Welcome to the wonderfully titled course Crooked Stick in Carmel, Indiana, for the third installment of the Fedex Cup Championships. We are now down to the last 70 golfers from the initial 125 and this is the where only the top 30 will go through to compete for the big pay day of $10,000,000's next week. Crooked Sticked was Pete Dye's first great golf course design, and although not the longest it has its dangers. The course features wide fairways with fair landing areas and demands good approach shots, with the greens checking in at an average of just 4,500 square feet. That equals the area of the putting surfaces at TPC Sawgrass, arguably Dye's most renown piece of work. While smaller than the norm, the greens at Crooked Stick are receptive, but they are, indeed, the teeth of the property. No consecutive holes are laid out in the same direction and golfers must constantly adjust to wind from a different tack. Long holes are followed by short holes, and shots calling for right-to-left flight are followed by shots requiring a left-to-right path. The course is designed to test a player's "poise, courage and intelligence" as well as his skill. So with that we have to look at players with good approach play and great control of the ball... Obviously that will include the top three players at last weeks course Rory, Tiger and Oosthuizen. All three played exceptionally well last week but at 6/1, 7/1 and 18/1 respectively i will not be going with them. With the Ryder Cup just around the corner it will be interesting to see how the players approach these last two tournaments. I dont think that some players will be overly upset to miss the cut so that they can have a little break, then go to Medina feeling fresh and ready for the 'bigger' challenge of the Ryder Cup. The other factors will be the race to get into the top 30 for next week or getting into the top 5 for the prize money that is on offer. There will be a few players just on the cut who could make a big move to stay in the Fedex Challenge and progress further... So this week im going with... Jason Dufner returned last week from a week off to record a T18th finish but he can improve on that here with his great positional play and general play. Ranks high in most of the vital stats required at this course and can hopefully top off a great year with a win and big pay check. Currently ranks 7th in the Fedex Cup... Bubba Watson is currently sat 10th in the Fedex and quiet remarkably hasnt had 1 finish outside the top 25 all season when making the cut. Although coming short last week he can bounce back and has a good chance of doing so. Long off the tee, though not paramount here, his approach play is still one of the best and ranks 2nd in GIR... Bo Van Pelt is a native to these parts, living some 50 miles away from this course, so that will hopefully put him in good stead. Hasn't won yet this year, plenty of top 10's though, and im keeping faith with him to produce something good here. Currently ranks 20th in the Fedex Cup... Jeff Overton is another native to these parts and has hit a bit of form at the right moment. Finishing 7th last week he was in the top 20 rankings for driving accuracy, birdies and putts per round. Hopefully he can continue his form and progress onto next weeks top 30 players. Currently ranks 40th in the Fedex Cup... Jason Dufner @ 25/1... Bubba Watson @ 40/1... Bo Van Pelt @ 55/1... Jeff Overton @ 70/1... All done in the usual £2.5 e/w... PadPow pays 1/4 odds top 5... Good luck to all...
Hey Red Keegan Bradley @ 28/1 Geoff Ogilvy @ 70/1 Charl Schwartzel @ 80/1 Hunter Mahan @ 80/1 After the heartbreak of last week im hoping for a bit more luck!
Yeah, i know how you felt last Sunday... Bo VP should have beaten Tiger for me about 2 months ago, but not to be... Maddening when it happens... Good luck pal...
Bo going along nicely guy's haven't been able get on much lately but still watching all the golf, no bets this week but gl to yours i'll be keeping an eye out for 'em anyway. McIlroy and Woods seem to be near the top of every board lately huh!
Leaderboard after the 1st round... Leaders @ -8 T1 - Bo Van Pelt, -8 ..... red T16 - G. Ogilvy, -4 ....... smokin T29 - B. Watson, -3 ..... red T29 - C. Shwartzel, -3 .. smokin T42 - H. Mahan, -2 ...... smokin T51 - K. Bradley, -1 ..... smokin T56 - J. Dufner, E ........ red T62 - J. Overton, +2 .... red With 4 players sat at -8 its obviously not playing to its max strength, and reading the reports the ground is wet under foot after a deluge on Monday. This has softened the greens and made approach shots easier to make, hence the low scoring. Only the 1st round played so lets not get too carried away with it as we all know what can happen...
