Plenty of Young Players With Talent at St. Jude

Golf bettors who are handicapping this year’s St. Jude Classic know that many of the biggest names in the sport will not be on hand, but there will be plenty of young players with talent who will. Prominent among those are Zach Johnson and Camilo Villegas, who are among the favorites to win the event, which starts on Thursday at TPC Southwind in Memphis. Both players are in tournament betting matchups: Johnson is paired with Robert Allenby in a head-to-head that is -115 either way, while Villegas is a -130 Golf betting favorite over Ian Poulter.

St. Jude Classic
TPC Southwind – Memphis, TN
June 10-13

TV Schedule
Thursday 3-6 PM ET – Golf Channel
Friday 8:30-11:30 PM ET – Golf Channel
Saturday 3-6 PM ET – CBS
Sunday 306 PM ET – CBS

Tournament Betting Matchup
ZACH JOHNSON -115
ROBERT ALLENBY -115

Johnson, the Masters champion in 2007, won the Crowne Plaza Invitational just a couple of weekends ago, shooting 65-66-64-64. That was a week after he missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open, despite a second-round 68. Johnson has shot a lot of bad final rounds lately – a 75 at the Masters, a 77 at the Verizon Heritage, a 74 at Quail Hollow, and a 75 at the Players Championship. Johnson’s finish to his 2009 season was pretty strong – he had four top tens in his last six tournament events last year. He skipped the ’09 St. Jude, and last played there in 2006, tying for fifth place. Johnson is getting primed for the U.S. Open, where he has missed the cut the last two years, and has never done well. He did manage to tie for tenth place in last year’s PGA Championship.

Robert Allenby missed the cut at Memorial, but that doesn’t mean he’s been playing badly of late. He did, after all, finish second in the Players Championship and earlier in the year was runner-up at the Sony Open, not to mention placing in the top ten at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Phoenix Open. Here’s what’s interesting – in 13 tournament events this year, he has shot below 70 in the final round only twice. However, at last year’s St. Jude he shot four rounds in the 60′s and tied for fourth place at 12 under par. He lost in a playoff there in ’08, tied for 12th in ’07, and tied for ninth in ’02. In other words, he’s had more experience on this course and more success in this event

JAY’S BETTING PLAY: ALLENBY (-115) ***
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

Tournament Betting Matchup
CAMILO VILLEGAS -130
IAN POULTER Even

Villegas, who is 27 years old, started out his season pretty hot, first reaching the semi-finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship in February, then placing in the top ten at Phoenix, and winning the Honda Classic in Florida. He has slipped a bit, but tied for fifth at the Verizon Heritage, but he’ll have to improve on his last three results, where he has tied for 57th at the Quail Hollow Championship, missed the cut at the Players and had a T28 at the Memorial Tournament. He is in the tour’s top twenty in scoring average (70.39), and stands at eighth on the money list. He has never done better than a tie for 16th at the St. Jude Classic, and if he doesn’t improve on that (he’s at 25/1 to win in the latest betting), his current status in 15th place in the Official World Golf Rankings may take a dip.

Ian Poulter turned a lot of heads at the Accenture Match Play when he won the tournament, beating Paul Casey in the finals. He tied for tenth in the Masters, but has disappointed otherwise. His final round of 76 at Colonial really hurt him, as he finished seven over par. Poulter has not played yet in the St. Jude Classic, and is there for purposes of getting his stroke in order as he prepares for the U.S. Open. Poulter, who is +2500 in the betting odds to win in Memphis, is sixth in the latest Official World Golf Rankings, and he is certainly one of those people who can launch an assault on that top spot with some strong results.

Poulter is the newcomer at this venue, but I’m not sure he couldn’t score well there. This is not exactly a facsimile of what is in store next week at Pebble Beach, but Poulter wants to get himself sharp. That’s not a bad idea after that disaster at Colonial. Poulter, slightly, because of the price.

JAY’S BETTING PLAY: POULTER (Even) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)