2011 Barclays Predictions
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
Last week at the Wyndham Championship, Webb Simpson brought home a three shot win for his first career win on the PGA TOUR. Simpson shot a 18-under 262 to hold off George McNeil, who finished at 15-under after posting a final round 64. The Wyndham Championship was the final regular season tournament, as the PGA TOUR will begin the playoffs for the FedExCup this week at The Barclays. The course for this event varies from year to year. This year players will tee it up at Plainfield Country Club. The top 125 players will make up the field this week, and there is no doubt that getting things started off strong can really go a long way in winning the playoffs.
Jim Furyk is the defending FedExCup Champ, but his play in 2010 makes him a long shot to repeat in 2011. One positive for Furyk is his best finish of the season came last week at the Wyndham Championship, where he finished tied for 9th. Last year, it was Matt Kuchar who got things started off strong with a win at The Barclays, holding off Martin Laird in a playoff.
For those of you looking to place a wager on the first event of the PGA TOUR postseason, here is a look at three golfers who I feel have a great shot at bringing home the trophy this week.
Steve Stricker (+1500) – Stricker comes into the event with the second best odds to win behind Luke Donald at +1200. Stricker comes in ranked 3rd in the world with two wins and five top five finishes this season. Both of those wins have came since the beginning of June, and he hasn’t finished worse than 12th in an event since finishing T19th at the U.S. Open in June. He finished T2 (1-shot back) at this event in 2009 and T3 (2-shots back) in 2010. He ranks 2nd in scoring average, 1st in putting per hole, 1st in scrambling, and 1st in birdie conversions. There is a reason this guy is known as “Mr. September,” and I look for him to live up the hype with a win this week.
Adam Scott (+1500) - After failing to even make the cut in four of his first 10 starts on the PGA TOUR, Scott has been playing outstanding of late. In his last four starts he has finished T3rd at the AT&T National, T25 at the British Open, won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and finished 7th at the PGA Championship. A lot of his recent success has to do with his new caddy Scott Williams, who was fired by none other than Tiger Woods. Scott doesn’t rank real high in a number of categories, but none of that really matters. He is playing as good as anyone on TOUR right now, and has a great shot at winning The Barclays.
Charles Howell III (+4500) – I picked Howell III as one of my three to win last week at the Wyndham Championship. While he didn’t bring home the win, he did have another strong showing with a T4th. That gives Howell III four top five finishes in his last seven starts. He is currently ranked 9th in scoring average, 23rd in green in regulation, and 4th in scrambling. He is playing too good of late to pass up at +4500.
Be sure to stop back each week for our PGA TOUR predictions.
Complete Odds to Win The Barclays
| Luke Donald | +1200 |
| Steve Stricker | +1500 |
| Adam Scott | +1500 |
| Nick Watney | +2000 |
| Jason Day | +2500 |
| Phil Mickelson | +2500 |
| Matt Kuchar | +2500 |
| Webb Simpson | +3000 |
| Rickie Fowler | +3000 |
| Dustin Johnson | +3000 |
| David Toms | +3000 |
| Sergio Garcia | +3000 |
| Gary Woodland | +4500 |
| Hunter Mahan | +4500 |
| Bubba Watson | +5000 |
| Keegan Bradley | +5000 |
| Zach Johnson | +4000 |
| Jim Furyk | +4000 |
| Charles Howell III | +4500 |
| Robert Karlsson | +4500 |
| KJ Choi | +6000 |
| Bill Haas | +6000 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | +6500 |
| Martin Laird | +7000 |
| Ryan Moore | +8000 |
| Retief Goosen | +7000 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | +7500 |
| Justin Rose | +7500 |
| Bo VanPelt | +7000 |
| Ernie Els | +7000 |
| Vijay Singh | +7000 |
| Andres Romero | +7000 |
| Camilo Villegas | +8000 |
| Carl Pettersson | +8000 |
| Anthony Kim | +9000 |
| Brandt Snedeker | +10000 |
| YE Yang | +9000 |
| Graeme Mcdowell | +10000 |
| Brendon De Jonge | +9000 |
| Lucas Glover | +8000 |
| Davis Love III | +10000 |
| Tommy Gainey | +10000 |
| John Senden | +10000 |
| Trevor Immelman | +10000 |
| Robert Allenby | +8000 |
| Scott Verplank | +9000 |
| Spencer Levin | +10000 |
| Aaron Baddeley | +10000 |
| Stewart Cink | +10000 |
| Ian Poulter | +10000 |
| Jason Dufner | +12500 |
| Ryan Palmer | +10000 |
| Padraig Harrington | +10000 |
| Mark Wilson | +12500 |
| Jerry Kelly | +12500 |
| Sean Ohair | +10000 |
| Kevin Na | +12500 |
| Chez Reavie | +10000 |
| Scott Piercy | +12500 |
| Ben Crane | +12500 |
| Heath Slocum | +12500 |
| Jeff Overton | +12500 |
| Brandt Jobe | +12500 |
| DA Points | +12500 |
| Kevin Streelman | +15000 |
| Rory Sabbatini | +15000 |
| Brian Gay | +15000 |
| Charley Hoffman | +15000 |
| Chris Kirk | +12500 |
| Kyle Stanley | +12500 |
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