THIS week is the penultimate tournament of the PGA Tour, the BMW Championship at Conway Farms GC in Lake Forest, Illinois.
The last time the BMW Championship was played here was in 2013 which was notable for a 59 by Jim Furyk.
Another 59 is unlikely this time as there have been changes, from Bentgrass on the greens, six new bunkers in range from the tees, deeper deepened and an increase in length by 49 yards to 7198.
With a lot of fescue grass you have to hit straight off the tee or there is every likelihood of losing your ball.
The first player who jumps out at me is Open champion Zach Johnson with driving accuracy of 71.54, sixth in the standings. He has a GIR stat of 68.71% (35th), average putting per round of 28.86 (65th) and won here in 2013. For me it puts him up there with a great chance this week.
With nine top-10 finishes, including that win at St Andrews, he has had a good season and with everyone playing four rounds is a solid each-way bet.
Another straight hitter is Jim Furyk, 17th in driving accuracy on the tour (69.08%) and with GIR of 69.79% (16th) he fits the bill. He won the RBC Heritage and has had five top-fives since, which included a T4 two weeks ago in the Deutsche Bank.
In that tournament his driving accuracy was 82.04% and GIR 77.78% which is quite an improvement on his average. He looks to be having a strong finish to the season and is worth a wager.
One man I can’t leave out is Henrik Stenson. Although he blew it big time in the Deutsche Bank when he went into the water with three to play his stats are so good I can’t ignore him.
He is first in GIR with 74.25% and 11th in driving accuracy (69.67%). When you look at his putting stats he is first in putting from 5ft and 3rd putting from 7ft. He’s also 21st in strokes gained:putting. Definitely giving him another chance this week.
Since his T12 at the US Open Matt Kuchar has been showing a bit of a return to form with three top-10 finishes in five starts. Kooch hasn’t won a tournament this year, the first time since 2011, but in the Deutsche Bank his driving accuracy was around 73% and GIR 72% which could go a long way in helping him achieve that elusive win.
In the Open d’Italia I like the look of Soren Kjeldsen. With three T12 finishes in last four outings, including a T2 in the Made in Denmark, Soren has been playing really well. With driving accuracy of 65.3% and GIR of 69.1% he can certainly get his second win of the season.
Recommended Bets
Zach Johnson 2pts ew (28-1, William Hill)
Jim Furyk 1pt ew (20-1, bet365, William Hill)
Henrik Stenson 1.5pts ew (25-2, 10bet)
Matt Kuchar 1pt ew (40-1, 888sport)
Soren Kjeldsen 1.5pts ew (28-1, Betfred. BetVictor)
Ace Venturer
Good luck ace good to have the U.S guys back
BMW..all w/o big 3..kisner hoffman holmes jones..
Italy..zanotti, de la riva ,madsen and canizares..
Canada..mccarthy gilbert pastore
Web.com. norlander siem reavie aiken..
Already on Furyk 3pts EW @ 20/1
Going with Bernd Wiesberger this week top ball striker not got time to write in all the stats this morning but the 16/1 looks good to me.
Going to go back with James Morrison who seems to have found his mojo back the 50/1 looks big to me.
3pts EW J.Furyk 20/1 BMW
2.5pts EW Wiesberger 16/1 Open d Italia
2pts EW J Morrison 50/1
1pt EW R.Rock 1st round leader Open d Italia
Craig, it’s Furyk for me too – he’s done me a few turns in the past.
He Owes me nothing too Mr F, Course and recent form bang on too. just had a little wager on Speith too, looks like he needed the near on 2 week break to me,
BMW Championship
Chris Kirk, Hideki Matsuyama, Danny Lee – Top 20
Italian Open
Eddie Pepperell – Top 20
Roope Kakko 90/1, Kristoffer Broberg 45/1 Top 20 or E/W
Martin Kaymer 12/1 win outright
Ana (Japan)
Koumei Oda 20/1 and Ryo Ishikawa 12/1 E/W
Web.com SBC
Andrew Svoboda 66/1 and Emiliano Grillo 20/1 E/W
Agree with Furyk looking a good bet.
I’ll be taking Harris English e/w at 90/1 and also 1st round leader at 66/1 e/w.
Good luck and enjoy the golf lads.
I am going with Furyk and Z Johnson. I know you have backed Stenson Ace I had him when he found the water as well and i was not able to back him this week, i hope he gets a place for you but it will be disappointing if he wins.
3 for me this week
Rory Mcilroy 9/1 at Betfair, only a mater of time before his injury is clear and he is back to 100% the way he played the last round couple weeks ago showed signs that he may be 100%
Rickie Fowler 16/1 at Betfair when he is in form he is great and one of the best around, got lucky last time out when Stenson threw away the title but despite that Fowler still won and has had 6 finishes in the top 10 this year
Outside Bet this week Kevin Kisner 50/1 E/W I remember taking him earlier in the season and he has been mentioned on this site at various times, loking at his stats he has finished 2nd three times this year and has had 6 top 10 finishes so could be an ew squeak
Testing
On furyk at 20-1 backed him last two outings again same as Mr f he owes me nothing , can’t back stenson after last time out that’s twice he’s done this to me .
I like reed at 40-1 really like this guy, been inconsistent but last time out showed glimpses of what he can do
Good luck guys
Furyk withdrawn with a wrist injury!
Yes Oxyuris he’s definitely withdrawn after 5 holes with wrist injury. No money back either
Gutted about Furyk had a £5 ew in shop double last night Furyk and weisberger surely he knew he could not compete out there for 4 days but like you guys say he owes most of us golf fans nothing.
Unlucky with Furyk lads – JD’s burning up the course…again! -10 after 8…the guys a machine.