Archive for May 8th, 2009

Golf’s Fifth Major: Players Championship Preview

Tiger Woods has some tough competitionThe richest prize pool in golf is up for grabs this week at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The PGA Tour’s signature event is often called the sport’s fifth major; the winner gets $1.71 million of the $9.5-million purse, a five-year Tour exemption and 80 points in the World Golf Rankings, among other important goodies. Tiger Woods will be there as the 3-1 favorite, followed by Phil Mickelson (10-1) and Sean O’Hair (25-1).

Adding to the pomp and pageantry is the venue itself: the challenging TPC at Sawgrass, specifically the Stadium Course. The infamous “Island Green” 17th hole will be recognizable to any golf fan. Here are 10 other things every bettor should know about Sawgrass.

  • The course (designed by Pete and Alice Dye) is a par-72 at 7,215 yards.
  • In 2008, Sawgrass ranked No. 6 out of the 54 Tour stops in difficulty.
  • About 13 percent of tee shots at No. 17 have gone into the drink over the past six events.
  • Sawgrass was renovated in 2007 with over 2.6 million square feet of new sod.
  • Four of the last five winners also led the field in greens in regulation.
  • Mickelson is one of seven players to shoot a nine-under 64 in the first round (2002).
  • Golf Digest ranks Sawgrass the ninth-best public course in America.
  • No two consecutive holes play in the same direction.
  • This is the local course for residents Jim Furyk (33-1), Vijay Singh (50-1) and Fred Funk (field, 10-1).

We’ve seen 17 different men win the 19 Tour events held so far in 2009 – the only two-timers are Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy (28-1), who are also the only two men to top $3 million in earnings this year. Woods (the 2001 TPC titleholder) finished first at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and has four Top 10 results in the five tournaments he’s joined; the only miss was back in February at the WGC-Accenture match play event. Woods also placed sixth at The Masters, which was won by 2007 U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera (100-1).

These are the Top 5 players on the Tour according to the World Golf Rankings, along with their most recent performances at Sawgrass.

Tiger Woods: No. 37 at the 2007 Players Championship (even par)
Phil Mickelson: No. 21 in 2008 (+4)
Sergio Garcia: No. 1 in 2008 (-5)
Geoff Ogilvy: T107 in 2008 (missed cut)
Kenny Perry: T15 in 2008 (+3)
Garcia (33-1) also finished second to Mickelson at the 2007 Players Championship, but 2009 hasn’t been kind to the Spaniard. He tied for No. 38 at The Masters and didn’t make the cut at last week’s Quail Hollow Championship – won instead by O’Hair, the 2005 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Perry (33-1) lost The Masters to Cabrera in a playoff after taking the FBR Open back in February. Since Woods is not on one of his winning streaks (he told Reuters on Tuesday that his distance still hasn’t returned following last year’s knee surgery), the betting value should be on one of the second-tier picks like Garcia and Perry.

The field of 145 golfers gets rolling on Thursday with coverage on Golf Channel starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. NBC takes over on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

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