Betfair | USPGA First Round Three-Ball Betting: Paul Krishnamurty has the pick of the bets on day one

USPGA First Round Three-Ball Betting: Paul Krishnamurty has the pick of the bets on day one

Golden Oldie Haas should be too strong for struggling opponents while The Goose can triumph in marquee three-ball.

BRINY BAIRD @ [2.0] (start time 12.30).

A distinctive feature of the USPGA is that around 20 US club professionals get an invite. None ever seem to, or are likely to ever, feature on a weekend leaderboard but in fairness, nobody expects them to. Consequently, many of the three-balls contain a completely unknown player who is generally available at huge odds. Though these three-balls don't always turn out to be a straightforward match, because the higher class pair both struggle, a solid score is usually enough to win.

In the tournament's opening group, Briny Baird looks a very strong favourite to beat Alastair Forsyth and club pro Brian Dean. Baird is the ideal candidate for this sort of bet, extremely consistent but always a fair price because he never wins tournaments. He has only missed one cut, and has only shot over par for his opening round once this season, and even then he withdrew injured straight afterwards.

If Baird produces his usual effort, its hard to see Forsyth or Dean getting competitive. Scotsman Forsyth is only making his third start in the US, and has never hit par there before. His form in Europe is average at best, and I expect he'll struggle to cope with the greens at Oakland Hills.

STEVE FLESCH @ [2.0] (start time 14.25).

Very similar arguments apply in this three-ball, where home player Steve Flesch looks a very strong favourite. Besides being placed in the Masters, Flesch has done nothing special this year, but he is generally quite consistent. He's shown decent form in previous PGAs, only missing the cut twice and making the top-20 four times.

Both of Flesch's opponents are expected to struggle. Club pro Tim Weinhart has played the PGA three times before, missing the cut each time and averaging 78 over six rounds. At his best Hennie Otto, a winner in Europe this year, would present a formidable opponent but he is making his debut in the States and the conditions could be something of a culture shock.

Equally worrying is the nature of South African Otto's game. On the European Tour, he's always struck me as a good target golfer, dangerous on courses that reward his attacking game. On tough courses though, he's liable to get found out and shoot big numbers. My prediction is that Flesch needs to shoot 72 to win this three-ball.

JAY HAAS @ [2.7] (start time 18.30).

Its been a long time since we saw Jay Haas on the PGA Tour, two years to be precise. Now 54, Jay is clearly a bit long in the tooth to be a contender at this level, but he hasn't noticeably declined since becoming a golfing 'senior'. In fact, very few are more consistent at Champions Tour level. Six titles and 25 top-10 finishes in the last two seasons is extremely impressive, and show that, besides the inevitable loss of driving distance, Haas retains all the other strengths of the top-class golfer.

Nobody is expecting miracles from Haas in this major, but he's no forlorn hope to make the cut. And even if he can't achieve that, my money's on him outscoring his badly out of form playing partners Michael Campbell and Paul Azinger. Cambo, the 2005 US Open champion, has been completely 'gone' at the game for a while now and can't be supported in any shape or form until he shows signs of turning it around. Two cuts made and a best of 35th in 2008 are a poor return.

Azinger, the 1993 PGA champion, seems to be suffering the fate of many previous Ryder Cup captains. It's a tall order trying to juggle those considerable responsibilities with a full-time playing career, and like his predecessors Hal Sutton and Tom Lehman, his game has suffered. He's only made seven appearances in 2008, and since performing respectably on the first at one of his favourite venues in Hawaii, he's missed every cut and failed to better 71.

RETIEF GOOSEN @ [2.7] (start time 19.05).

Former US Open champion Retief Goosen has dropped some strong hints in recent weeks that he's ready to win at the highest level again, and that's enough to make him a confident selection against a pair I'm looking to oppose this week, Justin Rose and Kenny Perry.

At his peak, Goose would have to be one of the favourites at Oakland Hills. By all accounts, this tough course shares similarities with both Augusta and the archetypal US Open venue. Twice a winner of the latter and a regular contender in the Masters, Goosen has the perfect credentials for the test. Sunday's fourth at Firestone is another bonus, as were some excellent rounds in the recent British and US Opens.

Perry alternatively has no sort of record on fast greens, and after playing poorly at Firestone the 47-year-old looks up against it. Still, at least he has shown world-class form this summer, whereas Rose has struggled badly since winning the 2007 Order of Merit. Rose must be the most over-rated player in the market at present. still below [100.0] despite just one top-10 this year. On a course that will seriously test every aspect of a player's game and expose any weaknesses, he looks set to struggle again.