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2014 PGA WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Betting Odds Preview | Picks

Bridgestone Invitational Prediction

What a week it was for me . The only stress I had going into Sunday was whether or not my pick or my sleeper would walk away victorious in Canada – Tim Clark at 66/1 was the man – nice payday indeed!

2014 Bridgestone Invitational
Location: Akron, Ohio, United States
Course: Firestone Country Club
Date: Jul 31 – Aug 3, 2014
Total Purse: US $ 9,000,000
Winner’s Share: US $ 1,500,000 (17% of total purse)
Defending Champion: Tiger Woods ($1,500,000)
Golf Odds from Bovada

That makes two deep sleepers that I have hit on in the last four months – Matt Every paid me off at 80/1 at the Arnold Palmer in late March.

Let’s see if we can do it all again this week.

The PGA pros are back in the USA this week to play the 2014 Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club – a venue that Tiger Woods has dominated the past decade and a half winning there an astounding eight times including last year.

Firestone will play 7400 yards and is a par 70 with just two par 5s – length and overall ball striking is essential here for success. Accuracy is also a major benefit – hitting fairways and greens will be typically tough. You will have to score on the par 4s this week – and a hot flat stick won’t hurt either.

So who should we keep our eyes on this week? Let’s break it down.

The Favorites:

Rory McIlroy 6/1

Rory looks poised to go on a run doesn’t he? He tees it up for the first time since winning the Claret Jug and has two wins in his last six starts overall. His Driver was stellar at Royal Liverpool – if he hits as well as he did two weeks ago there is no reason to think he won’t dominate. He has three top 10s in 5 trips to Firestone and is scary this week.

Adam Scott 12/1

Suddenly has Rory on his heels in the World Golf Rankings but a look at his recent run suggests that he is still the rightful owner of the #1 spot. He win at Colonial and has followed that with a T4 (Memorial); T9 (U.S. Open); T5 (The Open) – impressive. Scott won this tournament in 2011 and should be motivated for a good performance this week.

Tiger Woods 12/1

Keep in mind all of these stats came when Tiger was healthy – he is the eight time winner here – most were dominant including a seven shot victory last year. His career earnings at Firestone? $11 million! He has to be mentioned but I’m not expecting a whole lot this week.

The Contenders:

Justin Rose 16/1

Is another guy knocking on the door of the #1 spot in the world. He won two straight – at Congressional and Royal Aberdeen before a T23 at THE OPEN. He has three top fives in this event and should play well on a track similar to Congressional.

Jim Furyk 20/1

Jim just can’t seem to close one out – a second place finish last week in the Canadian Open was the latest final round “collapse” – he now has three runner ups in his last seven starts. Something has to give! He has nine top 10s in this event in his last 14 tries – his tremendous consistency has Furyk looking like a nice 20/1 shot.

Rickie Fowler 20/1

Pretty hard not to love how Fowler has progressed. His last two starts are T2s and both came in majors to go along with a T8 at Royal Aberdeen and a T13 in Memphis. Fowler looks like the next breakout star on TOUR – he’s due and on a track that he finished T2 on in 2011, this could be Ricky’s Week.

Henrik Stenson 22/1

Finished T2 here last year during his huge streak and has been coming on of late – four top 10s in recent weeks, including a T4 at the U.S. Open. He’s an elite ball striker and is 5th in Total Driving – all could help his this week.

Jordan Spieth 25/1

Has cooled off a tad after five straight top 20s but has proven that no course at no time is intimidating to him. Spieth plays for the first time at Firestone looking to right the ship.

Keegan Bradley 25/1

Has played this track very well – a win in 2012 and a second place finish last year and has been coming on of late after a brutal beginning to the 2014 campaign. He was T19 last time out at The Open and before that finished T4 at Greenbrier. Bradley sits 12th in Total Driving and 24th in Par 4 Scoring Average – perfect attributes for Firestone.
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Sergio Garcia 25/1

Has not played well here at all – he hasn’t been inside the top 20 here since 2007 despite having all the attributes that should fit Sergio’s game. He is coming off consecutive second place finishes including The Open but his history here has me scared off.

Martin Kaymer 28/1

Has shown up huge in the big events on American soil lately but only has two top 10s on the season – they happen to be the THE PLAYERS and the U.S. Open. He has just one top 10 here but I’ve counted him out before and looked ridiculous doing so.

Matt Kuchar 28/1

Looked better in finishing T4 in Canada after five straight starts without a top 10. He has two top 10s here and has 10 top 10s on the season already. Kuch is solid tee to green making him a weekly contender.

Graeme McDowell 40/1

Failed to crack the top 10 in his first seven tries here but has figures something out the last couple of seasons – a seventh (2012) and a T4 (2013) in two starts here. He has been very good in the leadup to this week – a win in Paris and T9s the last two weeks. He looks like good value at 40/1 for sure.

The Sleepers (50/1 or higher):

Steve Stricker 50/1

Has gone T6-T9-14-T2-13 in his last five appearances here and was last seen finishing T11 at the John Deere. Stricker doesn’t play all that often but when he does he is competitive. At 50/1 he is by far the best value on the board right now.

Angel Cabrera 55/1

Some more very good value! He has finished T4 in three of the last eight visits here and has finished inside the top 25 in his last four starts overall, including a win at Greenbrier. He is playing as well as ever at the moment – if his driver is on, Angel is an instant contender again.

Graham DeLaet 66/1

Stellar ball striker is coming off a T7 in his country’s Open last week. He is one of those guys that is overdue for a win – it just may not come against this stellar field.

The Pick:

I’m going to roll the dice with Rickie Fowler at 20/1. Call it a hunch but the kid is due. He has been terrific and definitely isn’t scared of the best fields golf has to offer.

My sleeper this week is a steal – Steve Stricker at 50/1. He has gone T6-T9-14-T2-13 in his last five starts in this tournament and is too good to be undervalued.

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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.