The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 09 August 2010 /

The future looks bright for Hunter but where does Tiger go from here?

At the Bridgestone Invitational, when the play stopped it was Hunter Mahan's turn to be in front, or that's how it appeared to me. The lead had been a hot potato all week; Bubba Watson flopped in round two after leading after day one. Then after holding the halfway lead, Retief Goosen shot 73 in round three to plummet to a tie for 16th before recovering to finish in a tie for 3rd. Third round leader, Ryan Palmer, to his credit, rallied well after a shaky start to his final round, shooting 69, but it wasn't enough to reel in Mahan, who despite looking very shaky on holes 15, 16 and 17, managed to par his way in from the 14th to shoot 64 and win by two. Another player to burn his hands on the spud was Sean O'Hair...he was matched at a low of [1.69] after hitting the front on the front nine but he too was to wilt quite easily after bogeying the 8th hole, eventually finishing 5th.

With the spotlight on Firestone, Bill Lunde was the shock winner of the Turning Stone Resort Championship. Having never finished better than 4th on the main Tour, he was an un-fancied [300.0] shot before the start and having shot an opening over par 73 first round, I bet even Bill himself didn't give himself a cat in hells chance with three rounds to go.

My Bets

As I suspected it would be, it turned out to be a fruitless weekend. Having backed Tiger Woods from the start at Firestone I was always in trouble and my halfway plays on Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott never threatened.

I felt at halfway that the winner could well come from way of the halfway pace and Mahan came from even further back than the two I'd picked out! And I was certainly right to swerve Phil Mickelson, who I think is being held back by the prospect of taking over as world number one. His third round was disappointing and his 4th horrendous.

At the Turning Stone Championship my pre-event picks never quite got to the leaders and the best of them was Stephen Ames, who finished in a tie for 16th. My halfway play Rory Sabatini lost by the three shots he dropped at the tail-end of Saturday's third round, once he'd hit the front - very frustrating. Another one suffering from 'Hot Potato Syndrome'!

Players to swerve

I haven't a clue where Tiger Woods goes from here... a long holiday would be my suggestion. He's just played his two favourite courses in St Andrews and Firestone and he's played them very poorly indeed. I wouldn't be at all surprised if next week's US PGA Championship is the last event he plays this year and if he did down tools for a few months I think he'd be doing the right thing. It's quite sad to see such a quality player in such demise and struggling week after week will only fuel the fire some commentators are happy to stoke. Take a break Tiger.

Phil Mickelson again struggled around Firestone, despite being bang in contention at halfway. His final round of 78 contained seven bogeys and a double-bogey, which is the most he's ever made in a single professional round. I'd love to be backing him next week but he's not playing anywhere near well enough. He'd have to be right on his game to prosper around Whistling Straights and judging by this weekend's endeavours, he's a mile off.

Player to watch

I've already backed Louis Oosthuizen for next week's US PGA Championship. Back-to-back major victories are as rare as rocking horse teeth but it's hard to ignore how well he's playing. 4th in Sweden a week after winning the Open Championship was notable enough but to finish in the top-ten this weekend as well, on his course debut, was very impressive.

What have we leant for next year?

With Tiger dominating the event for years, you'd be forgiven for thinking that driving accuracy is of little worth around Firestone but it was his class that used to see him through. Brilliant scrambling and accurate iron-play would get him out of trouble most of the time but Mickelson showed this year how demanding and draining a venue it can be if you relentlessly miss the fairway. This year's leaderboard was jam-packed with players known for their accuracy but it was putting that was the most important stat. Mahan and Palmer, 1st and 2nd in the event were also ranked 1st and 2nd for Putts per Green in Regulation.

There's just the one event next week, but it's a cracker - the US PGA Championship from the spectacular Whistling Straights. I'll be taking a look at some of the specials markets over the next few days and I'll post a full preview on Wednesday morning.

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