Every year, in every Major, there's a player or 3 who seemingly come from nowhere to contend at silly 3-figure prices. Picking a short-priced winner at any golf tournament is gratifying, however picking a long-priced player who finishes in the money can be even more profitable!
With Paddy Power paying out 6 places each way in a field of less than 100 players, there's an increased chance that we can grab a piece of the action from a few carefully selected outsiders. You'll need a Paddy Power account to take advantage of the prices and 6 places EW terms - here's a link to get you £50 of free bets to get you started!
Steve Bamford has picked out some of the key attributes required to succeed around Augusta in his tips - using that same logic here's my view of the best 5 outsiders who have a chance of sneaking into a top 6 position:
Angel Cabrera 100/1
with
£50 In Free Bets, get it here:
Cabrera - or 'El Pato' as he's affectionately known - is a great pick for a longshot here. 100/1 about a player with 46 professional victories to his name, including 2 Majors - one of which was here - is just too long to ignore without some closer inspection! With 3 further top 10s at Augusta as well as his Green Jacket in 2009, the Argentinean clearly has a liking for the course and, despite any reservations about current form, I won't be at all surprised to see him contend once again this year.
A cursory review of Cabrera's history shows a liking for Bentgrass surfaces, plus his long (if sometimes wayward) driving game is suited to Augusta. 7th in Puerto Rico on his penultimate start shows encouraging signs that his game is in reasonable nick, plus last week's missed cut at Houston can be seen as a positive as his GIR and putting stats were healthy for the 2 days that he played at 72% and 1.73 respectively. RESULT: 7th
Brandt Snedeker
125/1 with
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This will be Snedeker's 4th attempt at Augusta with his 3rd place finish in 2008 still one of the highlights of his career, alongside his 2007 victory at the tough Sedgefield course on Bentgrass greens in North Carolina. In between times the man from Nashville has managed a further 2 top 10s in the US Open - it's clear that he's got a liking for tough courses and is capable of rising to occasion and competing at the highest of levels.
3 top 10s from his 8 starts this season - 2 of which were notably at Torrey Pines and Copperhead - shows that his game is in pretty good shape coming into this week, mainly due to his putter which has been pretty hot so far this term (he's currently 3rd for putts per GIR for 2011), particularly from 10-15 feet which will serve him well this week - whether for birdie or par. RESULT: T15
Ricky Barnes 175/1
with
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The former US Amatuer Champion still hasn't got a PGA Tour victory to his name, however his liking to tough classical courses as well as his record in recent Majors gets him the nod at a very long price. Barnes burst onto the scene in 2009 when leading the US Open at Bethpage after 36 holes, ultimately finishing in a tie for 2nd place; he followed that up with a top 10 at Augusta last year as well as making the cut at Pebble Beach and St Andrews.
4th place at PGA National at the start of March was yet another excellent finish on a tough track, backing up a further 5 top 10 finished from the previous season as well as his performance at Augusta. When he's playing well, Barnes hits a high proportion of greens - that attribute will be key around here this week. RESULT: T20
Heath Slocum 250/1
with
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It takes 2 or 3 attempts for most players to get to grips with Augusta, so Slocum's progressive form of 33/18 from his last 2 attempts is all the encouragement we need to dig a little deeper. The 37 year old from Baton Rouge secured his 4th win on the PGA Tour at the back end of last season at the McGladrey Classic with another sublime display of ball striking, something which had deserted him a little this term until his 12th place finish at Bay Hill on his last outing.
Slocum's impressive win at Ridgwood in 2009 jumps off of the page in terms of classical track form in the loftiest of company, and it will only take a slight improvement in his irons from his first 2 attempts around Augusta for us to see him feature at the top end of the leaderboard. RESULT: M/C
Carl Pettersson
300/1 with
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Finishes of 27/52/86 from his 3 attempts at Augusta do little to suggest we should invest our hard-earned money in the Swede who has been based in North Carolina since his teens? Well looking through his history you'll find that each of his 4 wins came on tough, classical courses. Perhaps of most relevance was his 2006 victory at Muirfield on bentgrass greens running 13 on the stimpmeter, much the same as Augusta.
Major top 10s at the Open (2006) and the US Open (2008) suggest that Pettersson isn't scared to get himself in the mix at a Major, however poor recent form following a T4 at the season opener in Hawaii has seen the value of stock decline and his odds lengthen dramatically. 3 consecutive cuts made is a little more consistent, however and he's firmly 'under the radar' here - perfect for a longshot. RESULT: M/C
Odds and bookmaker offers correct at 14:30BST 5.4.11 but naturally subject to fluctuation.
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