Leaderboard after the 2nd round... Leader - V.J. Singh, -13 T5 - Bo Van Pelt, -11 ..... red T22 - C. Shwartzel, -7 .... smokin T33 - J. Dufner, -5 ......... red T33 - G. Ogilvym -5 ....... smokin T44 - B. Watson, -4 ...... red T46 - K. Bradley, -3 ....... smokin T55 - H. Mahan, -1 ........ smokin 63 - J. Overton, +2 ........ red That wily ole cat VJ has took the lead at the half way stage of this tournament shooting -6 to lead by 1 shot over Ryan Moore. But the field are chasing him down with Rory, Tiger, Westy and my Bo all within 2 shots. Hope fully the 'local' knowledge that Bo has will keep him up there as the competition hots up... Nice to see Ogilvy and Schwartxel having a half decent start, as its not been the best of times for both of them this year...
Leaderboard after the 3rd round... Leader - Mickleson, Singh, -16 T9 - Bo Van Pelt, -12 ..... red T27 - C. Shwartzel, -7 ... smokin T37 - B. Watson, -5 ...... red T43 - J. Dufner, -4 ........ red T49 - J. Overton, -3 ...... red T49 - G. Ogilvy, -3 ........ smokin T62 - K. Bradley, E ........ smokin 70 - H. Mahan, +7 ......... smokin The top of the leaderboard is crazy after the 3rd round was completed. Pick a winner from here on in...??? Just hoping Bo can keep up with the pace but im not sure. So expect some low scores and a few mishaps along the way as anyone who is 5 shots behind could win this...
Rory wins again............ This is becoming a good habit this and one that dosnt seem stopping very soon... I must admit that the talk of him taking his eye off the game for time with his girlfriend was a bit silly. I think the lad has now got the same mentality Jack and Tiger, one in which he will target the big tournaments and maybe just go along with the others... None of our picks hit the money but Bubba did remind us of what he could do with the best round of the day, a -7 score to finish at -12... Too late im afraid... Leaderboard after the final round... Winner Rory McIlroy, -20 T10 - Bo Van Pelt, -13 ..... red T12 - B. Watson, -12 ...... red T28 - J. Dufner, -7 ......... red T28 - C. Shwartzel, -7 .... smokin T28 - G. Ogilvy, -7 ......... smokin T51 - J. Overton, -2 ....... red T59 - K. Bradley, +1 ....... smokin 70 - H. Mahan, +12 ....... smokin
These are the final 3- players who will be fighting it our for the Fedex Title and a paycheck of $10m... Its a strange concept as if any of the top 5 in the ranking wins the final tournament in Eastlake come Sept 23rd then they will be crowned the champion. So even though Rory is leading the standings he might not actually go onto to win the title and $10m. They get a weeks rest now and come back on the 20th of September at Eastlake in Atlanta to fight it out for the Fedex Championships... 1 - Rory McIlroy 2 - Tiger Woods 3 - Nick Watney 4 - Phil Mickelson 5 - Brandt Snedeker 6 - Louis Oosthuizen 7 - Dustin Johnson 8 - Lee Westwood 9 - Zach Johnson 10 - Jason Dufner 11 - Bubba Watson 12 - Sergio Garcia 13 - Steve Stricker 14 - Keegan Bradley 15 - Luke Donald 16 - Matt Kuchar 17 - Carl Pettersson 18 - Jim Furyk 19 - Bo Van Pelt 20 - Robert Garrigus 21 - Adam Scott 22 - Ernie Els 23 - Hunter Mahan 24 - Justin Rose 25 - Webb Simpson 26 - John Huh 27 - Rickie Fowler 28 - Ryan Moore 29 - John Senden 30 - Scott Piercy
