US PGA Championship / Tareq Quiroz / 04 August 2008 /

Historically dominated by Americans, this year's USPGA will be played on a menacing course which could see a European victory, says Tareq Quiroz.

It seems like only last week that Padraig Harrington was securing his second Open victory with a great performance at Royal Birkdale. In fact it was only three weeks ago and yet this week we are ready for the year's final major. If ever there was a time to hit form this is the period you would target. With two majors and a WGC event in the space of just four weeks, there is plenty at stake and even before you start to think of events upcoming in Valhalla in mid-September. For now though let's keep our attention firmly focused on this week's USPGA, where the world's finest will battle it out for the Wanamaker Trophy.

The Course

A fantastic tournament deserves an equally impressive venue and they don't come much better than Oakland Hills CC. Many a big tournament has been played at this famous course in Michigan. In most recent memory it is best known for hosting the 2004 Ryder Cup, a contest that the European team won in resounding fashion.

The course is measuring a menacing 7,395 yards and as with any USPGA it will provide a really tough test this week. A close contest is expected and it would come as no surprise if it came right down to the wire. If that is the case then you must be only well aware of the punishing final two holes. The 17th is a brutal par three measuring 238 yards and once you're through that then you are faced with almost 500 yards for the 18th that is an extremely tough par four finishing hole. If you are vying for the crown at this point on the final day then you will really need to gather yourself for this gruelling end to the tournament.

The Favourite

For the second week running the favourite slot is the property of Phil Mickelson. The question is - will the result be the same? All looked to be going very well for Lefty at the WGC last week until a late stumble cost him the chance of a big tournament win. It is now all about how you assess that late collapse. Do you take the positives that he played some excellent controlled golf for the most part or do you take the negative that when the pressure was really on he folded? Once you factor in the fact that he is very short at current odds of [11.5] then I can only recommend a lay of Mickelson this week.

The Next Best Bets in the Field

With Mickelson propping the market up there are plenty of decent prices available on most of the other fancied runners. It is a tough task to separate the next best as cases are easily made for last week's winner Singh, the consistent Westwood, Open winner Harrington and many, many more. Whilst I am particularly tempted by the [22.0] available about a proven streak player like Vijay Singh he is just overlooked as my main fancy this week in favour of Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard will be slightly out of the limelight this week with all the other stories around but this course really does suit his game. He played superbly at Oakland Hills in the Ryder Cup back in 2004, comfortably beating Phil Mickelson in the pivotal singles match on Sunday. At current odds of [26.0] he is the main man for me this week and must be supported.

The Massive Outsider

Long shots are plentiful in all majors and this week there are plenty of juicy ones to choose from. Daniel Chopra is desperate to make the Ryder Cup team and in decent form he is too big at [310.0], but you may be better off following him in the Top Ten Finish market.

Monty was in awful form last week at Firestone but he was the inspirational figure behind Europe's win here in the Ryder Cup and with those memories flooding back maybe, just maybe, there is one more big major performance in the Scot. Certainly at current odds of [370.0] you cannot go too far wrong supporting Monty this week.

Interesting Info

This really is a tournament that has been dominated by Americans throughout its history. Vijay Singh is the only non-American to have won this title in the last twelve years and one of only six non-Americans to have the USPGA title in the last fifty years. For the first forty one years of its existence the USPGA was in fact a match-play event and only changed to stroke-play in 1958. Oakland Hills will this week play an amazing 400 yards longer than it played when it hosted the US Open back in 1996. The winning score was just two under par for that event, so don't expect a birdie blitz this week.

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