Fresh from posting Ian’s tips earlier, I always like to do my own betting on any of golfs majors and world events. So, for those that are interested and for those who want to see me pitted against Ian, here is my take on this week.

Firstly, there are a few points worth noting:
1. Every winner since 2000 has either a win or multiple top 5 finishes on the PGA Tour in the season to date.
2. Players with a link to Florida or Georgia succeed – every single winner since 1997 either has a residence there, schooled there or was brought up from one of those 2 states.
3. Other than Tiger Woods, no-one has won this event at their first attempt.
4. The course is long at 7,400 yards as a par 70, therefore long accurate hitting is required.

Now some of the names I seriously considered were Lee Westwood, Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar but if we stick rigidly to the criteria above, all are eliminated. So, who was left……well there were a total of 10. These were Els, Allenby, Woods, Goosen, Kim, Poulter, Johnson, Palmer, Mahan and Villegas. To narrow it down, here are my top 3.

1. Reteif Goosen @ 40/1
2. Dustin Johnson @ 45/1
3. Ernie Els @ 33/1

While i like Ian’s selections of Westwood and Mahan, I dont think Molinari stands out as a candidate considering this is his first time playing there. Considering no one other than Tiger Woods has won at his firstt attempt here, I think that stat is pretty conclusive of just how difficult this course can be. We shall wait and see but Im hoping my guys can outperform our top tipster this week.