2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Odds To Win: Tiger Woods Favored
By Drew Sharper
AKRON, Ohio (TheSpread) – A week before the final major of the year, the best golfers in the world meet to compete in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which begins on Thursday.
This event is not part of the PGA, but is part of the World Golf Championships, which features most of the top golfers in the world. According to oddsmakers, Tiger Woods is the favorite to win this event, as he has 9/2 odds. Other short odds to win are Luke Donald (12/1), Lee Westwood (15/1) and Adam Scott (15/1).
Woods is a seven-time winner of this event, with his last win coming in 2009. Woods is second in the world rankings and he has three wins on the year and coming off a third-place finish in the British Open. Woods has finished in the top 20 in three of his last five WGC events.
Donald is the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world by a comfortable margin. He has placed 16th or better in six of his last seven tournaments and he has placed in the top 10 in five of his last six WGC events.
Westwood is fourth in the world rankings, but has finished outside the top 40 in his last two events. He does have two victories this year and has finished in the top 20 in six of his last seven WGC events.
Scott won this tournament last year with the second-best score in the tournament’s history (-17). He is coming off his final round collapse in the British Open that saw him finish second after leading by four shots with five holes to go. Scott is winless on the year but has placed in the top 10 in three of his last four WGC events.
The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational begins on Thursday, August 2 and concludes on Sunday, August 5. The event takes place from Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. For complete odds for each golfer to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, see below.
2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Odds to Win
Tiger Woods 9/2
Luke Donald 12/1
Lee Westwood 15/1
Adam Scott 15/1
Rory McIlroy 20/1
Jason Dufner 25/1
Zach Johnson 25/1
Hunter Mahan 25/1
Graeme McDowell 30/1
Dustin Johnson 30/1
Bubba Watson 30/1
Rickie Fowler 30/1
Matt Kuchar 30/1
Justin Rose 30/1
Phil Mickelson 30/1
Steve Stricker 30/1
Bo Van Pelt 30/1
Louis Oosthuizen 40/1
Francesco Molinari 40/1
Ernie Els 50/1
Jim Furyk 50/1
Charl Schwartzel 50/1
Martin Laird 50/1
Nick Watney 50/1
Nicolas Colsaerts 50/1
Jason Day 50/1
Ian Poulter 50/1
Scott Piercy 60/1
Geoff Ogilvy 60/1
Retief Goosen 60/1
Peter Hanson 60/1
Fredrik Jacobson 60/1
Bill Haas 60/1
Keegan Bradley 60/1
Brandt Snedeker 60/1
Martin Kaymer 60/1
Sergio Garcia 60/1
David Toms 80/1
John Senden 80/1
Carl Pettersson 80/1
KJ Choi 80/1
Kyle Stanley 100/1
Paul Lawrie 100/1
Aaron Baddeley 100/1
Ben Crane 100/1
Jonathan Byrd 100/1
Thomas Bjorn 100/1
Kevin Na 125/1
Ryo Ishikawa 150/1
Field (Any Other Golfers) 12/1
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Betting Preview and Picks
By Matt Fargo
Playbook.com
The PGA Tour is doing double duty this week, the third time this season that a regular tour event and a WGC event are taking place the same week. This week, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational takes center stage with all but one player in the top 50 in the OWGR competing from the Firestone Country Club South Course in Akron, Ohio. The Reno-Tahoe has to deal with that along with preceding the PGA Championship.
We will keep our focus on the Bridgestone for betting purposes as we have a field that has not been seen on many occasions this season because of its strength. In total, 78 players are in the limited field and as is the normal case in these invitational tournaments, there is no cut and the winner’s purse is $1.4 million while the minimum payout is $35,000 so there is a lot on the line.
The South Course at Firestone seems almost unfair to amateurs as it is a par 70 but measures 7,400 yards making it the longest par 70 course of all non-majors. Surprisingly, the bombers off the tee do not have a huge edge as the real way to score is hitting greens in regulation as the greens can be very receptive and can lead to good birdie chances. Firestone South ranked 18th out of 51 courses in difficulty last season.
With the steady rise of European players to the top of the World Golf Ranking, you would think they would be the favorite for one of them to take the championship. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are three of the favorites heading in but a European player has never won the Bridgestone Invitational. All streaks come to an end sometime as this one could be stopped this year.
The favorite this week is Tiger Woods (+450) which comes as no surprise as he is a seven-time winner at this event. He also has 10 top five finishes in 12 starts and while his last two starts at Firestone have not been good, he comes in playing very well this year. He has won three times this year and currently leads the FedEx Cup Standings but there is absolutely no value at 4.5/1.
Zach Johnson (+2,500) is not a long hitter and while this is a long course, he will not be at a disadvantage due to the overly dry conditions. He has two wins on tour this year and he is coming off a T9 at the Open Championship which was his most recent start. He is first on tour in strokes gained in putting and while his record at Firestone is not the best, he did finish T6 here last year.
Bubba Watson (+3,000) can tame the length of this course with his driver and while he can spray it everywhere, hitting into the rough this week is not a huge disadvantage. Even though he is 123rd in driving accuracy, he is first in hitting greens which shows how good of an iron player he is. He has six top tens on the year and while he has not placed inside the top 20 at the Bridgestone, he is a different player now.
Matt Kuchar (+3,000) is flying under the radar after a disappointing finish at the RBC Canadian Open despite being one of the favorites. He has a win this year at THE PLAYERS and has seven top tens in 15 medal play events. Now he goes up against a smaller field and he has done well here the last couple years with a T9 and a T19 in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Bo Van Pelt (+3,000) will again get a look following another stellar performance last week where he finished T7 at Hamilton. That was his tour-leading seventh top ten and while he has not won, he seems ready to break out. Tiger Woods was the only player standing in his way from a victory at the AT&T National and his T23 at Firestone a year ago was preceded by a T3 in 2010.
Nicolas Colsaerts (+5,000) could be the first European to win here even though he has never played in Akron. He hits the ball a long way as his 'Belgian Bomber' nickname indicates but he has the all-around game to back it up. He won at the Volvo World Match Play Championship in May and has eight top tens worldwide on the season. This includes a T27 at the U.S. Open and a T7 at the Open Championship.
Recommended Tournament Win Five Pack at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational – All for 1 Unit
Zach Johnson (+2,500)
Bubba Watson (+3,000)
Matt Kuchar (+3,000)
Bo Van Pelt (+3,000)
Nicolas Colsaerts (+5,000)