Best bets
2.5pts each-way Tony Finau @ 10/1
1pt each-way Nick Dunlap @ 40/1
1pt each-way Sahith Theegala @ 18/1
0.5pt each-way Emiliano Grillo @ 40/1
0.5pt each-way Cam Davis @ 33/1
0.5pt each-way Adam Hadwin @ 40/1
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Bravo to brilliance! Xander Schauffele showed it in spades as he completed a clean sweep for the USA in this year’s majors, joined the elite two-in-a-year band by coming out on top in a fascinating Open Championship and put himself in pole position for a second gold at next month’s Olympics in Paris.
The little guy from San Diego some thought would never win a major because he too-often looked faint-hearted in a finish added the Claret Jug to the Wanamaker Trophy he picked up at the PGA Championship, showing no trace of nerve and no mercy as he soared to victory over brave Brit Justin Rose and overnight leader Billy Horschel.
‘A serious challenger at last to Scheffler, no longer in a class of his own.’
Well backed at 12/1, he had looked the most likely winner for most of the weekend once world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler who finished T7 had shown himself a mere mortal rather than a golfing god.
What a portfolio of major finishes Schauffele can boast for 2024 – eighth at the Masters, first at the PGA, seventh at the US Open, first at The Open. Plus second at the Players. A serious challenger at last to Scheffler, no longer in a class of his own.
He leapfrogs over Rory McIlroy into No. 2 spot on the world rankings, the glum-faced Northern Irishman missing the cut by a long way, not the only big-name victim of a raw Royal Troon made even more punishing by Saturday’s lashing rain and fierce winds. Shane Lowry is one who won’t forget the back nine in a hurry – eight under par, three clear and one hand on the trophy to one under and seven dropped shots later back in the pack.
Just a few days before turning 44, Rose put down a marker for a Ryder Cup place at Bethpage Black, New York, next year. The gutsy 67 on Sunday after starting the day just one off the lead would normally have been enough to lift the Claret Jug. But against Schauffele’s immaculate 65 it fell just short.
He played a blinder in the last Ryder Cup – what was supposed to his last Ryder Cup – and captain Luke Donald is not so overloaded with stars he won’t be giving Rosey the call again.
Whether he and Horschel, both shattered by the conditions and the disappointment of getting so near and yet so far, can reproduce golf of that quality in the 3M Open at Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, is the week’s big teaser for punters.
The bookmakers have already made up their minds in putting the pair up at temptingly big odds behind market leader Tony Finau who missed the cut at Troon, as did two of his main dangers Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia, but getting back to the States and away from all that third-round carnage will surely be to their advantage.
Any sign of fatigue, mental or physical, will be exaggerated by the humidity of temperatures in the high 80s following heavy rain in the first half of the week, forecast to return on Sunday after a sunshine first two rounds.
As the prices emphasise, Finau is the most likely winner in a field where the highest-ranked player is Theegala at 11. No top-ten golfer in attendance and Finau, despite fragility with the flat stick, has plenty going for him, 2022 winner at Twin Cities, an Arnold Palmer-design par 71 measuring 7431 yards made intimidating by having copious water hazards but not so intimidating that 300/1 Lee Hodges couldn’t shoot 24 under par last year and win by seven, cheered home by the bookies.
Finau apart, the course winners are a curious collection not only Hodges but wild Matt Wolff just a month after turning pro, short-hitting Michael Thompson (whatever happened to him?) and bomber Cameron Champ. None of that quartet has won since.
Finau, also T3 in the 2020 3M, has shaken off a dodgy start to the year with some solid performances, notably third at the US Open followed by fifth at the Travelers.
Theegala, fourth in the Scottish Open before Troon defeated him, and double winner Bhatia won’t be far away and Sam Burns was in with a big shout going into Open Sunday just two back of Horschel but imploded with an 80. After playing all four days, can he get over that so quickly?
With his victory at the Barracuda on Sunday, Nick Dunlap made PGA Tour history by winning as an amateur and a professional in the same year. The 20-year-old from Alabama turned pro straight after showing brilliant nerve to win the American Express in January and he again showed his steel when coming from behind at the weekend to land us a tasty 40/1 winner. It’s harder this week but not by much and I can see this class act getting into the mix again.
