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WGC-Bridgestone Invitational golf betting preview and tips
David John has five against the field - including a 300/1 shot - at this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Recommended bets: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
1pt e.w. Paul Casey at 40/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5) - has both recent & course form
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Three years ago, Rory McIlroy won the Open Championship and followed up at the Bridgestone Invitational before completing a tremendous hat-trick in the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Jordan Spieth now has the Claret Jug safely stashed away and is 8/1 favourite to double his haul at Firestone in Akron, Ohio, after a truly remarkable final few holes at Royal Birkdale.
"It took as much out of me as any day I have played golf," he reflected, so it was no surprise to see him skip last week’s RBC Canadian Open and have some downtime ahead a very busy spell that concludes with the Tour Championship and Presidents Cup.
"Closing out (at the Open) was extremely important in terms of how I look at myself," Spieth added, as he once more proved he has perhaps the toughest mind from a high-class current crop of golfers.
Spieth is very much there to be shot at and his peers will no doubt be keen to redouble their efforts against him having been given a free lesson in how to deal with adversity on course under extreme pressure in the final round of a major.
There has been early support this week for Dustin Johnson and McIlroy with DJ defending his title having got the better of Scott Piercy by a single shot 12 months ago.
He looked about as excited as he gets at Glen Abbey last week having recorded all four rounds in the 60s and posted a first top-10 finish since the Wells Fargo in May.
"The golf game is there and I am really hitting it well," he said. "I am definitely a lot more confident over the ball and am hitting the shots that I want to hit."
SKY BET PAYING SIX PLACES ON THE BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL!
Those are ominous words for the rest of the field from the world number one, who has fidgeted and fiddled for much of the spring and summer trying to get comfortable as a result of the back injury he sustained on the eve of the Masters.
McIlroy goes into battle with a new caddie having split this week with JP Fitzgerald although at the time of writing, I am not sure who has got the job or whether it will be a temporary arrangement.
Rory has looked on the brink of something really good for a while now and having tinkered with his clubs and putter, I guess the next step was to get a new man on the bag.
Could it make an immediate impact? Maybe, anything is possible from McIlroy, but both he and Johnson are their regulation sort of price in the market place and need nothing less than a win if punters are going to get any sort of handy return.
I was looking at a spectator guide for the event and its excellent little hole-by-hole description repeatedly used the same phrase – “an accurate tee-shot is needed”.
The 7,400-yard, par-70 layout is not for the faint-hearted with rows of trees lining the fairways, cloying rough, some brutally long par fours and a 670-odd yard par five two holes from home.
Keeping the ball in play is an obvious strategy on any layout at this level but it is paramount at Firestone. Low scores are there under optimum conditions – Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods have both knocked it round in 61 recently – but straying into the trees just about ensures your next shot is a chip-out recovery.
Jason Dufner might not win many prizes for overt displays of emotion on the course but he knows how to hit the ball straight and looks a solid choice at 66/1 to bounce back from a couple of poor efforts here in his last two attempts.
Until Spieth’s heroics on the links in Southport, Dufner’s victory at The Memorial was perhaps the most remarkable of the year to date as he lapped the field for two rounds before his game fell apart in round three on the way to a nightmare 77.
He hit the ball sideways that day and his putting from short range was scarily bad but he somehow dug deep into all his reserves to recover and post a closing 68 to beat Rickie Fowler and Anirban Lahiri.
He had a slight blip after that but was back on form at the Open Championship and promising weekend rounds of 67 and 69 eventually hauled him up inside the top 15.
Finishing positions of 66-51 in the last two ventures at Firestone, when he failed to match par or better, are way below Dufner at his best but he looks much more himself again now with that win at Muirfield Village restoring plenty of confidence for a player who we sometimes forget is a major champion.
"Firestone is pretty tight off the tee but I feel confident with my driver here and I can be aggressive," he said. “It means I am able to have shorter clubs into the green.”
Prior to those last two attempts in this event, Dufner finished 7-4 and I think the Cleveland native has plenty in his favour to help him get back on track and claim another big title in his home state.
While plenty in the field will have their mental coaches on speed-dial asking how Spieth did what he did at the Open, I think his close friend Justin Thomas will see nothing but positives and be inspired to have a good week.
He has missed three cuts on the spin since he plummeted out of contention on the final day of the US Open but you can’t keep these youngsters down for long with a whole batch of under-25s making a name for themselves in 2017.
Thomas set the benchmark with his three victories around the turn of the year and it would not have been too much of a shock to see him take the next step in major company had he finished the job off at Erin Hills in June.
It was not to be and he has not fired on all cylinders since – including an 80 in round two at Birkdale to follow an opening 67 – but Thomas is not the type of character to dwell too long on any setback.
He spoke while he was on the way to victory at Kapalua in January about how watching close rivals do well makes him keen to improve and Spieth’s Open victory could be another such jolt.
"I wasn’t mad, but it was maybe a little frustrating sometimes seeing some friends and peers my age do well,” Thomas said.
"Not because I wasn’t cheering for them, because I felt like I was as good as them."
There is no reason why Thomas can’t aspire to match Spieth over the coming years and a WGC success would be a big move in the right direction for a player who has both a very good record in Ohio and is playing a virtual home game as he hails from just over the border in Kentucky.
I am going to rattle quickly through three more selections, headed by Marc Leishman.
The Australian looks well worth following both here and next week and will be high on plenty of shortlists for the PGA at Quail Hollow as he attempts to break his duck in the majors.
Leishman has certainly served his apprenticeship as a top-notch PGA Tour player for a number of years and was back in the winner’s circle this season thanks to a strong finish in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
A hugely-consistent run since has seen him miss just one cut (at the PLAYERS Championship) while he arrives here on the back of excellent efforts at the Quicken Loans and Open Championship, recovering from a 76 in round two at the latter to finish an excellent T6.
Speaking about this venue: "I am reasonably long off the tee, can work my irons both ways and have a good short game – it is all a good combination on a tough golf course like this."
He finished three shots behind Rory here in 2014 after an opening 64 and Leishman in current mood has strong claims of hitting the frame at the very least once more.
Paul Casey had a similar Open experience to Leishman after he shot himself out of contention on Friday with a miserable 77 on his birthday but rallied in great fashion (67-67) to claim a tie for 11th spot.
The Englishman is 40 now but remains in tremendous physical shape and is playing some splendid stuff currently that looks so close to rewarding him with a victory.
He has an excellent record at Firestone that stretches back to 2003 and admitted: "I know this place well. I know where to position the golf ball."
Like Thomas with Spieth, I think Casey will draw on the excellent effort last week of fellow countryman Ian Poulter in Canada and that tiny extra piece of inspiration could make the difference and help him get over the line again.
If there is to be a big shock then it might come from Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, who was top dog among his compatriots last week at their national open.
This is his rookie season but is already on the board having emerged triumphant last fall at the RSM Classic following a five-man play-off.
This will be his debut in this event but he went to college just down the road from Akron at nearby Kent State and admitted to having played Firestone a couple of times during his time there. He confirmed it is a "tough course and you have to drive the ball well".
He will have plenty of local support so will see a lot of familiar faces and while he readily admits he is still learning about life on the PGA Tour – his schedule will be less busy next season for one – he still has lofty aspirations of making the Tour Championship and even the Presidents Cup team.
Life is good for Hughes at the moment with a child on the way as well and he looks in a decent place to outplay a very big quote in the betting.
Where to watch on TV: Sky Sports Golf
Posted at 2125 BST on 31/07/17.
Related links
Sky Bet's latest Bridgestone Invitational odds
Barracuda Championship preview