NFL Golf Classic

The Senior Tour's equivalent of a pro-am, this is essentially two events that coincide on Friday and Saturday. The amateur event is open to former and current NFL players and they compete over four days starting on the Wednesday and after the 36-hole cut they are joined for their final two rounds with the Senior pros, who then complete their own final round alone on Sunday.

As with any pro-am, experience of playing this format, even in this convoluted form, is important as distractions will be plenty this week. It is no surprise therefore that Lee Trevino has such a great record in this event. It can also explain why there is no Gil Morgan, Hale Irwin, Bruce Fleisher or Tom Kite. The course, unusually for a pro-am, is set up with tight fairways and deep rough. Keeping the ball in play will be as important this week as keeping concentration.

The three selections are Dana Quigley, Walter Hall and Tom Jenkins; long-time selection Allen Doyle is passed over @ 6/1. Quigley has finished in the top-10 twice in the past three seasons here, so the format and the course are obviously not too daunting. He has shown a return to form as well with a 2nd place finish at the TD Waterhouse Championship and has been in contention for at least a place finish in the two events since, only to falter in the final round. Against a weak field and with a good history here, he represents decent value.

Walter Hall withdrew from last week's BellSouth Classic for family reasons. Assuming that that is resolved, he comes into the event on a great run of form. He has finished in the top-10 in four of his last six events, including 2nd at the Las Vegas Senior Classic. With a 2nd place finish last year (he does have a lot of those!) and a top-10 the year before, he also fits the bill of a player in decent form and importantly, a good history at this event.

To complete a trio of players with those characteristics, the third choice is Tom Jenkins. He has finished in the top-20 in 12 of his 17 events this season and one of those that wasn't was a 21st place. Similarly he has played in this event twice and finished in the top-10 both times. The only concern is that he has not converted enough of those chances into top-4 place finishes, but he has won several Senior Tour titles, including last year's Canadian Senior Open, so he does have the experience of finishing off the job. Either way, at 66/1 even a place finish would result in a nice profit.

Outright plays:

Dana Quigley to win 33/1 e.w. @ UKBetting

Walter Hall to win 50/1 e.w. @ UKBetting

Tom Jenkins to win 66/1 e.w. @ UKBetting

Final update: 0-3 and -3.00 units

A blank on the week, but at least there were chances. Quigley had been in contention, but only for the 1st round; he finished 33rd. Jenkins recovered from a poor 1st round, but as with the concern noted above, he once again finished in the top-15 but not in the top-4. This time he finished 14th, while Hall did look like he might sneak a place finish, but eventually finished two shots shy in 7th place. Should have stuck with long-time selection, Allen Doyle