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Promising rookie to take to Sedgefield
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Veteran pair chanced at triple-figure prices
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Lee Hodges made life very easy last week. The 100.099/1 selection led from start to finish at the 3M Open. He was four shots clear at halfway, five in front with a round to go, and he went on to cruise to victory by seven strokes.
Being able to enjoy the final round with a glass of single malt, with all the trading done and dusted, is a rarity and victories like that need to be savoured because they're few and far between but another outsider winning the Wyndham Championship isn't beyond the realms of possibility...
As many as four of the last eight Wyndham winners have gone off at a triple-figure price so I've picked out three, starting with 140.0139/1 chance, Kevin Yu.
Sitting in 87th place on the FedEx Cup standings, Taiwanese Korn Ferry graduate, Kevin Yu, needs a phenomenal week in North Carolina to finish his rookie season with an appearance in the first playoff series event next week and given he missed four months of the season after surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee in February, that would be quite some achievement for the former world number one amateur.
As highlighted in the preview, only the top-70 line up in next week's FedEx St Jude but Yu has a chance on current form.
The 24-year-old missed the cut at the Scottish Open three weeks ago, but he was sixth at the John Deere Classic the week before and although he finished only 37th in the 3M Open last week, he was matched at a low of just 5.04/1 when he got to within two of Hodges after he'd played his first 11 holes in a remarkable eight-under-par on Saturday.
The wheels fell off after he missed from inside five feet on the par five 12th to get within one of Hodges, but that performance was no fluke.
He's a very high-class young player who finished third at the Bermuda Championship and seventh in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before his injury and although he's playing here for the first time, he's a fairly straight hitter who currently ranks tied for third in the PGA Tour's Par 4 Average rankings, so he should take to the venue.
Yu looks to have a bright future ahead of him and very little lose here so I was more than happy to take a chance at 140.0139/1.
Place order to lay 8u @ 10.09/1 & 12u @ 2.01/1
While Kevin Yu was fading at the 3M Open, Scottish veteran, Martin Laird, was finishing fast.
After a dreadful season, the 40-year-old had put in a much-improved performance at the Barracuda Championship two weeks ago, finishing inside the top-20, despite a poor third round and he signed off last week's 3M Open in style to finish tied for second.
The reason for Laird's sudden upturn in fortunes appears to be his new-found ability to find the fairways again.
In the last two weeks he's ranked fifth and first for Driving Accuracy and that should stand him good stead here given that's been a key stat for years around Sedgefield.
Laird finished fourth in the Wyndham Championship on debut way back in 2008 and he also finished second and fifth in back-to-back Players Championships in 2012 and 2013 so in addition to his very strong current form he has both course form and correlating course form and odds in excess of 200.0199/1 look very generous.
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1
There were numerous reasons Hodges was a pick last week and David Lingmerth has ticked a couple of the same boxes ahead of this week's event.
The last two winners on the PGA Tour, Brian Harman at the Open, and Hodges at the 3M Open, had both telegraphed their wellbeing with a top-12 finish in the Scottish Open so Lingmerth's credentials need to be examined given he finished third behind Rory McIlroy at the Renaissance.
In addition to his high finish at the Scottish, Lingmerth, just like Hodges last week, is just outside automatic qualification for next week's FedEx St Jude.
Hodges sat 73rd before the 3M Open and Lingmerth sits 74th so he needs a good week to get into the playoffs and that's more than feasible.
Although he's never performed especially well here, with a 37th two years ago his best effort in five appearances, the fact that he's finished second at the Players Championship ten years ago on debut and sixth this year, suggests Sedgefield is a track that should suit the Swede.
Lingmerth is one of the shorter hitters on Tour so there are plenty of places where he'll struggle to contend but this isn't one of them.
As already mentioned, keeping it on the fairways is key around Sedgefield so the fact that he ranks 15th for Driving Accuracy is a huge plus
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1
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