US PGA Championship Longshots

Paul Williams' US PGA Championship Longshots Tips - Atlanta Athletic Club 2011

Time after time the Major championships return winners at some incredibly long prices. Charl Schwartzel was available at 90/1 before his Augusta triumph in April; Louis Oosthuizen was an incredible 250/1 before his demolition of the field at St Andrews last year. Don’t think that “Oosties” triumph was a one-off as Stewart Cink was priced at 135/1 when he won the Open at the gnarly and windy Turnberry in 2009. With some bookies already extending their each-way terms to 6 places, the scope for getting a great Each Way return, or even a shock winner, is definitely there again this week at the US PGA Championship!

At the Open Championship last month, we highlighted Darren Clarke at 200/1 (Totesport) in Steve Bamford's Open longshots article, plus I also grabbed a 200/1 EW return on Thomas Bjorn as part of my main tips...let's see if we can get another piece of the action this week in Atlanta!

The key to long shot bargain hunting is naturally picking the right players, but just as key is selecting the right BOOKMAKER. Paddy Power is running a PGA Championship 6 place special, in combination with some market leading prices. For those of you new to golf betting that effectively means that Each Way bets are settled at 1/4 odds on all players finishing in the Top 6 (usually Top 5) in Atlanta. To top it all, Paddy Power are also offering GBS readers double their normal signup offer - £100 of free bets only via this link

A number of other bookmakers have also extended their Each Way terms - for the best prices/EW terms by player click here: USPGA Best Odds. Plus don't forget to use the predictor model to help make your mind up if you don't agree with our selections!

Finally before my selections, 'no lose bets' are all the rage at the moment and we've found another 2 new offers for you lucky punters from 188Bet and Getwin - great news if you've already used your BetClic free bet in the last few weeks. There's now a total of £160 in no lose bets available - for full details of these offers click here.

So, fellow bargain hunters, here are 5 outsiders that I think can be at the higher end of the leaderboard come Sunday evening:

Robert Karlsson 100/1 EW with Get £200 in free bets plus 6 places Each Way via this link:

We scored a 50/1 winner with Karlsson on the Bermuda greens of Dubai last year and the 100/1 about the World number 18 just has to be taken. The 6' 5" giant struggled to control his ball flight in the wind at Sandwich, however form prior to that was solid with a playoff defeat at the tough TPC Southwind (par 70 on Bermuda greens, just like this event) and further top 10s on the European Tour in Bahrain and Qatar.

The Swede struggled in Stockholm on a windy Sunday to ultimately finish 16th however his tie for 17th at Firestone, having been a shot off the lead going into the weekend, showed that his game is very close once again. 11 times a winner on the European Tour, his last 2 wins have both come on the Bermuda greens of Dubai and Qatar and he'll enjoy this putting surface much more than the Bent/Poa mix at Firestone. He's plenty long enough to win here (the Earth Course in Dubai is a monster at over 7,600 yards) and is a fantastic chipper and putter - all in all he's the kind of player that can seriously contend here having eased off the throttle at Akron last week. RESULT: T4

Bill Haas 125/1 EW with Get a £50 free bet plus 6 places Each Way via this link:

The son of Jay Haas is someone who my fellow tipster Steve Bamford describes as a 'Bermuda monster' and ranks inside the top 5 players on Steve's stats for performance on Bermuda greens on the PGA Tour. The 29 year old from Charlotte is now a sufficiently good player in his own right to lose the 'son of Jay' tag with 2 PGA Tour titles to his name, plus another couple of near misses this season with playoff defeats at the Bob Hope Classic (which he was defending) and at the Greenbrier Classic a fortnight ago....another win is surely just around the corner.

