Early PGA Championship matchups

Early PGA Championship matchups The PGA Championship will be held at the Atlanta Athletic Club's Higlands Course in Atlanta, GA and in August Atlanta is a sauna. With temps in the mid 90's and humidity at or near 100% the PGA of America will be forced to water the greens constantly and that means softer greens that can be fired upon. Some columnists are saying that this PGA sets up very much like the U.S. Open at Congressional, where we saw very easy greens and Rory McIlroy win by a landslide. The rough as we mentioned below, is going to determine the winner of this event. Bermuda wiry rough where the ball drops straight to the bottom in 3-4 inch rough will be a major headache for those players that struggle with hitting fairways. David Toms won here in 2001 with a PGA Championship record of -15 under-par and it was due to soft greens. I'm not buying the stories that say the Champion Bermuda greens will be hard and fast. The par 70 at 7,467 yards will test the field especially on the long par threes. Martin Kaymer -120 vs. Tiger Woods Kaymer is the defending PGA Champion, and we expect a better effort here given that it's the final major of the year and the defending champ usually hangs around through Sunday. Kaymer finished ahead of Tiger by two shots last week at Firestone. Despite putting well in Round One, Tiger is out of touch with his overall game due to a lack of playing IMO. Swing changes, a new coach, new house etc...all take time and right now Tiger is super vulnerable to bet against in matchups. Jim Furyk -120 vs. Anthony Kim Both of these players have struggled this season and if it were not for some decent play last week and much needed confidence in his putting, I would not have fired on Furyk in this matchup. AK has been a good go against player for us and now noteably he is last on the planet in driving accuracy. I don't see how he is going to tame the Highlands Course from the thick stuff. David Toms +100 vs. Charl Schwartzel Toms beat us last week by sinking a 20+ footer on the 72nd hole. It happens, but we think he'll have good vibes returning to his only major triumph and if the course plays tight and the greens soft there is no better player in golf or a horses for courses condition here this week than Toms. Yes, the course is a bit long for Toms IMO, but recall his hole in one with his trusty 5 wood on 15 in 2001. He be firing in on those par 3's with woods and hybrids, which is fine by me. He's better with those clubs than most with their long irons. Schwartzel has been solid all year, but after a couple of weeks off he had his worst outing of the season last week at the WGC event finishing T53. Toms finished T9.

added Rory McIlroy -175 vs. Tiger Woods I'm not going to play more matchups against Tiger. There is Phil vs Tiger, no thanks, and Adam Scott now as well, but we know Scott he's a party animal and will really throw them back this week. Tiger was last 76 out of 76 players in the field in driving accuracy last week and this week from all sources say the rough is as bad as any they have seen anywhere anytime. Plus, good ol' Stevie giving the nod that Scott's win was the most satisfying of his career and that Tiger's caddy has white legs, cannot help Tiger's mind set. Fuel? Nah, Tiger is worried about hitting it on the clubface right now.

ALSO....earlier today Tag Heuer drops Tiger Woods and his $10 million dollar contact......ouch!

Tourneys We bet 12 matchups....10 are gone. 2 remaining are... 7034) Ryan "Vans for shoes" Moore -110 over Justin Rose, 1% play 7079) Luke D -110 over Lee "westy" Westwood, 1% play. Good Luck

1st Round Keegan Bradley -115 vs. Brian Davis Bradley played awfully well last week and fell apart on the back nine on Sunday due to a bad streak of putting. But we think he'll bounce back from that bad nine holes and continue his solid play on a course that is not all that dissimilar to Firestone, both par 70's and 7400 yards. Davis was in Reno last week playing the "B" circut Tour event. Bradley is 12th in Total Driving, Davis is 52nd, Davis will be hitting hybrids while Bradley will be hitting 7 irons into many greens = advantage Bradley.

1st Round plays, all rated 0.5% 7101) Levin +110 over P Hanson 7113) Davey Toms +108 over Phil T Mickelson 7132) Rickie Bobby Fowler -114 over Dusty "in the rough" Johnson 7147) Brandt 'Sneds" Snedeker +100 over R Karlsson. Good Luck

Prop bet...up to 2% if bankroll can take Winning score UNDER 274.5 -130. Shop around it is there.

