Mickelson headlines field at Greenbrier Classic

Mickelson headlines field at Greenbrier Classic

Greenbrier Classic Tees Off: Thursday, July 28 The Old White TPC – White Sulphur Springs, WV Odds to Win Tournament (For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.com) Golfer Odds Phil Mickelson 10-to-1 Sergio Garcia 15-to-1 Charles Howell III 20-to-1 Webb Simpson 20-to-1 Retief Goosen 25-to-1 Jeff Overton 25-to-1 Bill Haas 30-to-1 Brandt Snedeker 30-to-1 Spencer Levin 30-to-1 Chris Kirk 30-to-1 7 Golfers 40-to-1 Field 9-to-4 A year ago at the inaugural Greenbrier Classic, Stuart Appleby shot a final round 59 to take the title. Don’t expect this year’s field to pick up where Appleby and Co. left off last year. The Old White TPC has undergone some changes, with a narrowing of the fairways and firming of the greens. Here’s a look at the favorites on the re-done course… Charles Howell III (20/1): Howell has gone top-5 in his past three starts in the States, which he followed with a respectable T28 at the British Open. Last year at the Greenbrier, he shot four rounds of 67 or less en route to a T9. Sergio Garcia (15/1): It seems like Garcia has been building up to this. He’s finished in the top-25 in 11 of 15 starts this year, and top-10 in his past three. Webb Simpson (20/1): Simpson is still looking for his first career win, but he’s been hanging around the past five starts. He has top-20’s in his past five starts, including two top-10’s. Jeff Overton (25/1): Last year’s runner-up, Overton kicked off July with his best finish of the year (T3) at the AT&T National. Phil Mickelson (10/1): He’s back after taking a week off following his runner-up at the British Open. Mickelson has five top-10’s this year, including three in his past seven starts. Brandt Snedeker (30/1): He had registered four straight top-25’s before missing the cut at the British Open. More importantly, Snedeker has had one of the Tour’s hottest putters all year long. Stuart Appleby (100/1): No doubt, the Aussie has been a disaster of late; he hasn’t made a cut since May. But Appleby wasn’t exactly sharp going into Greenbrier last year. At these odds, there’s nothing wrong with the defending champ as a longshot this week.

College Football Win Totals 2011

Here are the opening season win totals for the 2011 College Football Season:

Alabama 10 -120o

Oklahoma 10

Boise St. 10.5 –120o

LSU 9.5 -160u

Stanford 9 -150u

S. Carolina 9 -150u

Arkansas 8.5

Texas A&M 8.5 -120u

Georgia 8.5 -160o
Oklahoma State 8.5

Nebraska 9.5 -140o

Florida State 9.5 -130o

Virginia Tech 10

Wisconsin 9.5 -120o

Arizona St. 8 -120o

West Virginia 9.5 -140u

Florida 7.5 -130u

USC 7.5 -130o

Notre Dame 8.5 -130o

Texas 8

Miss State 7.5 -130u

Miami 8 -120u
Oregon St. 6.5 -130u

TCU 9 -130u

BYU 8.5 -150o

Missouri 7.5 -120o

Michigan State 7.5 -120o
Auburn 6 -155o

Tennessee 6.5 -120o

Penn St 7.5 -155o

North Carolina 8 -130o

Michigan 7 -130o

Utah 7.5 -120u

Nevada 8 -125u

UNLV 2.5 -130o

2011 PGA Championship odds

Rory McIlroy didn’t capture the British Open championship this past weekend, but that didn’t prevent oddsmakers from listing him as a favorite for the second consecutive major.

5Dimes sportsbook released its odds for the 93rd PGA Championship, which will be played Aug. 8-11 at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga., and McIlroy will go off as an 8-to-1 favorite.

Phil Mickelson (+1200), Lee Westwood (+1400), Luke Donald (+1400) and Tiger Woods (+1600) round out the top five.

Woods will be one of the major question marks over the next few weeks, as it still isn’t known whether or not he will be in the field. Woods, who injured his left leg during the Master’s earlier this year, has not played since the Player’s Championship, where he was only able to finish 9 holes before withdrawing.

He also fired his longtime caddy, Steve Williams, on Wednesday.

