JUST when we thought the game of golf was going to turn into a two-horse race over the next few years between Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, another 20-something popped up at the weekend to remind everyone of his rich potential.
Rickie Fowler was last week named as the most over-rated player in the game - alongside Ian Poulter - in an anonymous poll of his fellow PGA Tour players, but he came up with the perfect response in the Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday night.
How a player ranked 13th in the world, who finished in the top five in all four Majors last term, can be seen as over-rated is beyond me, but it is true that before Sunday, he had only ever won once on the PGA Tour, a poor return for a man of Fowler's huge talent.
Yet, he was a player apparently inspired by that damning verdict from his peers on the treacherous closing stretch at Sawgrass, playing the last six holes in six-under on Sunday before birdieing the infamous par-three 17th twice in the play-off to see off Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner.
It was a timely response from the Californian, who has seen big mate McIlroy and Masters champion Spieth take all the plaudits and headlines in recent months.
It is also a big boost for the organisers of the Irish Open, who will now have the Players champion in the field at Royal County Down at the end of the month, and a few more tickets might well have been sold on the back of Sunday's thrilling finish.
Such was the last-gasp nature of Fowler's victory that it is not a huge surprise he takes a rest this week, although he must have had mixed emotions about that given that the tour goes back to the scene of his only other victory, at Quail Hollow GC, which once more plays host to the Wells Fargo Championship. Fowler saw off McIlroy in a play-off to take this title in North Carolina in 2012, while the Holywood man also made his PGA Tour breakthrough in this event, two years prior to that. The world number one heads the field and dominates the betting this week on a long, testing course that really suits his game.
Indeed, the very fact he is playing considering his demanding schedule in the coming weeks should be taken as a hint that he really fancies his chances this week. Having won at the WGC World
Match Play, McIlroy moved on to Sawgrass last week to finish eighth despite never holing a putt, while he defends his title at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week before playing host in Newcastle straight after that.
If the PGA Tour was stopping off at anywhere other than Quail Hollow, he would surely have taken a week off, but he is playing and is by far the most likely winner, as best odds of 7/2 (Stan James) clearly suggest. That is perhaps a skinny quote in a field that contains plenty of quality players, including world number three Henrik Stenson and Major champions Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson, but it is a reasonable reflection of how things are likely to pan out.
McIlroy is easily the best player in the field at present and the best punting plan is to put the bulk of what you have set aside on him, even at that price, and have a couple of small each-way savers on players at bigger prices.
I'd be very surprised if the Holywood man doesn't win on one of his favourite lay-outs, and if he holes even a few more putts than he did at Sawgrass, a course that doesn't suit his attacking game, he could lap the field.
Therefore, a decent-sized bet to win is the way forward, while it wouldn't surprise me to see him coming flying out of the traps after the frustrations of Sawgrass, so he is value at 15/2 with totesport to be the first round leader.
AS for those savers I mentioned, I'm pretty tempted by Phil Mickelson each-way at 25/1 as he has a great record at Quail Hollow without actually winning.
The risk-reward style of the course suits him, but his inconsistency makes him hard to trust, and preference is just about for the steadier head of Jim Furyk.
This is a very long course which suits big hitters, as shown by JB Holmes's victory last year, but Furyk plays it a very different way and it is hard to argue with his results.
He was second to Holmes last term, and won way back in 2006, a year after also finishing second on the track, so he knows how to get the job done and is also in fine form, having won the RBC Heritage last month before reaching the semi-finals at the Match Play, where he ran into a late blitz from McIlroy. Furyk is a 22/1 chance this week with Bet Victor and is a great each-way shout.
At slightly bigger odds, I'll also be having small each-way punts on Kevin Kisner and Sean O'Hair. Kisner lost out in a play-off for the second time in three events at Sawgrass but did very little wrong and was very unlucky not to win the event on the final green when a great putt just skimmed the hole.
He has emerged as a fine talent recently and also recroded his best result of last season at Quail Hollow when he tied for sixth, so he has to be given another chance this week at 40/1 (888sport).
Finally, O'Hair won here in 2009 and is back in good form after a spell in the wilderness.
A missed cut at Sawgrass can be forgiven and three of his previous five outings resulted in a second at the Valspar Championship, a sixth at the Heritage and a 12th in the Zurich Classic, so his form in general is very good.
Coupled with his course pedigree, it all makes O'Hair a decent candidate this week at 66/1 (totesport), although it really should be the case that they are all playing for second.
* Rory McIlroy, Wells Fargo Championship, 7/2 (Stan James); first round leader, 15/2 (totesport)
* Jim Furyk, Wells Fargo Championship, e/w, 22/1 (Bet Victor)
* Kevin Kisner, Wells Fargo Championship, e/w, 40/1 (888sport)
* Sean O'Hair, Wells Fargo Championship, 66/1 (totesport)
* Juventus to qualify for Champions League final, 11/10 (General)
* Real v Juventus, 1-1 draw, 7/1 (Paddy Power)