The Barclays

[Stanley]

Outright play (total stake: 1pt)

Jim Furyk to win 20/1 e.w. @ Coral
Taking a bit of a risk with Furyk's health, but he did say before the Bridgestone Invitational that his back was fit enough to compete that week, but that it was his game that was a concern as he had not been able to practice for a week and had only played 9 holes at Firestone. He played poorly in the first round of the PGA Championship, but he was back to being competitive in the 2nd round with a 71. With almost two weeks of practising since that last competitive round, I see no reason why he shouldn't be close to his best form this week. After all, he had just won the Canadian Open and finished in the top-5 in five of his last seven events and now he returns to a course on which he has three top-3 finishes in his last eight attempts, including a 2nd place finish in 2005 when he had led from start to finish but was overtaken following an outrageous eagle by Padraig Harrington on the last hole. Three weeks ago, he would have been half these odds, so any concerns over the lingering effects of his back injury are more than compensated by these odds.

[joepa66]

BOL again this week Stanley!

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by joepa66

BOL again this week Stanley!

I've been needing some luck over the past couple of months!


Further outright plays (total stake per play: 1pt)

Ian Poulter to finish in the top-ten +667 @ The Greek
I can't see Poulter winning in the United States, but if he is to come close, it would be on this course. It is a "more English style parkland course" in his owns words and the bentgrass fairways, poa annua greens and recent wet weather have added to the European course feel to this venue. It can help explain why he finished 9th last year when he had just one top-10 finish in his previous eight PGA Tour starts that season. His form is good enough to give himself a decent shot at another top-10 finish so I'll bite at these odds.

Lucas Glover to finish in the top-ten 7/1 @ Paddy Power and William Hill
And at these odds as well. I thought the "wild card factor" (he has been nominated as one of the wild cards on the Monday before last week's event and for evidence of this factor, see Stewart Cink's performance in the 2004 NEC Invitational) would have propelled Glover to victory last week and after he finished the first round in 2nd place, it was looking good, but he did no more than finish in the top-20. But it was his fifth top-20 finish in his last six starts in the U.S. so maybe the place market is the best option for backing Glover at the moment. He has played well on this course over the last two years (apart from the weekend last year), so the "wild card factor" may still give him the confidence and adrenalin to maintain his form for this week.

Hunter Mahan to be the first round leader 50/1 e.w. @ Stan James and William HillVery attractive odds for a player who has held the first round lead in three of his last six events, is in a very rich vein of form at the moment and was 11th after the 1st round on this course last year. He is a player who has needed little justification for backing over the last three months.

[Stanley]

Matchup plays (2pts)

Robert Allenby to beat Jeff Maggert +118 @ Pinnacle
On the surface, it appears as though Maggert is in the better form, but he broke his run of four missed cuts with finishes of 5th in the U.S. Bank Championship (played the same week as the British Open), 30th in the Reno-Tahoe Open (played the same week as the Bridgestone Invitational) and 11th in the Wyndham Championship (when everyone was taking a week off to prepare for the gruelling FedEx Cup). So he has only done well in very weak fields and this is a huge step-up in class. Given that he has finished ahead of Allenby just once over the last 12 months, the step-up in class to Allenby's level should be too much.

Henrik Stenson to beat Angel Cabrera +110 @ The Greek
Opposing Cabrera who has struggled since winning the U.S. Open with finishes of 60th, 19th, 34th, 69th and mc over that period. Stenson is hardly a player in form, but he did enough to beat Cabrera by a total of nine shots over the recent PGA Championship and Bridgestone Invitational, so there should be value at these odds.

Vijay Singh to beat Sergio Garcia -122 @ Pinnacle
A gruelling four-week end to the PGA Tour season is the last thing that Garcia needs at the moment and that was summed up exactly by his "the world is against me" response when he found out that he had been disqualified in the PGA Championship two weeks ago. Such an attitude may have been justified after his British Open loss, but for all his good play, he is clearly someone who can be counted upon to throw in the towel over the next few weeks if things aren't going well on the course. Vijay may not be playing as well as Sergio, but he should be optimistic about his chances of winning the FedEx Cup on these courses over the next four weeks. This week, for example, his course history reads 4th, 7th and 1st in the last three years. He will certainly keep trying until the last putt drops.