Zurich Classic Betting: Back Nick to nick another victory

Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 22 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

Watney is a serious player now, says Tareq Quiroz, and deserves his place at the top of the market.

I think we all realised very early last Sunday that Brian Gay wasn't going to play ball in the Verizon Heritage. It was very strange to have a Sunday evening where there were no real trading prospects in the Winner market and I didn't like it one little bit. I am confident we will have a far more competitive event this week as the PGA Tour rolls on to Louisiana for the Zurich Classic.

The Course
This event is an old and loved tournament on the PGA Tour calendar but the course they now use for this event is far from old. The TPC Louisiana was only built in 2003 by renowned course architect Pete Dye and has so far staged three Zurich Classics. They have tried to retain some of the characteristics that went along with winning this event but it still isn't quite the iron player's course that we used to have for this tournament. The course measures just over 7,300 yards and in fairness does have some cracking holes including a tournament-breaking par five 18th. This risk and reward hole will see eagles and bogeys galore throughout the week so it's not over until it's over.

The Favourite
It is going to be a tight one for the role of market leader this week as the old and the new go into battle. The week started with Kenny Perry opening up as the favourite but as the week has gone by there has been a definite swing towards Nick Watney. With the momentum in his favour I would be very surprised if Watney didn't go off favourite now. This guy is the real deal and will win plenty of tour events in the next few years. His record this season has been superb with a win and two other top five finishes already. He comes to New Orleans following a top 20 at the Masters and to a course where he was a winner in 2007 so he has every right to be the jolly this week. The progress Watney has made in the last two years has been amazing and for me he is the stand out bet this week at odds of [17.0].

The Next Best Bets
With Paul Casey winning a couple of weeks ago I get the feeling that may just have given the other English guys a bit of a boost. Luke Donald played very well last week in taking second place and I expect similarly good performances from the English guys this week. Justin Rose finally seems to have rediscovered his game and from history we know that Rose has peaks and troughs. If he can come back better than ever then this is a great opportunity for him and at current odds of [34.0] he certainly represents some value. He just edges my selection ahead of Ian Poulter who merits some place in my staking plan at odds of [48.0]. The course probably doesn't suit him as much as the old Zurich Classic courses did but he is still more than capable of taking this title.

The Massive Outsider
Any time that you back a player at huge odds then you have to accept that there is a good reason for them being such a big price. The trick is to find a good reason why they could make a mockery of those odds. There are plenty of guys in this field for whom you can't find a single reason why they might compete. This isn't the case for John Rollins. He has two PGA victories to his name and more importantly has two second place finishes already this season. He hasn't been in any form for the past few weeks but don't let that worry you as he showed poor form prior to both his seconds too. At odds of [160.0] he is definitely worth a saver this week.

Interesting Info
It may be an old classic but that isn't enough to get the world's best out as only three of the top 20 in the world are competing this week. The last four winners of this event are taking part this week but the chances of success range hugely from Watney as the favourite to 2006 winner Chris Couch who is trading at a whopping [550.0].