Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 10 June 2009 /

With the world of golf excited by Tiger's incredible win last weekend, the mere mortals of the tour are left to prepare for next week's US Open, writes Tareq Quiroz. So who will seize the day at Southwind?

Tiger's final round at the Memorial was one of the finest you will ever see. You just know that there were some groans around the locker room from those hoping that his powers were on the wane. How wrong you can be?! As usual, Tiger is taking the week before a major off but there is still a decent line-up for this week's St. Jude Classic.

The Course

The TPC at Southwind is the host course this week and one that all golf followers will be familiar with. Set in Memphis, Tennessee this venue has been home to this tournament for the last 20 years. It really is a cracking old school course where the emphasis is on solid iron play as opposed to playing into the big hitters' hands. It has been lengthened in the last few years and now plays at just over 7,200 yards. This is by no means a long course but at the same time you must remember that it is only a Par 70 with just two par fives. The key to winning around Southwind is accurate iron play. Just take a look down the roll of honour for this tournament and you will see a line of players who were renowned for their pin point irons.

The Favourite

World number two Phil Mickelson is a welcome sight back on the tour this week and will inevitably be the centre of the attention. That's nothing new for him, he still remains favourite for this event but at a bigger price than he would have been normally. Having time away from the game is one thing but do it in the circumstances that Mickelson has is quite another. Couple that with the fact that it is a tough field, on a course that doesn't really play into his hands and Mickelson has to be a lay this week at odds around [12.5].

The Next Best Bets

Justin Leonard has won this event twice in the last four years and it is not hard to see why. This place suits him down to the ground but a word of warning for anyone wanting to follow him this week: he is really struggling with the putter.

It's been a long time since I put this man's name forward as a pick but I can't get away from David Toms. He has six top 10 finishes here and they include two wins in 2003 and 2004. He loves this course, has had five top 10 finishes this season and for me is the favourite to take the title. At odds of around [16.0] he is top of my staking plan.

The Massive Outsider

At first glance there are numerous decent outsiders to choose from. But dig a little deeper and you find a horrible collection of players who really don't have the look of a winner. The one person I would pick out from the depths is Jose Maria Olazabal. The Spaniard has been working his way back to decent form and was far from disgraced last week at the tough Memorial course. This track will suit his game and if he gets off to a decent start he could well surprise at massive odds of [310.00].

If that is just too juicy a price for you then a player I am sure is going to win soon is Aaron Baddeley. The young Aussie has had his problems but has just started to show signs of a return to his best. If that trend is continued then this is a player that is going to win soon and at very nice odds too. That week may just be this week and at current odds of [80.0] he is most definitely worth a punt.

Interesting Info

Nobody could say that this field has a lot of depth but it does boast six players who have won more than one major. It may not be associated with the really tough courses but the TPC at Southwind played the fourth most difficult on the PGA Tour last year. Maybe many of the top players don't want such a stiff test the week before the US open as just a miserly six of the world's top 25 have entered this week's event.

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