I’ll have further commentary on the PGA championship next month, but until then, here are a few players whose odds appear somewhat intriguing at first glance:

David Toms (+6500): Toms won the PGA Championship in 2001, the last time the event was held at the Atlanta Athletic Club. However, the course has been renovated since then, and the event will be played on the highlands course.

Jim Furyk (+6500): Furyk finished 7th in 2001, but has greatly improved his game since then. He is one of golf’s most consistent players and should stay in contention throughout the event. He offers decent value for those willing to take a risk.

Dustin Johnson (+2500): My pick to win the PGA. Johnson has finished in the top 10 at the championship the last two years, and is almost always in contention at majors. Eventually, he’s going to break through and capture one of these darn titles, and I think he has a great chance to do it in Atlanta.

List of odds for PGA Championship (August 8-11):

Rory McIlroy +800
Phil Mickelson +1200
Lee Westwood +1400
Luke Donald +1400
Tiger Woods +1600
Martin Kaymer +2000
Dustin Johnson +2500
Steve Stricker +3000
Jason Day +3500
Matt Kuchar +3500
Sergio Garcia +3500
Charl Schwartzel +4000
Graeme McDowell +4000
Hunter Mahan +4000
Nick Watney +4000
Adam Scott +5000
Bubba Watson +5000
K. J. Choi +5000
Rickie Fowler +5000
David Toms +6500
Ian Poulter +6500
Jim Furyk +6500
Padraig Harrington +6500
Justin Rose +7000
Matteo Manassero +7000
Retief Goosen +7000
Zach Johnson +7000
Brandt Snedeker +8000
Ernie Els +8000
Fred Couples +8000
Geoff Ogilvy +8000
Paul Casey +8000
Y. E. Yang +8000
Anthony Kim +9000
Francesco Molinari +9000
Aaron Baddeley +10000
Alvaro Quiros +10000
Angel Cabrera +10000
Camilo Villegas +10000
Henrik Stenson +10000
Louis Oosthuizen +10000
Lucas Glover +10000
Martin Laird +10000
Robert Karlsson +10000
Ross Fisher +10000
Sean O’Hair +10000
Steve Marino +10000
Jonathan Byrd +11000
Vijay Singh +11000
Bill Haas +11500
Ben Crane +12500
Bo Van Pelt +12500
Davis Love III +12500
Edoardo Molinari +12500
Jeff Overton +12500
Jhonattan Vegas +12500
Ricky Barnes +12500
Robert Allenby +12500
Ryan Moore +12500
Stewart Cink +12500
Stuart Appleby +12500
Tim Clark +12500
Mark Wilson +13500
Miguel A. Jimenez +13500
Ryan Palmer +13500
Alex Cejka +15000
Carl Pettersson +15000
Peter Hanson +15000
Ryo Ishikawa +15000
Trevor Immelman +15000
Jerry Kelly +17500
Charley Hoffman +20000
Kevin Na +20000
Kevin Streelman +20000
Arjun Atwal +22500

by BEYONDTHEBETS on JULY 20, 2011 ·

Donald favored to win Canadian Open

RBC Canadian Open

Tees Off: Thursday, July 21
Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Odds to Win Tournament

(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.com)

Player	Odds
Luke Donald	8-to-1
Matt Kuchar	12-to-1
Rickie Fowler	15-to-1
Charl Schwartzel	15-to-1
Ryan Moore	25-to-1
Hunter Mahan	25-to-1
Bo Van Pelt	25-to-1
Anthony Kim	30-to-1
Paul Casey	40-to-1
Bryce Molder	40-to-1
Spencer Levin	40-to-1
Lucas Glover	40-to-1
Jim Furyk	40-to-1
5 Golfers	50-to-1
Field	9-to-4

After a wild week at the British Open, things get back to normal as the Tour heads up north. Heavy rains have softened up the greens at Shaughnessy, which last hosted a tour event in 2005, so despite some unfamiliarity with the course look for scores to go low this week. Here’s a look at some of the top contenders…

Ryan Moore (25/1): The Washington state native should feel right at home in the Pacific Northwest. He was a runner-up at Shaughnessy the last time the Open was played here back in 2005. He had a solid showing at the British Open (T28) and tied for second at the Travelers Championship the last week in June.

Matt Kuchar (12/1): He missed the cut at the British Open, ending his streak of 29 made cuts. But he’s still been remarkably consistent in 2011, and he was in contention at Shaughnessy in 2005 (T14).

