On one of the golf “talk shows” over the weekend, an analyst—I want to say it was Tim Rosaforte—opined that the next American World Number One would be Nick Watney. If so, his 12/1 odds to win this weekend’s Zurich Classic makes sense. But I’m not so sure. He’s currently #14, behind Americans Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. That’s a lot of people to leap over.
Luke Donald, on the other hand, the odds on favorite this weekend at 9/1, seems poised to take that top spot. Heck, he almost took it last week against a top field at the Heritage, while Lee Westwood was boosting his stats by drubbing double-A in Indonesia.
The Zurich Classic actually has a pretty good field this week. There’s Steve Stricker (18/1); Justin Rose (22/1) and; Bubba Watson and KJ Choi (25/1). Last week’s winner, Brandt Snedeker, comes in at 28/1. Ben Crane, Charley Hoffman and Rickie Fowler are all at 33/1.
Finally, the only Louisianan to win the Zurich (New Orleans) Classic, David Toms, is at 35/1. I have to think he’s that high because he’s a sentimental favorite. He hasn’t been been playing badly this year (made 5 of 7 cuts, with 2 top 10s), but he’s not been one of those guys threatening the leaders on Sunday.
You can see the complete betting odds for the Zurich Classic below, courtesy of Bodog, the world’s largest betting destination.
| Player | Odds |
| Luke Donald | 9/1 |
| Nick Watney | 12/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 18/1 |
| Justin Rose | 22/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 25/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 25/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 28/1 |
| Ben Crane | 33/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 33/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 33/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 33/1 |
| David Toms | 35/1 |
| Brian Gay | 40/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 40/1 |
| Robert Allenby | 40/1 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 40/1 |
| Brendon De Jonge | 50/1 |
| Chris Couch | 50/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 50/1 |
| Jeff Overton | 50/1 |
| John Senden | 50/1 |
| Pat Perez | 50/1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 50/1 |
| Spencer Levin | 50/1 |
| Stephen Ames | 50/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 50/1 |
| Camilo Villegas | 66/1 |
| J.J. Henry | 66/1 |
| Kevin Sutherland | 66/1 |
| Sean O’Hair | 66/1 |
| Tommy Gainey | 66/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 66/1 |
| Brandt Jobe | 80/1 |
| D-A Points | 80/1 |
| Jerry Kelly | 80/1 |
| Justin Leonard | 80/1 |
| Kevin Streelman | 80/1 |
| Nick O’Hern | 80/1 |
| Tim Petrovic | 80/1 |
| Vaughn Taylor | 80/1 |
| Alex Cejka | 100/1 |
| Boo Weekley | 100/1 |
| Brian Davis | 100/1 |
| Carl Pettersson | 100/1 |
| Charlie Wi | 100/1 |
| D.J. Trahan | 100/1 |
| Greg Chalmers | 100/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 100/1 |
| Peter Hanson | 100/1 |
| Troy Matteson | 100/1 |
| Andres Romero | 125/1 |
| Bryce Molder | 125/1 |
| Cameron Tringale | 125/1 |
| Chris Dimarco | 125/1 |
| Dean Wilson | 125/1 |
| Garrett Willis | 125/1 |
| Hunter Haas | 125/1 |
| Jason Bohn | 125/1 |
| John Rollins | 125/1 |
| Ryui Imada | 125/1 |
| Tim Herron | 125/1 |
| Joe Durant | 150/1 |
| David Duval | 175/1 |
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Just made my picks for the team:
Donald, Bubba, Brandt and Tommy Two Gloves were my easy picks.
Daly because he is playing and cheap.
Ben Crane was a pretty easy pick too – I think soon he will last the whole four days (I am a little concerned about this is like his 4th or 5th week in a row playing).
Rickie and Ryan Palmer seems like they are primed.
Shaun Micheel since we eat chinese at the same restaurant.
That’s 9, and I am down to just about 900k, – I want some buffer so I can drop even one of the cheaper players to pick up someone mid-field if they are near the top of the leaderboard going into Sunday. Of course usually one of the more expensive players won’t make the cut, so it still usually isn’t a problem to pick up someone in the 3 million range or so. Last week I had to drop someone sort of in the running so I could pick up Furyk for Sunday – well that didn’t turn out so well. Luckily I had Donald and Brandt from the initial pick.
If you check my blog, you will see you I liked this week. David Toms and Luke Donald are my top 2 picks. Staying away from Brandt Snedeker this week.
I considered dropping Brandt – but I usually got him, and I figured it was better than 50/50 he would follow last week by going strong.. Clearly I was in error looking at the leaderboard