S.P. Read Esq. USPGA surely not McIlroy again ?

Our daily columnist and pundit S.P.Read Esq. looks ahead to the final Major of the season, the USPGA which gets underway at Valhalla on Thursday and for which their are a wide range of bets available on Star Spreads, the home of sports spread betting.

Golf and the start of the new football season – and that’s all BEFORE this weekend.

The final Major of the season the USPGA Championships gets underway at Valhalla on Thursday and on Friday the Championship season kicks off at Ewood Park when Blackburn host Cardiff (DON’T FORGET MATCH TRADED LIVE ON  STAR SPREADS).

I had a tiny loss on the sell of distances at Carlisle on Monday so go into the weekend armed with some nice profits from Goodwood to spread around (did you see what I did there?).

As you would expect, Star Spreads have a wide range of markets available on the USPGA including the popular 18 Hole Match Bets every day through the Tournament plus 72 Hole Match Bets. I’ll be looking at the opening day Match Bets on Thursday. Don’t forget if you can’t see the match bet you want – then just click on Trader Chat and one of the Star Spreads traders will be happy to price it up.

And remember all the latest USPGA news and offers from Star Spreads will be tweeted so make sure you are following if you are not already @starspreads_bet

There’s are two big questions surrounding the USPGA.

Will he won’t he ? – Can McIlroy continue his stupendous run of form and secure a fourth Major ?

Will he won’t he ? – Will Tiger Woods even make the starting line ?

A decision on Woods participation can be delayed as late as 1.35pm on Thursday after he was granted an extension to his registration deadline.

Woods withdrew after eight holes of his final round in the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone last week, when he was seen clutching his lower back several times having made an awkward swing from the edge of a bunker early in the round.

For once, bookmakers won’t be having any sleepless nights about Woods but they certainly will be about McIlroy who completely dominates the outright market in exactly the same way that Woods used to.

McIlroy won this in 2012 and comes here in the absolute peak of form having won the Open Championship at Hoylake which he dominated from the start and also, most recently, a two-shot success in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Valhalla has twice previously hosted the PGA Championships, In 1996 when Mark Brooks won in a playoff and in 2000 which saw Tiger Woods also win a playoff.

The course has undergone a major overhaul since hosting the Senior PGA Championship in 2011 which has included the rebuilding of all 18 greens. The latest weather forecast for the week is pretty much set fair with no major storms forecast in Kentucky and nothing more than light breezes.

In terms of a bet the three I fancy are listed below.

As I fancy them to do well I will be SELLING them on the Star Spreads Finishing Position market (max 70).

Let’s get one thing straight I can’t be backing McIlroy. Simply no value in that as far as I am concerned.

SERGIO GARCIA

Has twice finished second to McIlroy in both the Open Championships and at the Firestone Country Club last week when he started the final round three shots up on his friend McIlroy but ended up being two shots adrift. At three and a half times the price of McIlroy here has to be backed on value grounds alone.

PHIL MICKELSON

Has had a poor season by his own high standards but a closing round of 62 on Sunday might just be the stimulus he needs to get competitive as he goes in search of his sixth Major title.

MATT KUCHAR

The most consistent player on the Tour and his ‘short and straight’ game looks ideal at Valhalla.

TEE-OFF TIMES
(Local, add five hours for GMT)

(x) denotes amateurs

Round one:

Starting at hole 1

0710 Bryce Molder, Kevin Chappell, Brian Stuard
0720 Jeff Maggert, Aaron Baddeley (Au), James Driscoll
0730 Jhonattan Vegas (Ve), Lucas Glover, Robert Allenby (Au)
0740 Carl Pettersson (Se), Kyle Stanley, Stewart Cink
0750 Alex Aragon, Derek Ernst, John Huh
0800 Ben Curtis, Geoff Ogilvy (Au), Vijay Singh (Fj)
0810 Josh Teater, Brendan Steele, Jason Kokrak
0820 Troy Matteson, Brian Davis (En), Jeff Overton
0830 Billy Hurley III, Andrew Svoboda, Bronson La’cassie (Au)
0840 Robert Streb, Hudson Swafford, Justin Thomas
0850 Troy Merritt, Jim Renner, Chris Williams (Za)
1150 Chad Campbell, Jason Gore, Daniel Summerhays
1200 Fred Funk, Camilo Villegas (Co), Erik Compton
1210 Y.E. Yang (Kr), J J Henry, Scott Verplank
1220 Marc Leishman (Au), Angel Cabrera (Ar), Charles Howell III
1230 Mike Weir (Ca), Davis Love III, Hideki Matsuyama (Jp)
1240 Chez Reavie, Ben Crane, Spencer Levin
1250 Cameron Beckman, John Senden (Au), Justin Hicks
1300 Charlie Wi (Kr), John Rollins, Jim Herman
1310 Ryo Ishikawa (Jp), Bud Cauley, Jamie Lovemark
1320 Edward Loar, Brice Garnett, Brooks Koepka
1330 Bobby Gates, Seung-yul Noh (Kr), Andres Gonzales

Starting at hole 10

0710 Luke Guthrie, Nicholas Thompson, Scott Langley
0720 Pat Perez, Jose Coceres (Ar), Blake Adams
0730 George McNeill, Ted Potter, Jr., Kevin Na
0740 Gary Woodland, Jonas Blixt (Se), Billy Horschel
0750 Patrick Reed, Charlie Beljan, Tommy Gainey
0800 Sean O’Hair, Rocco Mediate, Trevor Immelman (Za)
0810 Steven Bowditch (Au), Stephen Ames (Ca), Morgan Hoffmann
0820 Paul Goydos, Jason Bohn, Tim Wilkinson (Nz)
0830 Michael Putnam, John Peterson, Chesson Hadley
0840 Andrew Loupe, Danny Lee (Nz), Peter Malnati
0850 Chad Collins, Russell Knox (Ld), Mark Hubbard
1150 Briny Baird, Heath Slocum, Ricky Barnes
1200 Jimmy Walker, David Hearn (Ca), Brian Harman
1210 Freddie Jacobson (Se), Johnson Wagner, Retief Goosen (Za)
1220 Scott Brown, Stuart Appleby (Au), Justin Leonard
1230 Brian Gay, Rory Sabbatini (Za), Tim Clark (Za)
1240 Will MacKenzie, Jerry Kelly, William McGirt
1250 Robert Garrigus, Chris Stroud, Cameron Tringale
1300 Brad Fritsch (Ca), Tyrone Van Aswegen (Za), Max Homa
1310 Doug LaBelle II, Brendon Todd, Kevin Tway
1320 Scott Gardiner (Au), Lee Williams, Ben Martin
1330 Will Claxton, Kevin Kisner, David Carr

CLICK HERE FOR USPGA MARKETS ON STAR SPREADS

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale 1-100 points)

SELL SERGIO GARCIA at around 25 with Star Spreads (USPGA FINISHING POS MAX 70) for 3 points

SELL PHIL MICKELSON at around 34 with Star Spreads (USPGA FINISHING POS MAX 70) for 3 points

SELL MATT KUCHAR at around 32 with Star Spreads (USPGA FINISHING POS MAX 70) for 3 points

• Any spread prices quoted are indicative and as always prices are subject to fluctuation.
• Please note the opinion, views and forecasts above are of the author and not of Star Spreads.