Find Me a 100 Winner: In-form Champ the power pick

Steven Rawlings
17 May 2022
2 min read

Cameron Champ is a long odds pick for Steve this week

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We're off to Southern Hills in Tulsa this week for the second major of the year - the US PGA Championship - and our man's back with his pick of the outsiders...

"Southern Hills is a very long par 70 with wide fairways so we may well end up with a leaderboard dominated by the powerful types and if that's the case, Cameron Champ could be the man to follow."

As highlighted in the preview, this has been a great Championship for big outsiders over the years and the three winners between 2001 and 2003 - David Toms, Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel - all went off at huge prices.

Those three were very hard to pick out before the off and had either Chris DiMarco or Justin Leonard won the 2004 playoff at Whistling Straits instead of Vijay Singh, the run of triple-figure priced winners would have stretched to four.

More recently, the 2009 champ, Y.E Yang, went off at around 330.0329/1, Keegan Bradley was matched at a whopping 650.0649/1 11 years ago, the 2016 winner, Jimmy Walker, was matched at a juicy 220.0219/1 and Phil Mickelson caused a huge shock 12 months ago. Lefty was generally a 540.0539/1 ahead of last year's renewal.

The US PGA Championship returns to Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma this time around, where Tiger Woods won his fourth title in 2007. Woods was also a very short-priced favourite to win the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills (odds-on in places and a best price of 11/10) but, hampered by an achilles issue, he could only finish 12th on that occasion.

Southern Hills has undergone an extensive Gill Hanse renovation since Woods last played here and after his lengthy layoff and his 47th place finish at Augusta, he's, understandably, trading at a triple-figure price.

You can't ever write Woods off but given how little he's played and how much longer the course is now, others are preferred.

Cameron Young and the former winner, Keegan Bradley, were both carefully considered but it's hard to envisage Young's first victory coming in a major championship and although he's playing superbly, and putting unusually well, Bradley is never an easy one to get across the line so I've reluctantly passed that pair over in favour of four others...

Is Gooch talormade for Southern Hills?

Playing in his home state, Okie Talor Gooch, wont lack for support at a track he's played around a dozen times previously.

Like Gooch, Abraham Ancer, Rickie Fowler, Viktor Hovland, Alex Noren and Matthew Wolff all went to Oklahoma State, but having been born and raised in Midwest City, Talor is the only Oklahoman in the field so this really is a home game and there's every reason to think he can shine.

Gooch has ticked along nicely enough after winning the RSM Classic in November where he ranked fourth for both Greens In Regulation and Scrambling and if he can repeat those figures he'll be there or thereabouts.

He's well rested after a couple of weeks off and a missed cut last week and he's looking forward to the test. He had this to say in yesterday's press conference.

"Game feels good. Obviously comfortable on this style of golf, on this type of grass, on these greens, and so if we can get a little bit of wind kicked up I'll be even more comfortable."

2 pts Talor Gooch @ 150.0149/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1

Kokrak has the class to take the next step

If hitting greens repeatedly and scrambling well when they're missed are going to be as important as I think they'll be, then the experienced Jason Kokrak is man to side with this week.

Having won three times on the PGA Tour since October 2020, and having won at Colonial Country Club, a track designed by Perry Maxwell (the man responsible for Southern Hills), Kokrak fits the bill and he could just be ready to make the next step and win a major.

Betfair Betting Podcast · Golf... Only Bettor | Ep 5 | The US PGA Championship

He arrives in fair form having finished 14th in the US Masters, 35th at The Heritage and 17th last week in Texas and he's a fair price to contend again here at 150.0149/1.

2 pt Jason Kokrak @ 150.0149/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1

In-form Champ the power pick

The green complexes post-renovation look seriously challenging at Southern Hills and a great short game looks key but we've been here before.

On numerous occasions we've all theorised that the shorter more accurate types will finally be advantaged for various reasons at various new or relatively unfamiliar venues but time after time power just trumps everything and that could transpire to be the case again here.

Southern Hills is a very long par 70 with wide fairways so we may well end up with a leaderboard dominated by the powerful types and if that's the case, the in-form 26-year-old Texan with three PGA Tour titles to his name already could be the man to follow.

Champ arrives in Oklahoma after a 10th place finish in the Masters, a sixth in the Mexico Open and a low-key 38th in the Byron Nelson Championship - where he signed off on Sunday with a 65.

He ranked third for Greens In Regulation at Augusta and fifth in Mexico and at 200.0199/1, he's my idea of the best longshot in attendance this week.

2 pt Cameron Champ @ 200.0199/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1

Can Matt emulate Mickelson?

If there's to be another veteran longshot lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday - a la Phil Mickelson 12 months ago - then why not the 43-year-old Matt Kuchar.

Kuchar won the last of his nine PGA Tour titles in 2019 but if recent form is anything to go by, a tnth title isn't far away.

Kuchar has form figures reading 16-2-3-49-12 and his recent Scrambling and Putting stats have been excellent. He won't mind a jot how hard the wind blow and he looks over-priced to contend at odds of around 400.0399/1.

1 pt Matt Kuchar @ 400.0399/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter