Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 29 May 2008 /

Get on Garcia says TQ in his betting preview for The Memorial Tournament

It's that time of year when great tournaments come thick and fast. On the PGA Tour this week there is a terrific field assembled for the Memorial Tournament. It's a pity that Tiger is not here to try and win the event for a fourth time but nonetheless we are blessed with the best of the rest.

Muirfield Village is the host course and will no doubt provide a high quality test. The course has been extended over the years and now measures a testing 7,265 yards. Recent results on this track suggest that if you are playing well then a decent score is out there, but the likelihood is that will only apply to a select few. This is certainly one of those tournaments where you can expect the guys up there at the halfway stage to be the ones battling out for the title on Sunday afternoon.

The top of the market is quite understandably reserved for last week's winner Phil Mickelson and the Players' champion Sergio Garcia. These are two guys in tremendous form who will both fancy their chances of recording a first win at Muirfield Village. Confidence is a wonderful thing in most sports and the main pick this week has to go with the man who may just move onto a new level after his dramatic win at Sawgrass just a few weeks ago. The course will suit Garcia's game and I fully expect him to be right there at the death on Sunday. Get on Sergio at current odds of [20.0] is my advice.

In general I try and stay away from backing defending champions in any event as they have an added set of responsibilities and pressures that do not make winning the golf tournament any easier. However, it is something of a generalisation to say all players suffer under that pressure and this week I think we have one of the players who won't be fazed by such a situation. KJ Choi was an impressive winner at Muirfield Village last season and he will be buoyed by a return to the scene of such a big win. In addition to last year's win, Choi also has two other top tens on this course in the last four years. An amazing seven time winner on the PGA Tour Choi is a man to be reckoned with and at current odds of [48.0] he is a must for your saver bet this week.

In recent years the PGA Tour has become something of a haven for Australian golfers. It seems that barely a week goes by without one of the Aussie contingent contending for the trophy and with 13 of them in this week's tournament it would be folly to dismiss them despite missing their main man in Adam Scott. The Top Australian market makes quite a lot of appeal to me this week and I can't get away from last weeks runner-up Rod Pampling. With players like Pampling you have to catch them when they are hot. He had a good third place here last year and will be keen to follow that up. He is currently available at [7.8] and that represents a decent bet in that market.

We are seeing more and more overseas competitors on the PGA Tour and it is not just the Aussies. Thee Europeans are trying their luck and at this rate it won't be long before the US competitors are overwhelmed. I think this is great for the game and in the long term I genuinely think it will improve the standard of the US players. They may even have a half a chance of prising the Ryder Cup away from the Europeans' grasp!

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