Quicken Loans National - Golfers to Bet
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The TOUR heads to Maryland for the Quicken Loans National this weekend. Last week, the golfers took part in an exhilarating Travelers Championship. Jordan Spieth won that one in dramatic fashion, holing a shot out of the bunker to win in a playoff. He’ll now take a hard earned week off to both celebrate and rest. The field for this competition will still, however, be very interesting. Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, and Patrick Reed are all playing, so fans will get to see some of the game’s more exciting youngsters starting Thursday. Fans will not, however, get to see Tiger Woods in this tournament. Woods is still recovering from his back injury, and he is also getting treatment for his use of medications that led to his DUI a few weeks back. It’s unfortunately that he won’t be playing, as Tiger has won this tournament twice. He is one of only two players that has done that, as Justin Rose has also accomplished that feat. With that out of the way, let’s now take a look at who might win on this 7,139-yard course:
Rickie Fowler (15-to-2) - Rickie Fowler was unable to win his first ever major at the U.S. Open, but he certainly went down swinging. Fowler was awesome in that tournament, shooting a 10-under to finish tied for fifth. It was his second top-five finish in the past three events, and he has been one of the most consistently excellent performers this season. Fowler sits at ninth in the Official World Golf Rankings, and his seven top-10 finishes and also his Honda Classic victory are obviously a big reason for that. He is in top form right now, and is going to be hungry to win this weekend. It also doesn’t hurt that his 15-to-2 odds are extremely favorable.
Marc Leishman (20-to-1) - Marc Leishman hasn’t been playing his best golf recently, but he has still finished inside the top-20 in three of the past five events he’s played in. Leishman is a very talented golfer, and he has already won a big tournament this year. That was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, and he if can win that tournament then he can definitely win this one too. It’s also pretty surprising that a player of Leishman’s caliber is only receiving 20-to-1 odds in a tournament that lacks star power. This field represents a very good opportunity for Leishman to win again, and he’s worth a shot with his odds.
Russell Henley (28-to-1) - In a tournament without many of the world’s top golfers, Henley is a name that will stand out in this field. The 28-year-old is a phenomenal golfer, and he is going to be factor come Sunday. While he has missed cuts in two of the past three tournaments he’s played in, Henley came through at the U.S. Open. He might have finished only tied for 27th, but Henley shot a one-under and got back on track after two poor performances in a row. Look for him to keep the momentum going, and don’t be afraid to take a shot on him at 28-to-1.
Billy Hurley III (100-to-1) - When trying to find a dark horse for this event, one guy that stands out is Billy Hurley III. While Hurley III has had an absolutely miserable season, it’s hard to ignore what he did in this tournament a year ago. Hurley III dominated the Quicken Loans National in 2016, shooting a 17-under to defeat runner-up Vijay Singh by three strokes. While the course is different, he should still feel confident knowing that he’s the defending champion and the guy to beat. And his 100-to-1 odds could also mean a gigantic payday.
Quicken Loans National Golf Betting Odds & Picks
By Adam Burke
Bangthebook.com
With just a couple of weeks left until The Open Championship, some of golf’s best will be on hand at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm for the 2017 Quicken Loans National. This will be the first time since 2006 that a PGA Tour event returns to this course. More recent versions of the Quicken Loans National have been played at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, and at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.
That means that this will be a challenging handicap because we don’t have very much course data to go on for the present-day players. This is a premier event due to its invitational nature. It is one of five tournaments given invitational status, with the others being the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the RBC Heritage, the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, and the Memorial Tournament. That means a smaller field, as only recent champions, champions of other big events, and the top players in the FedEx Cup points list and the Official World Golf Ranking are able to qualify.
This particular event started back in 2007. In 2006, the Kemper Open/Booz Allen Classic was played for the final time at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm and that’s the last time that this course has been used. As far as active players go, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, and Rory Sabbatini are the only winners to tee it up here in the past. None of those three will be in the field this week and this event has also lost some of its luster by going up against the Open de France on the European Tour, where Jon Rahm, Francesco Molinari, Thomas Pieters, and some other big names will be playing instead.
Overall, this is a pretty weak field for an invitational event. Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, and Rahm are just some of the players that will not be on hand. This course was dropped from the tour calendar after players voiced their concerns about the poor state of the course and its bad drainage. TPC Potomac hosted the 2010 Senior PLAYERS Championship, but hasn’t held a big event since. We’ll have to see how players take to this par 70 that measures over 7,100 yards. Massive re-designs have combined holes and created new ones, so a lot of money has been spent at this course.
We’ll be flying blind into this tournament without much in the form of course data and past results from the Quicken Loans National won’t do us a whole lot of good. Hopefully we’ll get a competitive event. The last two years, the event has been won by three strokes. Only once has this tournament required more than 72 holes and only two other times has it been decided by just one stroke.
This week’s favorite at 5Dimes Sportsbook is Rickie Fowler at +750. You can tell the strength of this field by the fact that Fowler has such a small price. That’s not a knock on him, but Fowler is generally in the 20/1 range in a full-strength field, but stands as a clear favorite here. Fowler did not play last week’s Travelers Championship, so his most recent finish was fifth at the US Open. He missed the cut at the St. Jude, but finished second at the Memorial. Fowler has six top-10 finishes out of his 10 made cuts this season. Fowler certainly stands out as the biggest name this week and he’s priced like it.
Justin Thomas is listed at +1200 this week. Thomas did not play well last week at the Travelers and cited some fatigue as the problem. When called out by some anonymous loser on Twitter, JT won the weekend anyway. Thomas shot 73-72 last week and was excited about the prospect of getting some rest prior to the Quicken Loans National. He was ninth at the US Open and fourth at the Memorial, so he has had some strong rounds of late. Thomas has seven top-10 finishes and three wins this season across his 12 made cuts. With a course that has a couple of long par 5s and some par 4s that require distance off the tee, his skill set should play well here. If Thomas can finish first or second, he would become the new FedEx Cup points list leader.
Patrick Reed is next in line at +1400 this week. Reed hasn’t been able to springboard from his Ryder Cup success, as he looks for his first win of 2017. Reed may be rounding into form a bit. He picked up his second top-10 of the season last week at TPC River Highlands by finishing fifth. He was 13th at the US Open. His stock does seem to be rising, especially with a weaker field like this one.
Kevin Chappell, Marc Leishman, Tony Finau, and Brendan Steele are between +2200 and +3000. There are a few guys to look at in the next group of prices. David Lingmerth is the only player in this field with a win at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Lingmerth won the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Championship on the Web.com Tour at this course. That is definitely driving his +3000 price tag this week, especially since the Swede doesn’t have a top-10 finish this season. He has finished in the top 26 in each of his last four events, though. We’ll have to see how players perform in their practice rounds this week, but, for now, Lingmerth should have an edge over the field.
Sixteen different event winners are on hand, so even though the biggest names in golf won’t be playing, some 2016-17 champs will be here. Si Woo Kim is +4500 after his win at the PLAYERS Championship. Billy Horschel is +5000 with a win at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Chappell is +2200 with a win at the Valero Texas Open. Steele is +2500 with a win way back in the Safeway Open, the first event of the year. Mackenzie Hughes is +14000 with his win at the RSM Classic.
Jimmy Walker was 18th at the Masters and 13th at the Valero Texas Open before finishing 56th at the PLAYERS. He missed the cut at the US Open. He’s on hand and is priced at +6000, so maybe he can find his past form and make his way up the leaderboard.
With a new course and a watered-down field, just look to throw some scratch on some longer shots and maybe a favorite and see what happens. Coverage of the Quicken Loans National will be on Golf Channel and CBS.