last four starts suggest that a second win may not be too far away. At 90-1, he looks best of the outsiders.
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World No 11 Sahith Theegala is the highest ranked player in action in Minneapolis for the 3M Open, So it is a surprise to see him quoted at 22-1, double the odds of market leader Tony Finau.
Finau, the world No 19, won here two years ago and was joint seventh last year. But on the back of another missed cut at the Open, 11-1 - or less - is not for me.
Theegala also failed to make it through to the weekend at Troon. I prefer to judge him on his tied fourth finish at the Scottish Open a week earlier, another sign that he is still heading in the right direction.
Cam Davis has had time to soak in his Rocket Mortgage Classic victory, and with three top tens at the 3M in the last foyer years he looks another good each way bet at 33-1.
Defending champion Lee Hodges is 70-1 - probably a reflection of the fact he hasn’t managed another top ten on the PGA Tour in the last 12 months.
But he did finish 12th in the USPGA - and in the star-studded Charles Schwab Challenge - while three rounds below par and one at level in the Scottish Open was a decent effort in unfamiliar surroundings. He is worth a small interest.
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