PGA Championship

Robert Allenby to beat Stephen Ames    -125 @ Pinnacle

Ames is very much a streak player. When he is hot he is good, but at the moment he is nowhere near hot. Although his driving remains fine its

his accuracy and short game that are currently presenting him with problems. Meanwhile Allenby’s form is very strong at the moment and has the

game for this course. He is a long hitter, and although not particularly accurate this is compensated by being a fabulous long iron player and so

leading to good GIR stats. Allenby’s better current form and all-round game is also backed up by a solid h2h record, 25-17 in favour of Allenby

over the past 3 years. 

Robert Allenby to beat Stuart Appleby    -110 Generally Available

Allenby has the better overall form, beating Appleby 24-17 in h2h’s over the last 3 years. Allenby has the better current form, beating Appleby 7-3 in

h2h’s this year. Allenby has the stronger game for this course as Allenby is a long driver but erratic. He is usually saved by his strong GIR stats but his

iron play has desserted him this year as he is currently ranked 160^th for approaches from 200+ yards. All this makes -110 a very decent price.

Fred Couples to beat Tom Lehman          -125 @ FiveDimes

Couples has benefited from playing a reduced schedule this year due to his back injury. It is particularly evident in the majors where couples form is

39^th (Masters), 15^th (US Open) and 3^rd (Open Championship). His current form is strong and his game should be suited to the course as he finds good

length from the tee and a particularly good iron player. Lehman’s current form is very average and his record in this tournament is very poor.

Kenny Perry to beat Chris DiMarco          -110 @ FiveDimes/Pinnacle

The PGA is the one major that really should be tailor-made for Kenny Perry. He is a very long hitter off the tee and an excellent long iron player which makes his game ideal for this course. But with Perry it essentially boils down to can he it straight enough. Perry has however won previously at both Muirfield Village and Colonial; courses which are in many ways similar to Baltusrol. As for DiMarco, he has been close before and has the ability to do well. But I have concerns about the state of his game at the moment. He hasn't played well of late and missed the cut in The International. Indeed Perry has won 8 out of the last 10 h2h’s with DiMarco.

David Toms to beat Darren Clarke           -110 @ Pinnacle

I fancy Toms to perform strongly this week. He is slightly below average length off the tee but he’s a fine iron player (ranked 23^rd from 200+ yards)

and a sound scrambler. He has all the credentials to win a major and his current form is sound enough to suggest that he will be in contention. Clarke

on the other hand can’t be in the best frame of mind as he has spent the last two weeks lying around the beach while on vacation. Certainly he’ll be

fresh but it’s hardly the best preparation for a major over a testing course like this.

Jim Furyk to beat Luke Donald                  -120 @ Stan James

These two players have very similar games so we can’t really separate them on the effectiveness on this course. As for head-to-head stats during

2003, when Furyk was at his peak, Furyk beat Donald 15-0. From 2004 onwards up this years US Open, where Furyk was recovering from injury,

Donald beat Furyk by 10-0. But now Furyk is back and has won the last 2 h2h’s. This pick is purely oncurrent form. Furyk has been sensational of late

and while I don’t think he has the game to win he will almost certainly put in another strong showing. Donald on the other hand is not playing that badly,

but his scoring has not been impressive of late and it his form appears to have dipped. Furyk on -120 looks to be a decent price.