Categories
PGA Golf

2014 PGA Quicken Loans National Betting Odds Preview | Picks

Quicken Loans at Congressional Prediction

The PGA pros move to Bethesda, Maryland this week for the Quicken Loans National (formerly AT&T National). The headline ahead of this week is all about the return of Tiger Woods after back surgery sidelined him for much of the season.

2014 Quicken Loans National
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Course: Congressional Country Club
Date: Jun 26-29, 2014
Total Purse: US $ 6,500,000
Winner’s Share: US $ 1,170,000 (18% of total purse)
Defending Champion: Bill Haas ($1,170,000)
Golf Odds from Bovada

Admittedly, Tiger is a tad rusty ahead of his return and may not contend – this week looks more like a British Open tune-up more than anything else.

Congressional Country Club is a par-71 and it will play 7,569 yards – the second longest of the season, with three par 5s and some lengthy par 4s awaiting the contenders this week – length off the tee will certainly be an asset – long iron play is critical. Congressional was the second-most challenging par 71 of nine played in non-majors in 2013.

Greens in Regulation stats will be key this week as well as Strokes Gained Putting (as always). Elite ball strikers will do well this week as long as their putters heat up.

The Favorites:

Jason Day 14/1

Looks to be healthy again and has been good lately – a T4 at Pinehurst and a T18 at the Travelers. He had a T8 here in 2012 and a T21 on this track last year and was a solo second when the US Open was contested here in 2011. Course history and current form make Day a deserved favorite this week.

Jordan Spieth 14/1

Spieth is competitive every time out – no matter the course. He has top 20s in six of his last seven starts including the last three in a row. He was T6 here last year after holding the lead after 36 holes. Spieth will be looking for his first win of the year and is most deserved of one.

Justin Rose 14/1

Has won this tournament – back in 2010 when it was contested in Pennsylvania. He was last seen finishing T12 at the US Open and has five top 15 finishes in his last seven starts overall including a T12 at Pinehurst. But course history here isn’t great – he missed the cut in the US Open in 2011 to go along with a T30 and T16 in his other two trips to Congressional.

Tiger Woods 14/1

Woods has won two of the five editions of this event at Congressional but plays his first tournament in over three months. Tiger admits that he will be rusty – a win seems like an extreme long shot this week.

The Contenders:

Brandt Snedeker 22/1

Has certainly looked much better as of late and is coming off two straight top 15 finishes – a T9 at the U.S. Open and a T11 at the Travelers last week. He’s a streaky guy who loves this track. He has a T5 and two T8s in his last three starts in this event and was T11 on this track when the US Open took place here in 2011.

Keegan Bradley 25/1

Is another guy that is rounding into form. He was T4 at Pinehurst but plays Congressional for the first time this week on a track that course history is pretty important. He is 17th in the all-around, 22nd in adjusted scoring and 21st in scrambling – good traits for this course but a lack of history has me shying away.

Webb Simpson 28/1

Had a T3 at the St. Jude Classic but was a disappointing T45 at the US Open last time out. He finished T14 here when the US Open was contested on this track in 2011 but his game doesn’t really suit Congressional.

Bill Haas 30/1
[soliloquy id=”82219″]
Defending champion here has been decent as of late – a T35 at the U.S. Open followed a T21 at Colonial and a T8 at Memorial. His game obviously suits Congressional very well making Haas an interesting 30/1 this week.

Brendon Todd 33/1

Really came into his own playing in the final group at the US Open. He enters on a streak of four straight top 20s including a win at the Byron Nelson. Todd is seventh in strokes gained-putting; 12th in adjusted scoring and he did finish T13 at Congressional last year. Todd, despite his terrific recent run Todd is still under the radar.

Jason Dufner 33/1

Pretty hard to count Dufner out in any tournament that is “Major Caliber”. To discount him is plain foolish.

K.J. Choi 33/1

Former winner here is coming off a terrific T2 last week at TPC River Highlands. Although he’s heating up his recent course history on this track scares me off – missed cuts in his last two starts here.

Billy Horschel 40/1

Has shaken an early season funk and has finished T26 or better in his last four starts overall including a T6 at St. Jude. His course history here isn’t great however – a missed cut in 2009 and a T61 in 2013. His below average scrambling starts won’t bode well this week but his T6 in GIR could come in handy.

Gary Woodland 40/1

Finished T16 here last year and had been OK this year before finishing outside the top 50 in his last two starts overall.

The Sleepers (50/1 or higher):

Carl Pettersson 50/1

Has been playing very well – a T3 at St. Jude and a T7 at Travelers and challenging every time out the last couple of starts. He has eight straight under par rounds – worth a look!

Charley Hoffman 50/1

Has made the cut in all five appearances here and had an OK T 26 last week at the Travelers.

Brendan Steele 66/1

Contended last week en route to a T5 at the Travelers. He was T16 here in 2013 and could be a factor.

The PGA Pick:

The Pick this week is Jason Day at 14/1. Although I don’t love picking the top favorite Day is an obvious choice here. Course history and current form make it and obvious call.

My sleeper is Carl Peterson ay 50/1. He is quietly trending upward ahead of this event and hasn’t shot over par in his last eight rounds overall.

VIEW OUR TOP CAPPERS PICKS FOR ALL SPORTS – EVERY SINGLE DAY 24/7 —–>

By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.