After a quick stop-off in Canada the PGA Tour returns to American soil this week with the Quicken Loans National presented by the Tiger Woods foundation. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Club plays host to the event, marking the first time that the course has featured on the PGA Tour. It is an unknown quantity for many of those involved this week although six of the competitors played here during the 2005 Presidents Cup.
The lack of good course form for many of the players here means that bookies and punters alike are having something of an educated guess about the relative chances of the players this week. The top of the outright market features Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker. Those three are all available at under 20/1 and if they play their best stuff, each of them has a great chance of winning once again this season. Rose is the defending champion and although that was at Congressional, his game looks well set for the challenges posed by the Robert Trent Jones course.
Jones, the legendary course designer, spotted the ground for this place while working on another project and he regarded this course as his crowning glory. Rose and the rest of the field will find a real test of their driving and some intriguing risk/reward holes. Driving is a real strength of Rose’s game at the moment and his putting was much improved at the Open Championship where he debuted a new putter. The 34-year-old has the patience to wait for his chances and at 9/1 with BetVictor he is the worthy favourite.
Rose will be joined at the event by a number of countrymen with Andy Sullivan perhaps the best placed to cap off what has already been a great season. 2015 has seen him win in South Africa twice and get the chance to play amongst the world’s best on the PGA Tour. The American galleries have quickly taken a liking to the 29-year-old who has a disarmingly upbeat approach to his golf game. Sullivan regularly hits it over 300 yards with his driver and should he miss the greens he has enough touch around the green to generally keep big numbers off of his card. At 66/1 with Ladbrokes, Sullivan offers great appeal for an each-way bet with the firm paying five places.
The third player to have a bet on this week is Will Wilcox. The 29-year-old American has finished in the top 10 of his last two tournaments with 71 the worst score in any of his last 10 rounds. Last week at the Barbasol Championship he had the best stats of anyone but was just unable to get the victory. He’s tended to struggle in the strongest fields so far this season but will not be too out of his comfort zone this week. One of the best scramblers out there, Wilcox will likely have to use that short game prowess because everyone will find themselves out of position at some stage this week. He’s a tasty 60/1 with Coral so get involved with an each-way bet and Wilcox landing a place will mean a nice profit for you.