On course form Emiliano Grillo, tenth last year, runner-up to Finau in 2022 and third to Thompson in 2020, must have a shout. Even though he isn’t having a great season he’s a multiple winner with a touch of class returning to a course he enjoys.
Aussie Cam Davis, who shared tenth with Grillo last year, shouldn’t be far away after his recent win in Detroit and a case can be made for Canadian Adam Hadwin, fourth here in 2019 and sixth two years later. Not the most consistent, he would not be far away on his third at Memorial and fourth at Riviera.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, bright new kid on the block Luke Clanton, birdie machine Erik Van Rooyen and last year’s runner-up JT Poston are all contenders … and Rose could surprise us again. Plenty of life in that old dog.
Best bets
2.5pts each-way Joaquin Niemann @ 10/1
1.5pts each-way Richard Bland @ 28/1
1pt each-way Sam Horsfield @ 80/1
Uttoxeter, a pretty market town in the West Midlands more famous for its racecourse than its golf course, hosts some of the world’s golfing greats this weekend when Saudi-backed LIV pays its annual visit to the U.K.
Not this time to the Centurion course outside St Albans where the LIV dream was unfurled in the summer of 2022 but to the JCB Golf & Country Club, a modern design by Robert Hiseman opened six years ago. An island green, three par fives over 600 yards and a picturesque par three of 244 yards over a lake, plus a ruined stately home, are among the promised treats in store.
The long, snaking par-four 18th rounds off this 7255-yard par 71 mystery test and it should be fun seeing Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and LIV’s latest two winners Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia get to grips with it over 54 holes starting Friday.
‘LIV stars with the exception of seventh-placed Rahm and Burmester (19th) had a rough time at Royal Troon.’
LIV stars with the exception of seventh-placed Rahm and Dean Burmester (19th) had a rough time at Royal Troon, DeChambeau, Hatton and Cammie Smith among the half-dozen who missed the cut. Others like Dustin Johnson (31st), Brooks Koepka (43rd) and Joaquin Niemann (58th) failed to do themselves justice.
Yet Niemann played much better than that. Even a quintuple-bogey eight at the infamous 123-yard eighth, the Postage Stamp, where he visited three bunkers and three-putted couldn’t stop him making the cut as he then played the back nine in 31.
The slim Chilean is LIV’s star of the year with two early wins at Mayakoba and Jeddah to go with the Australian Open title he picked up at the back-end of last year. He is seven times a top-seven finisher with LIV this year and Fitzdares’ 10/1 rates fair value.
On the back of a decent but far-from-flawless performance at Troon, Rahm is just about favourite over DeChambeau but he still looks so uncomfortable on putts in the three-to-five-foot range that it is hard to get excited about 13/2.
The perfect result would be an English winner in England. It might warm the British public to what LIV is trying to do: creating a louder, shorter, user-friendly, shotgun-start format that resonates with the younger generation. It will be interesting to see, by the size of the paying audience, how far they have come since those early, unsure steps at Centurion two years ago.
It is only recently we had the first British winner when Hatton won in Nashville but away from LIV Richard Bland has notched back-to-back senior majors, citing playing regularly with and against great golfers like DJ, Rahm and DeChambeau has boosted his self-belief tremendously.
Playing in his home county of Staffordshire this week, the 51-year-old from Burton-on-Trent will be all out to impress and won’t be short of supporters. Still without a LIV win but third at Greenbrier among a fistful of top-tens, Bland could be Niemann’s biggest danger along with another Englishman, Sam Horsfield, now hopefully free from the ailments which slowed his career. The aggressive Mancunian showed what he was capable of with second place to Hatton in Nashville and could be overpriced at 80/1. Horsfield was fifth in the very first LIV tournament at Centurion.
Underrated South African Burmester, winner of LIV Miami in April and top 20 in two majors, the USPGA and our Open, is another at a working man’s price who could challenge.
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