Golf Events / Dan Geraghty / 22 April 2009 / Leave a comment

It's two Yanks and a Brit for Dan Geraghty as he searches for a winning bet at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

I'd say last week was probably the most frustrating week yet for the Three Against The Field column. Aaron Baddeley shot himself out of the tournament with a treble bogey on his way to a 75 on day one, but followed that up with three excellent rounds of golf to finish a good 21st. Boo Weekley was moving nicely into contention but then four putted when holding a birdie chance from 12 feet and, despite giving himself numerous chances, Camilo Villegas barely holed a putt all week. That said, it would have taken a supreme effort for anyone to get near Brian Gay's tally.

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Onto this week and John Merrick must have taken a great deal of confidence from his fantastic sixth place finish at the Masters, and after missing the Verizon Heritage last week should be well refreshed and ready for this. Surprisingly perhaps for one of the lesser know golfers on tour, this year's Masters was not Merrick's first top ten finish at a Major - he was tied for sixth at last year's US Open. Disappointingly that did not spur him on to record his first PGA Tour win last year, but he's started 2009 well, with three top-tens to his name. Another reason to believe this may be the week is his excellent course form, he was seventh here last year and 18th the year before on his first appearance at the Zurich Classic.

Hopefully Ian Poulter has drawn some inspiration from Paul Casey's breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour. Since those infamous comments on his potential world ranking Poulter has suprised many with the excellent form he's shown. He impressed both at last year's Open (in finishing second) and at the Ryder Cup, where he took more credit than most of the losing European team. The last time he played here he tied for seventh and in a weak field Poults must fancy his chances.

Last week Woody Austin showed his best form of the season so far, with a creditable 11th place finish at the Verizon Heritage. He loves this course and has some excellent form here, but do beware, if you are backing Woody get ready to trade out. By his own admission when he gets near the top of a leaderboard on the last day he struggles. Badly. Standing in the left rough on the 72nd hole (a par five) of this very tournament last year, Austin needed a birdie to tie Romero and force a playoff. He pulled a hybrid club out of the bag to try and get up by the green in two and topped the ball, hitting it barely ten yards, yelling "you are the biggest choking dog ever" at himself as the ball came to a standstill.

Good luck Woody! You have some unfinished business this week in New Orleans!

Selections: John Merrick ([34.0]), Ian Poulter ([42.0]), Woody Austin ([42.0])