Betfair Official Blog

US PGA Betting: The Punter's picks for the fourth major

Click here to view market

No-one in their right mind would argue that the US PGA is anything but the poorest relation in the family of majors. But, as the Punter rightly says, that doesn't stop it from being an extremely competitive tournament.

All of a sudden it's the eve of the US PGA Championship, the last and least prestigious of the four majors. Its ludicrous position in the golfing calendar, only three weeks after the Open, doesn't help it at all while recent winners Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem hardly raise the tournament's profile. Following hot on the heels of last week's cliff-hanger at Firestone isn't ideal either.

But, cast your mind back over the last four years and you'll find it's not that difficult to summon up plenty of enthusiasm for 'Glory's Last Shout', as the US PGA like to refer to it. Tiger's 'on the bridle' wins at the last two renewals, Mickelson's Monday finish in 2005 and Vijay's play-off victory at Whistling Straits in 2004 were all very enjoyable events with top class, well fancied winners.

Maybe we shouldn't scan too far down the list to find the winner of the Wanamaker Trophy again this year? For my main bet, I certainly haven't.

I backed Mickelson last week at [13.0] with the expectation that he'd be considerably shorter now and had he won last week he would have been. It takes a lot of faith to ignore the way things transpired at Firestone but I still think he's a decent price. Apart from his putting, his game's in pretty good shape and if he can overcome the disappointment of last week, I don't think he'll be too far away.

Course form is very sparse indeed. The Ryder Cup in '04 and the US Open in '96 were both staged here and, if you're really desperate for some form, Oakland Hills was used for final qualifying for the 2007 Open, but that was over both courses. One of my more optimistic picks, Ryan Moore (backed at [530.0]) finished second in that qualifier.

Ernie Els, Kenny Perry and Anthony Kim were all considered but in the end the only other selection under [100.0] is KJ Choi, backed at [50.0]. He's fared well in this event, is definitely good enough to win a major and isn't it bad form. Last week's finishing position of tied 16th was awful when you consider he was five over par after nine holes on day one. After that it's the usual smattering of outsiders.

As with last week, I'll post daily updates throughout the event.

Selections in US PGA winner market:

Mickelson @ [13.0]

Choi @ [50.0]

Ames @ [120.0]

Austin @ [220.0]

Crane @ [270.0]

Kaymer @ [340.0]

Imada @ [350.0]

McLachlin @ [390.0]

Moore @ [530.0]