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Post by Makers on Jun 22, 2016 4:30:10 GMT -5
 Golfers to Bet - CongressionalTournament: Quicken Loans National Date: Thursday, June 23rd Venue: Congressional Country Club (Blue) Location: Bethesda, MD The TOUR heads to Bethesda for the Quicken Loans National after an eventful U.S. Open this past weekend. Dustin Johnson was the story of that tournament, as he finally broke through and won his first major. It was quite the redemption for Johnson, who blew last year’s tournament with a three-putt on the 18th hole. Now the golfers will shift their attention to this week’s event and Tony Merritt was the winner here a year ago. He shot an 18-under to defeat Rickie Fowler by three strokes and both guys will be in this year’s field. Joining them will be guys like Jim Furyk, Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman and Brendan Steele. Most of the world’s top golfers will be using this week to rest. With that out of the way, let’s now take a look at who might be coming away victorious on the 7,569-yard course on Sunday: Golfers to Bet Patrick Reed (18/1) - Reed has not yet won a tournament this season, but he has been all over the top of the leaderboard and this could be his best chance to win yet. Reed has three second place finishes on the season and six other top-10 finishes as well. He’ll now head to Bethesda and get to face a field that is void of the top golfers on the TOUR. He is already one of the most talented golfers himself, so it’s just a matter of him keeping it together and finding a way to stay poised throughout the weekend. He’s worth putting a few units on at 18/1 though. Justin Thomas (27/1) - Like Reed, Thomas is yet another player with all of the talent in the world. He performed admirably at the U.S. Open last week, finishing tied for 32nd and he should have his sights set on winning this tournament. Thomas finished tied for third at THE PLAYERS and has a golden opportunity to win his second tournament of the year, as he won the CIMB Classic in early November. The key for Thomas will be accuracy with the irons. If he can hit his approach shots well then he’s a tremendous value at 27/1 and is worth putting a unit or two on for the weekend. Keegan Bradley (70/1) - Bradley has had one of his worst seasons as a pro in 2016, but he is still a very talented golfer and this could be an opportunity for him to turn his season around and start to build some confidence. Bradley finished nine-over at the U.S. Open, but he was 12-under and tied for eighth place at the Memorial Tournament just two weeks before. If he can channel that type of play then he will certainly be a threat to win this one. The field for this event just might be weaker than any we’ve seen thus far and it’s a golden opportunity for Bradley to pick up a win. He’s worth putting a unit or so on at 70/1. Tony Merritt (130/1) - Merritt won this event a year ago and is still receiving some absurd odds at 130/1. Not only did he win this event in 2015, but he also happened to have set a tournament record with his 18-under score and 266 aggregate. The golfers won’t be playing on the same course that they did a year ago, but he might be able to lock in and find his game in this one. It also doesn’t hurt that Merritt has had a decent season thus far in 2016. He finished tied for 11th at the Northern Trust Open, tied for third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and tied for 17th at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational. He’ll be looking to win his first title of the year on Sunday, but it always helps to be returning as the top dog. Odds to win Quicken Loans National - per Sportsbook.ag Rickie Fowler 14/1 Jim Furyk 18/1 Patrick Reed 18/1 Marc Leishman 25/1 Brendan Steele 27/1 Justin Thomas 27/1 Byeong Hun An 30/1 Charley Hoffman 30/1 Bryson Dechambeau 33/1 Gary Woodland 33/1 Kevin Chappell 33/1 Bill Haas 35/1 Ryan Palmer 35/1 Russell Henley 40/1 Tony Finau 45/1 Webb Simpson 45/1 Chris Kirk 50/1 Daniel Summerhays 50/1 Jamie Lovemark 50/1 Roberto Castro 50/1 Jason Kokrak 55/1 Robert Garrigus 55/1 Charles Howell III 60/1 Francesco Molinari 65/1 Kevin Streelman 65/1 David Hearn 70/1 Jon Rahm 70/1 Keegan Bradley 70/1 Kyle Reifers 70/1 Seung-Yul Noh 70/1 Adam Hadwin 75/1 John Senden 75/1 Shawn Stefani 75/1 Harold Varner III 80/1 Matt Jones 80/1 Patrick Rodgers 85/1 Hudson Swafford 90/1 Jon Curran 90/1 Patton Kizzire 90/1 Wesley Bryan 90/1 Chez Reavie 100/1 Ricky Barnes 100/1 Ben Martin 110/1 Cameron Tringale 110/1 James Hahn 110/1 Jordan Niebrugge 110/1 Lucas Glover 110/1 Martin Piller 110/1 Robert Streb 110/1 Scott Stallings 110/1 Anirban Lahiri 120/1 Ben Crane 120/1 Bud Cauley 120/1 Chris Stroud 120/1 K.J. Choi 120/1 Luke Guthrie 120/1 Smylie Kaufman 120/1 Spencer Levin 120/1 Tom Hoge 120/1 Sung Kang 125/1 Brian Harman 130/1 Jhonattan Vegas 130/1 John Huh 130/1 Si Woo Kim 130/1 Tim Wilkinson 130/1 Troy Merritt 