THE final Major of the golfing season is now just over a week away and the biggest names in the game will be viewing the USPGA Championship as either a chance to salvage something from a disappointing season or an opportunity to crown a glorious 2015.
The latter is certainly the case for Jordan Spieth, who has been the undoubted star of the season and could easily have been heading to Whistling Straits next week with three Majors in his possession.
The Texan walked away with the Masters in April and then made the best of things in the mayhem of the US Open at Chambers Bay in June, before missing out on a play-off by just a shot at the Open Championship a couple of weeks ago.
Spieth is at the peak of his powers at present, just as Rory McIlroy was this time last year, and it is only a matter of time before the Holywood man is usurped at the top of the world rankings.
The most ill-timed ankle injury in sporting history ruled McIlroy out of defending the Claret Jug at St Andrews and it seems increasingly likely to prevent him from making a serious bid to hold onto the PGA next week on a course where he was third five years ago.
There are rumours circulating that he will play a practice round at Whistling Straits on Saturday, but even if he does tee it up next Thursday, he will do so without a warm-up event as he isn’t sufficiently fit to play in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a massive event in its own right which gets going tomorrow at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
McIlroy also won this one last term in the midst of a golden three-week spell which saw him play with the type of authority not seen since Tiger Woods in his pomp.
Ironically, Woods is also absent this week from an event he has won seven times, most recently two years ago when he romped home by seven shots from a star-studded field. Tiger simply hasn’t qualified this week as his form has been nowhere near good enough, with the extent to which his star has fallen highlighted by the fact that a tie for 18th in the Quicken Loans National on Sunday was seen as a step in the right direction.
Therefore, we’re faced with the scenario of going into a World Golf Championship without the two biggest names in the sport, regardless of how much progress Spieth has made this year. However, that shouldn’t detract from the quality that will be on show, with 77 top-class players all aiming to add a prestigious title to their CVs.
Naturally, Spieth is a warm order at the top of the market at 5/1, despite the fact he has only played at Firestone once before, when he was 44th a year ago.
This lay-out is a lengthy par-70 which is generally seen a big-hitter’s paradise, a view that was only reinforced after McIlroy’s victory by two shots from Sergio Garcia last season.
On paper the length of the course should count against Spieth, who hits the ball a short way by modern standards, although he is developing a very lucrative habit of getting the job done on courses that shouldn’t really suit. It would be folly, therefore, to write off such a big-game player, but at the odds I’m prepared to look elsewhere.
Jason Day, another man who narrowly missed out on the St Andrews play-off won by Zach Johnson, comes in on the back of a victory at the Canadian Open and is second-favourite at 14s, while Dustin
Johnson can be backed at just a shade bigger despite his worrying habit of blowing good positions on the biggest stages.
Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler are available at 16s and both are serious runners this week and next, and it is the Englishman who just gets the nod as my main pick this week. Rose is in fine form at present, with his tie for fourth in the Quicken Loans on Sunday a fifth top-six finish in his last eight outings in America. That run of form started when he was second to Spieth at Augusta in April, and has also taken in a victory at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans and a tie for sixth at St Andrews.
Rose is ideally suited for a strong tilt at this title, and has recorded four top-10s at Firestone, the best of them a second to Tiger in 2007. He was also fourth last term and combines the power and accuracy off the tee that is usually required to get in the mix. At 16/1, Rose has to be backed each-way to warm up for another Major week in the best possible fashion.
Next on the list at a general 28/1 is Garcia, a player who famously has never won a Major, and hasn’t won a WGC event either. Yet Garcia is an exceptionally consistent performer in the big ones, with his sixth in the Open last month yet another example of that.
He was also unlucky to lose out in a play-off for the Players at Sawgrass back in May when Fowler stormed home to walk away with the silverware, while his last outing resulted in a sixth in the European Masters in Switzerland the weekend before last. All of those results show Garcia is in great form, while the fact he finished second only to McIlroy here 12 months ago is also a major plus, especially as he fired a 61 in the second round to equal Tiger’s course record. A great driver of the ball, Garcia makes fine appeal at 28s.
At slightly bigger prices, each-way bets on Keegan Bradley (40/1, Boylesports) and Marc Leishman (66/1, Ladbrokes) could also bear fruit. Bradley is the ultimate ‘horses-for-courses’ selection as he won at Firestone in 2012, was second a year later and finished in a tie for fourth last term.
He is a long, accurate driver of the ball and is ideally suited by the test offered up by this course, and if he can iron out his problems with his putting, Bradley should be right in the hunt. His form is steady rather than spectacular, but a return to favourite venue should inspire Bradley to find his very best form.
Finally, Leishman lost out in the play-off at St Andrews after leading deep into the back nine on the final day, and that ability to mix it with the very best should instill a great deal of confidence in him.
The Australian can be quite erratic, but he was third here last year and should be riding a crest of a wave, so at 66/1 he offers great each-way value.
TAKE A PUNT
- Justin Rose, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, e/w, 16/1 (General)
- Sergio Garcia, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, e/w, 28/1 (General)
- Keegan Bradley, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, e/w, 40/1 (Boylesports)
- Marc Leishman, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, e/w, 66/1 (Ladbrokes)
