Sport

Furyk the fancy to shine at Sawgrass

IN the 40-year history of The Players Championship, nobody has successfully defended the title and we can safely say that run won't be ended this year. Tiger Woods emerged victorious on the famous Tournament Course at Sawgrass last year, becoming only the fifth man to record two career wins at the venue, some 12 years after his first victory there.

However, Woods misses out this week as he continues to recover from back surgery, and he admitted on Monday that he has no real idea when he will be fit to resume competitive golf.

The absence of the world number one would be a blow to any event, but 46 of the top 50 in the rankings tee it up - Jason Day is another high-profile injury victim - and the unofficial 'fifth Major' should provide plenty of entertainment for the viewing public.

Of course, much of that entertainment tends to come at the infamous par-three 17th hole, where the island green and customary winds usually make it a more daunting proposition than the 137 yards on the scorecard would suggest.

The presence of that hole so close to the finishing line means the leader can't afford to relax coming down the stretch on Sunday, while there is water all the way up the left of 18 as well.

Adam Scott visited the pond on the final hole but held on to win this one back in 2004, and the Australian disputes favouritism with Rory McIlroy this week.

However, the fact that the pair of them can be backed at 14/1 suggests the bookies view it as a wide-open week, and it is hard to argue with them, especially given that the last couple of winners on the PGA Tour - Seung-Yol Noh at the Zurich Classic and JB Holmes in the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday - were huge outsiders.

It has also been a strange season for a number of the leading lights, with McIlroy and Scott - as well as Phil Mickelson - getting themselves into winning positions without getting the job done.

I'm loathe to give up on Rory and he will win very soon, but perhaps it won't be this week as, despite a tie for eighth last season, Sawgrass hasn't really suited him in the past.

The venue tends to throw up a winner who employs a patient strategy, plotting his way around the course and keeping mistakes to a minimum.

Woods had the fewest bogeys of anybody in the field last term and duly won the coveted prize, so the key is to look for a plotter who is coming in carrying good form.

And the obvious name, to me at least, is that of Jim Furyk, who can be backed at 33/1 generally.

The veteran American, who won the US Open way back in 2003, is still a real threat on the PGA Tour, as shown by his fast-finishing second at Quail Hollow on Sunday, when he closed with a 65 on a course that shouldn't suit him.

That is great momentum to be carrying in to a lay-out that is right up his street, and it is a surprise he has never won The Players.

He does have some course form, however, with a tied third in 2006, a fourth in 2004 and a fifth in 2009 to his credit, so he ticks plenty of boxes.

Furyk's form is very good at present, with that second on Sunday following on from a seventh at the Heritage and a 14th at the Masters, when a closing 75 took him out of contention.

I feel he is ideally suited to the test in store at Sawgrass this week and should really be in the shake-up.

NUMBeR of the characteristics displayed by Furyk are traits shared by Luke Donald, and he is my next pick at 25/1 with Ladbrokes.

The englishman hasn't won a big event since his PGA Championship success at Wentworth almost two years ago, but he is definitely getting back to the form that took him to the top of the world rankings at that stage.

After a fair amount of tinkering, he is happy with his swing again, and that was shown when he finished second to Matt Kuchar at the Heritage on his last outing three weeks ago.

Prior to that he missed the cut at the Masters, but that isn't a major concern, with a fourth at the Valspar Championship a couple of events before that a more relevant guide for this week.

Donald (left) has all the tools to be a success at Sawgrass, finishing fourth in 2011 and sixth a year later, so he should go well and the odds of 25/1 look appetising.

Sergio Garcia can be backed at the same price with 888sport and he could go close to becoming only the sixth man to win twice at Sawgrass after Woods, Fred Couples, Davis Love, Hal Sutton and Steve elkington.

The 2008 champion here also lost out in a play-off to Mickelson the year before that, while he has two more top 10s to his name in this one, most notably when tied for eighth last season.

Garcia comes in carrying fine form, with five top-20s in-a-row prior to missing the cut at Augusta, the best of which was a third at the Shell Houston Open, and he could also go well at the price.

At longer odds, meanwhile, I'm going to take a punt on two more europeans in Ian Poulter and Martin Laird at 80/1 (Ladbrokes) and 100/1 (William Hill) respectively.

Poulter's season has been disappointing on the face of it to date, but he has been telling everyone how well he is hitting the ball.

His results might not reflect that, but he did impress in patches at Augusta on his last outing, finishing 20th after getting onto the fringes of contention on more than one occasion, and he has a bit of course form at Sawgrass, finishing second to Henrik Stenson back in 2009.

The odds are too big for a player of his class, while the same can be said of Laird, who was second in this one two years ago and fifth last season.

A best finish of 19th in 2014, at the Phoenix Open, is hardly impressive, but the Scot was in the hunt after 36 holes at Quail Hollow before falling away.

That said, he is a three-time PGA Tour winner with a fine pedigree at Sawgrass. He might just return to form at triple-figure odds.