Glenn’s Masters Thoughts

Bradley to win in Georgia…..

The 2013 season’s first major takes place as usual at Augusta National in Georgia this week. All the talk is of the returns to form of the best two players on the planet, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and thus they dominate the front of the betting. Readers of this blog will know that golfers priced at single figure odds or thereabouts are not really my cup of tea and if able to find viable alternatives who offer plenty of value then that is the route I take. This week offers a few golfers who most certainly offer a bit of value!

The shortest of my three is selection’s is Keegan Bradley. In only his third season on tour Bradley has established himself amongst the game’s elite. A major winner in his first season when winning the PGA Championship he displays a first class temperament much needed in competing for the game’s highest honours. His 2013 season has been a model of consistency and although yet to win his turn, I feel, is just around the corner. In ten outings he has posted 6 top ten finishes with four of those coming in his last four events. Exactly the form and confidence you need coming into a major championship. A major key to winning at Augusta is the ability to make shots on the par 5s (something Tiger has done consistently down the years and part of the reason he has such a good record in this event), which Bradley is more than capable of doing, and a good week with the flat stick as the greens at Augusta can be very treacherous. Bradleys all round game suggests he has the ability to play well here and coming here in the form he does suggests all components of his game are in good working order. I expect a very good showing from the Floridian.

My second pick is another American, Bo van Pelt. Van Pelt’s game is quite simply built on power, not a bad thing when coming to Augusta National. Look for him to do most of his scoring on the 5s with hopefully an eagle or three on the way! Since finishing last season’s tour very strongly Van Pelt has been a long range pick for the Masters based mainly on the fact his last two visits have yielded 8th and 17th place finishes with good final rounds on both occasions. I had hoped to see him tee it up this week in better form. In eight outings so far in 2013 he has posted only one top twenty finish and missed his last two cuts. You might say the complete opposite of our headline selection Keegan Bradley. The thing about majors and a place like Augusta National is that they can inspire players to perform at the top of their game. Year in year out at tracks all over the world players perform at venues because they bring out the best in them and in Bo van Pelt, as in the last two years, I am once again hoping that the beautiful setting and course layout see him perform, as I know he can, at the top of his game and perhaps make the frame or even lift the coveted trophy.

The final selection is a player with a similar game to Van Pelt in that he can hit a long ball and that is another American Robert Garrigus. The thing that first made me notice Garrigus was not the fact he could play golf but the he used the shortest putter on tour. In fact it looked like a kid’s putter. The thing was he used it well. Having caught my eye for perhaps the wrong reason he then proved that he could play a bit as well and use the longer clubs in his bag pretty also. Having thrown away a glorious opportunity to win his first event on tour when he imploded on the final hole a couple of seasons ago, when the opportunity presented itself again he grabbed it with hands when winning the final event of the season, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic. A good start to this season saw him post finishes of 16th, 6th, 11th, 22nd and 5th. His last three outings similarly to Van Pelt’s have not been so good but I think he is another who will excel at Augusta and he can improve on his only previous visit.

Keegan Bradley current odds 28/1

Bo van Pelt current odds 110/1

Robert Garrigus current odds 200/1