John Deere Classic

FINAL RESULT: 0-3; -4.50pts

Maruyama 27th
Haas 11th
Ogilvy mc

Was hopeful of a profitable return on the outrights with Haas in 3rd place with one round to play, but not to be once he had double-bogeyed the 9th hole.

Outright plays (1.5pts):

Shigeki Maruyama to win 22/1 e.w. @ Stan James
This event moves back to a week adjacent to the British Open and a weak field is again the result. Vijay Singh is a notable exception, but Maruyama also looks a standout player in this field. He followed up his 4th place finish in the U.S. Open with an 11th place finish last week so his form is certainly good enough to win this week. He did miss the cut last year, but he was in poor form at the time, which is certainly not the case this time around. He should play well on this course where driving is considerably less important than the short game.

Jay Haas to win 33/1 e.w. @ BetInternet and Victor Chandler
Have no problems with the two remaining selections having no course form. This event has been held at the TPC at Deere Run for four years and in every year the winner has been making his debut on this course. This is a surprisingly large price for the only player, bar Vijay Singh, in this field to be ranked in the top-20 in the Official World Ranking. He ranks 5th in top-10 finishes and 8th in 'scoring average' on Tour, with again the only player to rank above him in this field being Vijay Singh. So warranting 2nd-favourite status on a course that suits his shorter game, these do look goods odds.

Geoff Ogilvy to win 50/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes
And the same here. Ogilvy is a player who puts good performances together. Three times last year he secured top-10 finishes having seemingly been in a slump and on each occasion, he followed it with a top-10 finish the following week. Earlier this season he had a string of top-20 finishes from February to May. So the omens for a good week this week are good after he finished 5th in last week's Western Open. But even as the 5th ranked player in the Tour 'All-Around Ranking' category - and the top-ranked player in this field in that important stat - he should be available at much lower odds.