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Last year this opposite field, for so long at home at Montreux Country Club, moved to another Jack Nicklaus design – the Tahoe Club just over the state border in California. It may have changed home but the format remained modified stableford, a quirk that has been in operation for a long time and is popular enough to remain a constant without ever being so popular that any other tournament introduces it. Given it takes place opposite the World Golf Championship St Jude Invitational there are big opportunities up for grabs. Victory this week represents the chance for youngsters to take a leap or veterans or journeymen to revive their careers. Sometime PGA Tour performer Brandon Harkins is a regular visitor to the club and said of it: “It’s a phenomenal layout for the Stableford format. There are some tricky holes, but there are also some great risk/reward holes where you can gain some points in a hurry.” Perhaps notably there are three drivable par-4s which perhaps explain why the leaders all scored especially well on those holes – but at the same time it’s not been included below as an angle because the curiosity of that trio of short holes makes it rather difficult to assess beforehand. Lanto Griffin said: “It's got a lot of character. The greens have some good slopes on them and a couple of drivable holes. There's a lot of holes where you've kind of got to think whether you want to hit 4-iron off the tee or you want to hit driver and push it up. 16 is a good example of that. It definitely makes you think. A really fun course to play.” Will Gordon added: “It provides some great risk-reward opportunity off the tee and that's going to be an exciting kind of strategic way of looking at the golf course, especially in this format. “You want to kind of hit more drivers out here and be a little bit more aggressive off the tee, I think that provides a little bit more opportunity. There's a couple drivable holes here, too, and Montreux had one of those, but out here you're kind of off the tee able to kind of dictate how you want to play it a little bit more than Montreux.” Richy Werenski won last year from Troy Merritt in second.
Angles to consider 1/ Nicklaus design Jack Nicklaus courses are often alike, sometimes even startlingly so. It’s a consequence of the great man giving lots of freedom from the tee box, but he wants it to be deceptive – one side will favour the approach over the other. He also then likes to have greens that test distance control of iron through the week. At first glance last year’s one and two have no great history on Nicklaus designed, but they did both spent time in the top 20 during the week of the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village a few weeks before their visit here. 2/ Format nous Both Werenski and Merritt had finished second in the tournament before. 3/ Putting The pair at the top last year have rarely struggled the scorers in Strokes Gained categories. However they were both ranked top 50 on tour last year for SG Putting. 4/ Altitude The course is over 6,000 feet above sea level. It explains, perhaps, why any sort of past tournament form holds up – not just the format, but also the ball flying miles.
Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Gary Woodland A past winner of the tournament so the format and altitude will hold no fears. He’s been easing himself back into form this season, collecting a few good finishes in the spring and then landing T11th last time out at the 3M Open. Played Nicklaus courses really well last year (two top 10s, one halfway top 10). Pat Perez He finished second in this event back in 2011, he ranks 39th for SG Putting this term, he finished T18th on course debut last year, he’s a Californian native, and he’s been in contention in three of his last five starts, earning top 15s each time. Andrew Putnam Unusual conclusion to the picks to make four not three (see below). Putnam is a past winner of the event, he’s a fine putter, and his approach game has solid at times recently. Small punt on him and then … Maverick McNealy A short price but want him on-board. He was seventh in the event last year, he’s from the state, he’s made five consecutive top 30s and he was fourth on a Nicklaus track this year (Harbour Town).
Tips: 1-3; +7.00pts 1pt e.w. Gary Woodland at 28/1 (Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6) 7th 1pt e.w. Pat Perez at 40/1 (William Hill, 888, Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6) 30th 0.5pt e.w. Andrew Putnam at 125/1 (Bet365, SportNation 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 2nd 1pt win Maverick McNealy at 18/1 (General) 18th
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