I'm going to comment on some of the matchups indicated here and some matchups I've looked at or even bet. Perhaps some of you have missed some numbers so I find it interesting to see what is the best strategy after a missed number. With Alf's matchups, I missed the numbers again as not as fortunate as a month or so ago getting another group to play against his plays. Upon my own review, I don't really want Kaymer at the new price. I don't want Tiger either at it hasn't moved enough. Kaymer hasn't had a good year. Some books are -150 on this Pinnacle -133. If I play Kaymer it will be for less than a normal unit. In the AK vs. Furyk matchup, AK scores well in the fantasy review. And I did taste that loss I had betting against Alf's play a few weeks ago but I just don't think the world agrees that AK is that bad but Alf is right on here in that AK is horrible off the tee for hitting fairways. But that is the whole season. We know he's had 2 Top 15 in the last month or so. Had a good round in Canada and then imploded. Furyk is another guy just like Alf says not having a good season. His putting is sub par I think. AK has a lower bench mark to win this. At the same time, I'm not trying to bet against Alf so I won't here. It hasn't moved enough. If I play Furyk now, it will be for a little less. There is a +125 on AK though that I will try to snag if the line comes back. I think Alf has a good bet with Toms although Charl Schwartzel scores well on the Fantasy review but so does Toms. Toms should be favoured in this matchup. This is one where I think Alf has a great number. Bet Cris has -135 now I wouldn't lay that. I think that is too high and a bad bet. But I might also use them as a barometer and I'd like to get -110 on Toms I would still do that now and I might even do -115 and bet it for less. Might be sniffing the bottle too much on Toms but he has been hot all year and has won at this course. I don't have much to add on Rory. I just won't bet it since it has moved but I would think it is a winner. It seems to set up pretty well for Rory overall here. I bet Alf's first round matchup. Just a correction I think it was Scot Piercy that won at the Reno-Tahoe last week and not Brian Davis. Bradley was ranked pretty well in my fantasy review so I wanted to get some money on him. I'm happy to go with Alf's opinion. Davis isn't as bad a golfer as I hoped reviewing his stats but like I say I want a little on Bradley somehow. I played the Dude's matchup with Snedeker and I got his price. I like this guy. He can putt like crazy it seems. A guy I follow even has him as a potential winner of this tournament so I bet that first round matchup. I didn't bet the Moore matchup but I like Moore and Dude likes him vs. Rose. The problem for me was Moore came up not too well in my fantasy review. I don't like Rose either so maybe they're both bad and Moore wins anyway. I'll have to consider that part of it and might still bet it. I would like to bet Westwood against Donald actually and not as Dude recommended. Something like +110 I'd take a shot at if it came up. But I have to respect he liked Donald at -110 so fair enough but I won't follow that one to -120 unless there is really a big move on it. A few of my own I bet my usual YE Yang against Webb Simpson. Simpson is great, he is #1 in that overall ranking and he has done well. But I took +165. I've seen a few people who like Yang as a candidate to win and he has won. He's done well in the majors. There is no secret here Simpson is good and Yang is decent, brave and experienced I'll take a bet at these odds. I also bet another guy Alf has bet on in the past in Frederik Jacobson at -103 against KJ Choi. Frederik is excellent on the greens. Apparently though he is a low ball hitter and not much of a hitter which isn't great for this course. But his putting is right near the top and since his driving is always low and lousy I'll take that to mean that he still finds a way to score well. Perhaps it won't be so easy here. Choi did well earlier this year but his current form is poor and that is factor in my play. He is also a low ball hitter so he's not really set up for this course either from what I can tell. I'll go with Frederik and see if he can keep up his play. I also bet Riyo Ishikawa at +145 over Aaron Baddeley. Ishikawa had a great week last week. He's been touted before as a youngster who can play. And his game I understand somewhat suits this course because of a high ball flight. He scored well on my fantasy review. I thought given his current form he might be worth a bet at these odds against Baddeley. Not really sure what I got here but Baddeley does seem to be inconsistent from what I can tell.

Where did I mention that Brian Davis won at Reno? Skeeter I agree with most of what you have above here, but why are you continuously looking at Fantasy Rankings to bet actual money with? The guys that write these things are payed by the article, and are not handicappers and they probably have not made a bet on golf in their entire lives. Luke vs. Westwood should be avoided in matchups. Either player could win this event. Westwood better tee to green IMO, Luke better short game....pass.

Fair enough Skeeter... there are many ways to skin a cat. 1) I would pass on Ryo, his short game may hurt him at this track. When the greens are firm, there will be a big emphasis on the shorty. 2) Luke D has best short game on planet. Westy is Top 3 tee to green true...we will see. 3) Love Jimmy Furyk vs AK, Jimmy has had a tough year but last 3 tourneys he is pulling it together...I could not post this play as line got blasted by a few groups and I have an agreement to not post until they are done. 4) Webb Simpson is also a play we hammered but line got roasted. Best of Luck guys