130/1 Brett Stegmaier 140/1 Morgan Hoffmann 140/1 Billy Hurley III 150/1 Fabian Gomez 150/1 Luke List 150/1 Zac Blair 150/1 Aaron Baddeley 180/1 Andrew Loupe 180/1 Chad Collins 180/1 Derek Fathauer 180/1 Michael Thompson 180/1 Nick Taylor 180/1 Will Wilcox 180/1 Brian Stuard 190/1 Bronson Burgoon 190/1 Ernie Els 190/1 Martin Laird 190/1 Michael Kim 200/1 Steve Wheatcroft 200/1 Vijay Singh 200/1 Brendon de Jonge 230/1 Camilo Villegas 230/1 George McNeill 230/1 Jason Gore 230/1 Jim Herman 230/1 Kyle Stanley 230/1 Scott Pinckney 230/1 Stuart Appleby 230/1 Tyrone Van Aswegen 230/1 Vaughn Taylor 230/1 Will MacKenzie 230/1 Rory Sabbatini 240/1 Blayne Barber 250/1 Chesson Hadley 250/1 Greg Owen 250/1 Jeff Overton 250/1 Mark Hubbard 250/1 Rod Pampling 250/1 Steve Marino 250/1 Tyler Aldridge 250/1 Whee Kim 250/1 Carlos Ortiz 300/1 Hiroshi Iwata 300/1 Peter Malnati 300/1 Rob Oppenheim 300/1 Davis Love III 350/1 Carl Pettersson 400/1 Andres Gonzales 450/1 Arjun Atwal 450/1 Erik Compton 450/1 |
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Post by Gooba on Jun 22, 2016 5:13:39 GMT -5
10 Players to Watch: Quicken Loans National
By Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange
1. Rickie Fowler, United States -- The highest-ranked player in the field this week at No. 6 in the world, Fowler has struggled with three consecutive missed cuts in the Players, the Memorial and the U.S. Open. He's too good for this to continue and could be ready to snap out of it at Congressional. Last year in the Quicken Loans National, he posted four rounds in the 60s and finished second, three shots behind winner John Merrick at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. He also tied for 21st in 2013 at Congressional and tied for 13th in 2011 at Aronimink. Before his recent slump, Rickie posted six top-10 results this season, including a playoff loss to Hideki Matsuyama of Japan in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
2. Patrick Reed, United States -- Although Reed was another one of the top players who missed the cut in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, he leads the PGA Tour with nine finishes in the top-10 this season, including seconds in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and the Valero Texas Open. He is making his third start in the Quicken Loans National. Two years ago, he held the 54-hole lead before closing with a 77 at Congressional to slide to a tie for 11th. Reed is the fifth and odd-man-out for the U.S. Olympic team right now and needs a victory to close the gap on Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler if he wants to land on the team that goes to Rio in August.
3. Marc Leishman, Australia -- The third-best Aussie in the world behind Jason Day and Adam Scott, Leishman finished in a tie for 18th in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, dragged down only by a 77 in the third round. It was his third straight finish in the top 20, as he also tied for 13th in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational and tied for 11th in the Memorial Tournament. Leishman, whose only victory on the PGA Tour came in the 2012 Travelers Championship, held the 36-hole lead in the 2014 Quicken Loans National at Congressional after a 66 but played the weekend in 73-74 and slid to a tie for eighth. He also tied for seventh in 2010, closing with 67-68, when the tournament was played at Aronimink in Pennsylvania.
4. Jim Furyk, United States -- The 46-year-old Furyk showed that his game is coming around in his fifth tournament back from left wrist surgery when he closed with a 66 last week to tie for second in the U.S. Open before his home state (Pennsylvania) fans at Oakmont. That was his first top-10 result since a tie for fourth in the Deutsche Bank Championship last September during the FedEx Cup playoffs, a week before he went out because of the injury in the BMW Championship. Furyk, who claimed his 17th PGA Tour victory last year in the RBC Heritage, tied for third the first two years of what is now the Quicken Loans National and tied for seventh in the third playing of the event, all at Congressional, but has not cracked the top 30 in four appearances since.
5. Charley Hoffman, United States -- Making his ninth start in the Quicken Loans National, Hoffman finally finished in the top 10 in the tournament two years ago at Congressional when he shot 68-69 during the weekend to tie for third, one stroke out of the playoff in which Justin Rose of England beat Shawn Stefani. That was his best result in the tournament since he tied for 19th in 2007, its first year, when he shot 69-67 in the middle rounds. Hoffman captured the Valero Texas Open in April for his fourth victory on the PGA Tour during a stretch in which he finished in the top 20 in four of five tournaments. However, he missed the cut in the Players and tied for 37th in the U.S. Open, so he's trying to find that earlier form this week.