Charl Schwartzel (15/1): He’s hung around again and again this year (seven top-25 finishes), including a T16 at the British Open.

Luke Donald (8/1): He’ll have something to prove after a disastrous missed cut at the British. He won in Scotland the previous week, and is certainly the best golfer in this field with eight top-10 finishes in 11 Tour events this year.

Anthony Kim (30/1): He’s still trying to find his form after an injury-plagued 2010, but last week was a major confidence boost for Kim. He finished T5 at the British, playing Friday-Saturday-Sunday, when things were especially difficult, at 2-under par.

Spencer Levin (40/1): A horrendous Saturday took him out of contention at the British Open, but he managed to sandwich an 81 with a couple of 1-under 69’s in very tough conditions. He had two top-15’s in his three starts prior to the British.

Bo Van Pelt (25/1): Getting back to North American soil should do Van Pelt some good. He had a disappointing week at the British (T57), but had a run of five straight top-15 finishes prior to that.

Rickie Fowler (15/1): He’s put together a couple of nice weeks, with a T5 at the British Open preceded by a T13 at the AT&T National. He’ll have to solve his Sunday woes, though, as he carries a 71.83 final-round scoring average (134th on the Tour).

Stricker favored to win another John Deere Classic

John Deere Classic

Tees Off: Thursday, July 7
TPC Deere Run – Silvis, IL

Odds to Win Tournament

(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.com)

Player	Odds
Steve Stricker	7-to-1
Jason Day	10-to-1
Zach Johnson	15-to-1
Charles Howell III	20-to-1
David Toms	20-to-1
Jonathan Byrd	25-to-1
Stewart Cink	30-to-1
John Rollins	30-to-1
Steve Marino	30-to-1
Heath Slocum	40-to-1
John Merrick	40-to-1
Bryce Molder	40-to-1
Brian Gay	40-to-1
Louis Oosthuizen	40-to-1
8 other Golfers	50-to-1

A year ago, Steve Stricker needed a four-day total of 258 (-26) to defend his title at the John Deere Classic, and his opening-round 60 was overshadowed by the 59 Paul Goydos shot on Thursday. In other words, get ready for another shootout at the TPC Deere Run. Here’s a look at who’s most likely to come out on top…

Steve Stricker (7/1): He’ll be fresh after taking two weeks off, and his track record was strong before the break: seven straight top-20 finishes, including a win at the Memorial to kick off June. Obviously, a three-peat is awfully difficult (only seven golfers have ever done it at any tournament), but considering his performance in Silvis, combined with his Tour-leading par breaker percentage (25.83%), Stricker has a great shot to do it.

Charles Howell III (20/1): After taking two weeks off after a T3 finish at St. Jude, Howell picked up right where he left off with four sub-70 rounds at the AT&T National for a second straight T3. If Stricker trips up, Howell has as good a chance as anyone to hoist the trophy on Sunday.

Jason Day (10/1): He’s gone top-10 in five of his past six starts, and Day has hung around at the John Deere each of the past two years, finishing T15 both times.

Zach Johnson (15/1): The Iowa native has been right there at the John Deere each of the past two years, including a T2 in 2009. He was a bit inconsistent at the Travelers two weeks ago, but had two separate runs of five straight birdies en route to a T24.

John Rollins (30/1): He took a week to rest after a T2 at the Travelers, which gave him two top-10s in his past three starts. He missed the cut here a year ago, but Rollins is playing much better this summer than he was a year ago.

Jonathan Byrd (25/1): The winner here in 2007, Byrd hasn’t played since missing the cut at the U.S. Open. But he was on a nice run prior to that with two top-10s and three top-25s in four starts.

David Toms (20/1): He hasn’t played here regularly, but Toms won the John Deere back in 1997 and looked sharp two weeks ago at the Travelers (T17 with four sub-70 rounds, including a 64 on Sunday). He’s probably longer than 20/1 odds, but with his accuracy off the tee (74.41%, best on the Tour) and iron play (71.86% GIR, second on the Tour), he’s clearly a hot putter away from title contention.

Bryce Molder (40/1): After missing 10 cuts in his previous 13 starts, Molder has caught fire with back-to-back top-10 finishes. He’s a darkhorse as long as his putter stays hot (.684 strokes gained putting, seventh on the Tour).

For all others, The Field goes off at 3/1.