Buick Open

The week before a major and a weak field is to be expected, but this event does normally attract more of the game's elite. Buick sponsor Tiger and he has been a regular until this year. Also missing are Vijay Singh and Ernie Els who play here more often than not. It leaves just one player present from the world top-10 - Phil Mickelson. His unusual schedule continues this week.

Despite the presence of the bigger names, this event has a history of producing a surprise winner the week before the PGA. Last year's winner, Rocco Mediate was available at 100/1, the 1999 winner, Tom Pernice, was available at 150/1 and the 1998 winner, Billy Mayfair, was available at 125/1. The headline players have obviously been present in body and not in mind in those last three years!

The course itself is setup rather easy for the players. The fairways are very generous and the Bentgrass greens are larger than the Tour average. All too often been an exercise in target golf. Jim Furyk was a selection last year and managed to have just bogey in the entire event, but he still finished 16th. It hardly seems ideal preparation for Atlanta.

The three selections this week are Hal Sutton, Jeff Sluman and Kenny Perry. Sutton has been sidelined for a month with back problems, but he would not risk further injury to his back with the PGA Championship a week away if he were not sure that he were fit. Sutton is a very deliberate player. The break could possibly be good for his game as well. After winning the Houston Open, he failed to secure another top-10. However, refreshed and coming back to an event in which he has an excellent record, including 3rd last year, he looks good value in a weak field at the available odds.

Jeff Sluman is one of the form players on Tour at the moment. A top-10 finish in Milwaukee, he won the BC Open the week after and then finished 4th in the John Deere Classic. Having rested for a week, he can make a late charge for a Ryder Cup place with another high finish this week and next. He is obviously a fan of the course, he has missed this event just once since 1985, and should feature this week.

Kenny Perry is another form-horse. He finished 11th last week as a selection, having secured three top-10 finishes in the previous four events. With a 16th place finish on his return to this event last year, he looks a good prospect for another top-10 finish and hopefully a place finish as well.

Outright plays:

Hal Sutton to win 25/1 e.w. @ Surrey

Jeff Sluman to win 33/1 e.w. @ Sports.com

Kenny Perry to win 50/1 e.w. @ Sports.com

72-hole plays:

Billy Mayfair to beat Woody Austin -111 @ Simon Bold
Austin may have finished in the top-10 in the last two events and have a great record in this event, but it is still hard to be confident in someone who has missed two-thirds of his cuts this year. Mayfair's credentials as a former winner of this event and a 3rd place finish in the British Open are more supportive

Dudley Hart to beat Woody Austin -111 @ Easybets
Hart is another who has a good record on this course - 9 of his last 10 rounds have been under par - and is in good form. He secured two top-10 finishes last month in much better company. A better player than Austin and should prevail

Dudley Hart to beat Jose Maria Olazabal -111 @ Simon Bold [2 units]
Olly may have confounded last week with his high finish (15th), but he still remains one to oppose until his driving improves. He has played here the last two years and missed the cut both times. An easy oppose with Hart

John Cook to beat Jose Maria Olazabal -115 @ Camelot
Cook has a had a light schedule this year, playing just 17 events. However, he has been consistent, missing just two cuts and obviously loves this event. In 21 years, he has missed this event just three times with just three cuts missed. Will make the weekend and that should be enough

Joel Edwards to beat Mathew Goggin -150 @ Camelot
Easy to oppose the out-of-form Goggin. In the last two months he has missed the cut four times and finished no higher than 62nd in the other two events. He also missed the cut last year on his only visit; Edwards secured a top-25 finish

Hal Sutton to beat Retief Goosen -110 @ BlueSq
Goosen may have won the US Open, but has done little else on American soil apart from 12th in the same event the year before. He should play well, but with the added pressure on his return, a top-20 finish is about as much as can be expected this week. With better things forecast for Sutton in the outrights, he is a straightforward pick

Chris Perry to beat Per-Ulrik Johansson -125 @ Camelot
Two players under-achieving on the PGA Tour at the moment, but Perry has a decisive edge this week. He returns to a course on which he has finished in the top-25 in the last four years and was runner-up last year. Johansson has not played this course before and flies in from the Scandinavian Masters, which is less than ideal preparation

Kenny Perry to beat Tom Pernice -111 @ Ladbrokes
Fully expect a fallout from the dramatic way in which Pernice won last week after three weeks of missed cuts. His only other victory was here (1999), but he will find it difficult to raise his game again this week and the more consistent Perry is the clear selection

Mid-point update:

Pretty good start   Five plays are decided at the cut and four are winners. Hart beat Olazabal by three, Cook beat Olazabal by seven, Edwards beat Goggin by seventeen and Chris Perry beat Johansson by two. In the only loss, Goosen did miss the cut, but so did Sutton and he took one shot more.

In the remaining plays, Mayfair trails Austin by four, Hart trails Austin by three and Kenny Perry leads Pernice by five. The weekend should get better with those picks! Should be a long weekend with the outrights though, while Sutton missed the cut and Sluman is in 28th place, Kenny Perry leads the event by three shots and it could have been more. At 50/1 let's hope his nerves will be better than mine

Final update: 7-1-0 and +6.90 units

Great event   Typified by Mayfair shooting a final round 61 to overcome a seven-shot deficit and beat Austin by two   The other two remaining plays also won. Hart beat Austin by six and Perry beat Pernice by four. Sutton's one-shot deficit at the cut was the only loss of the week.

Update on outright plays: 1-2 and +29.25 units

Wire-to-wire winner. And to think I was going to play the place-only option at Olympic, but their odds on Kenny Perry (40/1) were not as attractive as the 50/1 at Sports.com   Sluman shot four rounds under 70, but never threatened a top-5 finish. He finished 21st, while Sutton missed the cut but of little importance this week! Nice bit of momentum going into the PGA Championship.