Haas has made the cut each time in the 2011 Majors and his 23rd at Congressional was a creditable performance - it's now time for him to push on in Atlanta on a course that will play to his strengths as he currently sits inside the top 10 on Tour for total driving (accuracy & length combined) and 3rd for Ball Striking. More pertinent stats include 5th for holing out inside 5 feet (a MUST this week) plus 3rd for finding the green from off of the fairway....all in all a very strong report card for Bill! His putting (his weakest suit) was inside the top 10 on show in West Virginia and when you wrap all this together I have to feel that Haas has a serious chance to content this week for a place or potentially more...RESULT: T12

Camilo Villegas 200/1 EW with £100 In free bets plus 6 places Each Way, get it here:

Ignoring his overall 2011 form for one second, Camilo Villegas ticks all the boxes here. He plays Bermuda greens well, he performs best on par 70 layouts and he excels on tough, technical tracks. His first win came at the par 70 Bellerive course in Missouri, which was quickly followed by the tough par 70 on Bermuda that is East Lake - a stone's throw from Atlanta Athletic Club in relative terms. His 3rd win came at the tough PGA National - another par 70 on Bermuda....you seeing a pattern here?!! Further top 10s at TPC Southwind and East Lake last season adds fuel to the fire, as does a top 10 Whistling Straits albeit on a completely different layout.

So why 200/1 you ask? Well this season's been very poor as the Colombian struggled with both driver and irons for the first half of the season and failed to register a single top 10 until June. He straightened things up a little at the Memorial for a top 30 finish, then popped up for 3rd at TPC Southwind which is excellent form for this event. It will require a step-change in overall form for Camilo to compete here this week, however he is a supremely talented player who could bounce back at any time and that performance at the St Jude is enough for me for him to make the final 5. RESULT: M/C

Alvaro Quiros 200/1 EW with Get a £50 free bet plus 6 places Each Way via this link:

The long-hitting Spaniard has kept himself under the radar in recent times, however a return to Bermuda greens will be right up his alley and I'm expecting a strong performance from the winner of this year's tough Dubai Desert classic. The heat won't bother Quiros in the slightest, nor will the extra yards added to the course since its last outing a decade ago - in fact I think he'll enjoy this challenge immensely providing he can keep his ball in play off the tee more often than not.

I've already mentioned Quiros' liking of Bermuda greens - his last 9 attempts on the Bermuda of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai have reaped an incredible run of form: 26/1/13/11/2/6/23/2/1 - plus on top of that he finished 3rd behind Karlsson at the Earth Course in November...quite simply this boy loves the surface!

More recently Quiros shared the lead with Rory McIlroy at Augusta before fading to 27th over the weekend; he also led at Wentworth during Saturday before the wind ruined his round (no such problems this week); he was also level par going into Sunday at Congressional....his game isn't a million miles off on that evidence. His weekend at Firestone was 10 shots better than Thursday & Friday as he found some form with his irons and if he can continue that trend he'll be a prominent figure this week at a great price. RESULT: M/C

Steve Elkington 350/1 EW with Get £200 in free bets plus 6 places Each Way via this link:

If I told you that there's a player out there who loves the US PGA Championship - a previous winner of the event who has also finished inside the top 10 on a further 5 occasions - that was available at 350/1 then you might raise an eyebrow. If I told you that he finished 5th last year and 6th on his previous start in Reno you might get a little more interested. If I then told you that he ranks inside the top 10 for accuracy off the tee - a critical factor this week - as well as 4th on Tour for holing out inside 5 feet, plus 6th on Tour for scrambling from 30+ yards when the green isn't reachable, then you're probably getting very excited indeed! Those are the facts and Steve Elkington fits the bill here at a silly price!

Yes, it's not been a good season for the Australian, however last week was a timely return to form where he hit 83% of fairways and could easily have won with a decent Sunday as those ahead of him were largely inexperienced maidens. Last year's 5th place finish followed an excellent top 10 the week before and I for one won't be at all shocked to see the 10-time PGA Tour winner in one of the late groups on Sunday and in with a shout of delivering an outstanding each way return...RESULT: M/C