2008 Verizon Heritage Review and Tour News
by Matt of Predictem.com
Make it two for Boo as the PGA Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town was won for the second year in a row by Boo Weekley. While the 2007 stretch run included improbable chip-in pars for Weekley along with poor weather that forced a Monday finish, this week was a bit easier for the champion both in weather concerns and his own play. Boo took a three stroke lead into Sunday after rounds of 64 and 65 on Friday and Saturday and held on with a closing even-par 71 as his competitors failed to mount a serious charge. The win is Weekleys second career PGA Tour victory and he earns $990,000 for his efforts along with the 4,500 FedExCup points.
Weekley gave some hope to the trailing contenders by posting his only round in the 70s in eight career Harbour Town rounds, but none were able to put together the kind of round that put pressure on the defending champ. 2006 Verizon champ, Aaron Baddeley, fared the best in terms of final round score with a 2-under par 69, but needed more and finished T2 along with Anthony Kim. Playing in the final group with Weekley gave Kim the opportunity to apply the screws directly, but most hopes to overtake the leader ended with a double bogey on the ninth.
Jim Furyk started the day six back but was making noise with three early birdies that had him only three back after five holes. A bogey on eleven derailed the charge and Furyk wound up the day where he began, six back, in solo 4th. Cliff Kresge and Jason Bohn had outside shots to win entering Sunday, but neither could catch fire, shooting 71 and 72 respectively and finishing 5th and 6th. A group of five players that included Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover finished seven back at T7, to round out the top-10 spots. For Cink, it was his 5th top-10 of the year, tying for most on Tour along with Tiger Woods and Stuart Appleby.
With his T17 finish this week, Justin Leonard made his 11th consecutive cut; he and Robert Allenby are now tied for the longest such active streak. Davis Love III had it to 7-under entering the final round, but struggled to a 5-over par 76 to close and fell to a T36. Notables missing the weekend were Zach Johnson, Sean OHair and last years runner-up Ernie Els, along with Justin Rose, who withdrew after an opening round 76.
Tiger Woods remains atop the Official Money List with $4.4 million earned in five starts and is $2 million and change ahead of Phil Mickelson in the second spot. Three more players have already eclipsed the $2 million mark for the year; Geoff Ogilvy, Stewart Cink and Vijay Singh are all within $400,000 of Mickelson in the three through five slots. With the win this week, Boo Weekley is the big mover, finding himself in the seventh spot from 36th the week prior, sitting at $1.76 million overall.
The FedExCup Points List is much the same as the Money List, with the same five golfers residing in the top-5 with Cink, Singh and Ogilvy shuffled in the 3 to 5 spots behind Mickelson and Woods. Tiger owns a 7,000+ point lead over Lefty despite playing in four less events. Weekley vaults from 33rd to 7th with the Verizon win and is also in line for a Ryder Cup berth as he moves to 5th on that list.
Tour News
Tiger Woods released the news that he underwent successful arthroscopic knee surgery last week which will need 4 to 6 weeks of rehab prior to his return to competition. Under that schedule Tiger will not be able to defend his Wachovia crown, nor will he likely tee it up for The Players Championship. Woods should be fine for the U.S. Open this summer at Torrey Pines, whether we see him in PGA action before that is up to the designs of his Major prep schedule.
Betting Picks Review
Each week, we give you three picks to win (one each from the short, middle and long odds groups) and a few head-to-head match winners. Lets see how we did this week.
For the Win:
Stewart Cink: 14 to 1
In position with a 67/68 start, but a 70/71 finish wasnt enough. (T7)
Aaron Baddeley: 22 to 1
All four rounds in the 60s, but couldnt catch Boo. (T2)
Boo Weekley: 40 to 1
Defends his crown and pays us off. (1)
Matches:
Jim Furyk v. Stewart Cink (Cink) (L)
Furyk leads by one going into Sun. Takes it by 3 after posting 69 to Cinks 71.
Aaron Baddeley v. Justin Rose (Baddeley) (W)
Rose makes this an easy one with a Thurs. 76 and a WD.
