PGA Tour Profit pundit Steve Bamford guides you through the highly profitable Masters Top Debutant market.
What do all these players have in common? Allenby, Cabrera, Cink, Goosen, Jiminez, Johnson (Zach variety), Leonard, Lyle, Perry, Stenson, Stricker and Villegas. A pretty illustrious group of players I’ll think you’ll agree! Well they all missed the cut on debut at Augusta.
Picking the Top Debutant can prove to be tricky and certainly isn't straightforward. Rewind 24 months to 2009. Rory McIlroy and Anthony Kim were 3-1 and 4-1 ‘certs’ to fight out Top Augusta Rookie. I tipped little known American John Merrick at 28-1 and what do you know he finished 6th and brought home the bacon. 2010’s market was dominated by Charl Schwartzel who was a skinny 7/2 to prevail on debut. Schwartzel buckled in the final round and tough course specialist Steve Marino triumphed at 10/1.
The Top Debutant field this week is high in quality with Fowler, Laird, Day, Woodland, Wilson, Overton, Peter Hanson, Vegas, Hoffman, Points, Streelman and Havret all having realistic shots. Quite rightly Laird heads up the market at 5/1, with the phenomenon that is Rickie Fowler matching him for joint favouritism. However I’ve uncovered a couple of US players who fit the mould perfectly for Augusta:
Mark Wilson 14/1 with William Hill
(3 places EW) - £25 free bet via this link:
North Carolina educated Mark Wilson will feel right at home on his debut at Augusta. Incredible wins at Waialee and Phoenix earlier in the season have meant that Wilson is now Number 1 in the PGA Tour season long FedEx Cup race, but to his credit Wilson isn’t dining out on the $2,000,000 prize money and 3 year Tour exemption as 9th at the highly relevant Bay Hill a fortnight ago highlights.
Now a 4-time PGA Tour winner (compared to Fowler, Laird & Day who have just 3 wins between them) it’s not just this season’s wins that appeal. The key to me are the following results: 1st at Mayakoba, 3rd at Muirfield with 10th at Cog Hill in 2009 plus 7th at Quail Hollow in 2010. Let’s face it Wilson can play tough classical courses with aplomb and with his current mindset he’ll fancy a decent Top 20 result on only his 4th major appearance. RESULT: M/C
Gary Woodland 12/1 with Totesport
(3 places EW) -
£10 match bet, get it here:
The long-hitting Florida resident Gary Woodland is as short as 7/1 so I’d move quickly to grab the 12/1 on offer at Totesport. Woodland, who has been one of tipping colleague Paul Williams's favourite players in 2011, is on the crest of a wave right now after winning at the incredibly tough Copperhead track in March. Fact is that Copperhead form translates perfectly to Augusta.
The impressive thing about Woodland is that he has tamed his incredible driving length – where he is 8th on the PGA Tour – and combined that with hitting a phenomenal amount of greens – currently 16th for GIR% on Tour. That’s an incredibly potent combination! Any fears with a switch from bermuda to bent greens were dispelled by his 13th last week at Houston and his ability to score well on long Par 4 and Par 5s will be a real asset in his 3rd Major appearance. RESULT: T24
Odds and bookmaker offers correct at 10:15BST 5.4.11 but naturally subject to fluctuation.
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