Thursday sees the start of the second golf major of the season, the US Open Championship which this year is being held at the Congressional Country Club in Washington D.C. As always with the US Open, the course will be set up to be a tough test, with narrow fairways, heavy thick rough and lightning fast hard greens. Add to this over 7,500 yards and 96 bunkers and five water hazards, the buzz coming out of Washington this week is that par is going to be a tough score to beat at the end of the four day tournament.
Following the omission of Tiger Woods through injury, the betting for the 2011 US Open has an open look to it, with Lee Westwood heading many bookmakers markets, with Ladbrokes going best price 12/1 about the Englishman's chances. Westwood has been in good form this season and had reached world number one status before being usurped at the summit by Luke Donald, himself a 14/1 best price chance with the 'Magic Sign', following his play-off victory over Westwood in the recent PGA Championship at Wentworth. Despite the pairs excellent form, both look a little short at the odds on a course which has been used as a regular tour venue over the last few years. The course will naturally be toughened up for this week and be a harder test than the players experienced in the 2007, 08 and 09 AT&T Nationals which took place here. Congressional will be a familiar stomping ground for many of the PGA Tour regulars and there's plenty of players this week with solid course form in Washington.
One of these players and near the top of the betting is the American Hunter Mahan. One of the upcoming young talents on the PGA Tour, Mahan came of age winning the Bridgestone Invitational last year and is now a world top 20 regular. Mahan finished second here behind Tiger Woods in the 2009 AT&T, which topped off a trio of good results on this course, finishing tied for 12th in 2009 and tied for 8th in 2007. Mahan has been playing well this year, with nine finishes in the top 16, including a tied 6th, T10 and T16 in his last three starts. The Californian is plenty long and straight enough off the tee and is the top ranking player at getting birdies on the PGA Tour, averaging over 4.5 birdies per round. Mahan has a really good chance this week and at 25/1 with Ladbrokes he certainly offers more value than the likes of Rory McIlroy who is 20/1.
His recent win in the Tour Players Championship at Sawgrass was KJ Choi's biggest victory to date and proved that he does have what it takes at the sharp end of tournaments. It feels as if the South Korean has been a perennial final day leaderboard contender in the golf majors and finished tied for eighth in this year's Masters. Choi has course form, having won the 2007 AT&T National by three shots and has the solid game you'd expect for a player to feature prominently in a US Open, including a 62% sand save stat, which ranks 6th on the PGA Tour this season and could well be required on a course with nigh on 100 bunkers. At odds of 33/1 with Ladbrokes, a tip of KJ Choi should give you a run for your money.
The theme of course form continues with our third tip, the steady Jim Furyk who is a 50/1 chance this week. He may have an ungainly swing but Furyk keeps it on the short stuff more often than not, ranking 10th on the PGA Tour this season in driving accuracy, hitting nearly 70% of fairways. He's not won on tour this season but has amassed over $750k in prize money and has two top ten finishes to his name. His course form at Congressional is eyecatching however, having finished tied for third in both 2007 and 2008 in the AT&T National before finishing tied for seventh in 2009. Jom's also old enough to have played in the US Open here back in 1997, where he finished tied for fifth. At 50/1, he's a solid each-way chance.
At bigger odds, we've picked out two players who can be backed in hope more than expectation. Adam Scott narrowly missed out on winning the Masters earlier this year and this week employs the services of Tiger Woods' right hand man Steve Williams. The New Zealanders experience could propel Scott's chances and at 66/1 he's worth a small each-way bet. At 125/1, Sweden's Freddie Jacobsen could offer one of the surprises of the week. Jacobsen, who is based in America and has plenty of experience of the course, is enjoying a decent season with 13 of his 16 cuts made and two top ten finishes. Jacobsen is on course for his best finish in the FedEx Cup for a long time and also has the comfort of playing the first two rounds with fellow Swedes Johan Edfors and Henrik Stenson. A second place here in the 2008 AT&T National is enough to tip up a small each-way bet on the flambuoyant Scandinavian.
Tip#1: Hunter Mahan (each-way) @ odds of 25/1 with Ladbrokes.com.
Tip#2: K.J. Choi (each-way) @ odds of 33/1 with Ladbrokes.com.
Tip#3: Jim Furyk (each-way) @ odds of 50/1 with Ladbrokes.com.
Tip#4: Adam Scott (each-way) @ odds of 66/1 with Ladbrokes.com.
Tip#5: Freddie Jacobson (each-way) @ odds of 125/1 with Ladbrokes.com.
Latest US Open Odds
12/1 Lee Westwood, 14/1 Luke Donald, 16/1 Phil Mickelson, 20/1 Rory McIlroy, 25/1 Hunter Mahan; Matt Kuchar; Steve Stricker; Dustin Johnson; Martin Kaymer; Nick Watney, 33/1 K.J. Choi, 40/1 BAR
Odds supplied by Ladbrokes.com, with live betting in-running throughout the four days.
Posted: Wednesday, 15th June 2011
Author: Russell Lloyd
Tags: us open, hunter mahan, kj choi, jim furyk, ladbrokes,
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