Golf Betting Column: What The Golfinggods Say….

From a corporate perspective the Chrysler Classic last week marks the end of the financial year for all US Tour players. Of course the ones who have performed well during the year (top 30) all are to be rewarded with a trip to the tour championship, although some don't want to go, do they Mr Mickelson! Many of the players who have performed adequately can sit back and relax for the rest of the year in content knowledge that their tour card is safe and their bank balances plump. However for many players the next week is their final chance to impress the boss and be back next year.

No such financial worries though for Carl Petterson and Paul McGinley who both won tournaments for the first time in many years. Mr Petterson is a streaky player has always had the game to win but perhaps never the consistency. Mr McGinley however has the ball striking quality of anyone on tour but his putter can be very cold indeed. Add to that an ability to always find one or two players too good each week and you had a very frustrating player indeed. It will be interesting to see how his game reacts to this win. He could surprise a number of people in 2006.

The State Farm Classic represents the last chance saloon for many players trying to hold onto their tour cards for 2006. There will be more nervous tension on the practise fairway this week than all weeks previously combined, more last minute sessions with the Sports Psychologist and more sleepless nights for those unfortunate few who face the 'sack' from the tour.

Players likely to play well this week include JJ Henry, Bob Estes, Kirk Triplett, Geoff Ogilvy and Vaughn Taylor. The rest will be battling for their life down the leader board!

The big tournament this week of course is the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Course. The spiritual resting place of Booby Jones who played his last game of golf here the course is beautifully designed and sufficiently toughened to test every player. The formula is very simple around this course – hit the fairways or die! If you miss the fairways then you will have US Open style rough to contend with. Add to this some smallish, fast greens and you have a test for any golfer.

Before I post some selections I think it is appropriate to think about the top 30 players on the money list for a moment. Just by being the thirtieth ranked player on tour you pocket over $1.9 million and collectively the top thirty players have earned over $80 million! On the face of it you could suggest that these numbers are rather disgusting considering all the poverty in the world. However these sentiments must be retracted when you realise the US Tour has now donated over £1 billion to charities! An amazing achievement but I wonder if any corporations in the US pay their thirtieth most important person nearly $2 million every year?

Selections:

Jim Furyk: a player in form and able to hit fairways and greens all day long. His putter can be cold but par at times around this course is a good score so I see Jim contending this week.

Sergio Garcia: a cold putter has stop El Nino this year from winning a lot more. Like Furyk he will hit a lot of fairways and greens and should go close this week.

Scott Verplank: another player suited by the East Lake test Scott may just surprise people this week at very big odds. His game is in good shape and he likes this course. Good each way option.

Other players to mention: Justin Leonard, Tim Herron and Kenny Perry.

Until next week – May The Golfinggods Be With You!