6. Byeong Hun An, South Korea -- Trying to turn his Temporary Special Membership on the PGA Tour into full-time playing privileges, An will tee it up in the Quicken Loans National for the first time this week. The youngest U.S. Amateur champion at 17 when he won in 2009, he nearly earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour earlier this year when he lost in a playoff to Brian Stuard at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. An, who has won three times as a pro including the 2015 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on the European Tour, posted a solid tie for 23rd in the U.S. Open at Oakmont after tying for 11th in the Memorial Tournament. He also tied for ninth earlier this season in the WGC-Dell Match Play.
7. Brendan Steele, United States -- Steele's tie for 15th in the U.S. Open at Oakmont was his fourth top-20 result in his last five starts, also including a tie for 13th in the Valero Texas Open, a tie for 14th in the Wells Fargo Championship and a tie for 20th in the Memorial Tournament. His best result this season was a tie for third in the WGC-HSBC Champions, coming close to adding that to his only PGA Tour victory in the 2011 Valero Texas Open. Steele is making his fifth start in the AT&T National and he posted his best result in Tiger Woods' tournament two years ago at Congressional, when he bounced back from an opening 74 with a second-round 66 and eventually finished in a tie for fifth.
8. Kevin Chappell, United States -- Still trying to break through for his first victory on the PGA Tour after finishing second three times this season and five times in his career, Chappell will make his sixth start in the Quicken Loans National. His best result was a tie for 18th last year at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, where he tied for the 54-hole lead with eventual winner Troy Merritt by shooting 64-68-67 before closing with a 77. Chappell is 10th in the FedEx Cup point standings this season thanks to ties for second in the Players Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the RSM Classic. His only pro victory came in the 2010 Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae on what is now the Web.com Tour.
9. Bill Haas, United States -- One of Haas' six PGA Tour victories came in what was then the AT&T National in 2013 at Congressional, where he opened with a 70 before playing the last three rounds in 68-68-66 to win by three strokes over Roberto Castro. Last year, when the tournament was played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, he shot 64 in round three en route to a tie for fourth. Haas came close to adding to his victory total earlier this year when he shot 67-67 in the middle rounds of the Valspar Championship but couldn't hold the 54-hole lead, closing with a 72 and eventually losing to Charl Schwartzel of South Africa on the first playoff hole. That was one of his four finishes in the top 10 and seven in the top 25 this season.
10. Jon Rahm, Spain -- After tying for 23rd to finish as low amateur in the U.S. Open last week at Oakmont in his first major, Rahm will make his pro debut this week in the Quicken Loans National. The 21-year-old, who was No. 1 in Golfweek's Men's College and Men's Amateur rankings, had 11 victories in his career at Arizona State, second only to Phil Mickelson's 16. Rahm, who captured the 2014 World Amateur Championship and won the Spanish Amateur Championship the last two years, received the Ben Hogan Award as the best college golfer in the nation the last two years. He has played in five PGA Tour events in the last two seasons, with his best result a tie for fifth in the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, and he also tied for 10th in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba earlier this season.
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Post by PIX2CLICK on Jun 22, 2016 10:06:02 GMT -5
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IN HEAD TO HEADS:
D.J. TRUMP OVER B.H.OBAMA -200
J. SESSIONS OVER P.RYAN + 350
M. HUCKABEE OVER M. McCONNELL - 175
MEL. TRUMP OVER H. CLINTON - 999
JMHO WITH TONGUE IN CHEEK AND A WINK ;)
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Post by Gooba on Jun 24, 2016 5:14:38 GMT -5
Rahm on top at Congressional in pro debut
By The Sports Xchange
A week after being the lone amateur to make the cut at the U.S. Open, Jon Rahm shot a 7-under 64 on Thursday at Congressional to take the early first-round lead in the Quicken Loans National in Bethesda, Md.
The former Arizona State star was making his professional debut at Tiger Woods' annual tournament, which started two hours late because of rain.
The 21-year-old started his round at the 10th hole and sank three birdies over his first nine holes before picking up another four in the round.
"I was really comfortable off the tee with the driver, hitting it good and hitting it straight, so that allowed me to be a little more aggressive and it paid off," Rahm said.
Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas is one shot back after shooting a 65.
Jamie Lovemark, Kyle Reifers, Colombia's Camilo Villegas, Bill Haas, South Africa's Ernie Els, Harold Varner III, Billy Hurley III and Wesley Bryan all sit at 66, two shots back.
The 46-year-old Els hasn't won since taking the British Open almost four years ago.
Vegas bogeyed his second hole of the day on the 7,569-yard course, but he followed with seven birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way.
"I had some great rounds earlier in the year, but this round on this golf course, even with the greens a little bit softer, is a great round," Vegas said. "You feel pretty comfortable any time you can shoot 65 on a course like this. ...
"Some of these fairways are super tight, though it helps having the fairways a fraction softer. But to hit 11 fairways around here (as I did), you can be more aggressive toward some of these pins."
Vegas, who captured the 2011 Bob Hope Classic, is looking for his second PGA Tour victory.
Defending Quicken Loans National champion Troy Merrick shot an even-par 71 to tie for 72nd. Rickie Fowler, the runner-up at Congressional last year, is tied for 22nd after a 68.
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