Niall Lyons has three betting plays in the week before the next major championship.
Truist Championship
With the USPGA Championship taking place at Quail Hollow next week, the Truist Championship is forced to change venue once again.
Eagle Point and TPC Potomac were hugely successful stagings when they've moved before so hopefully we get more of the same as we head to the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Pennsylvania.
A par 70 at just over 7100 yards I'd expect this track to play relatively long with the rain that has fallen recently. More is in the forecast too so I expect the bigger hitters to make hay here.
Look to other Tillinghast designs Bethpage and Baltusrol for the odd clue having held fairly recent Major Championships.
Senior events have been held here also but we are fairly blind as to what may play out here. McIlroy has owned this event down the years at Quail Hollow and it'd be no surprise should he try put a marker down ahead of next week.
It's somewhat of a speculative staking plan given the nature of the event but look out for my PGA Trends piece that will drop in a couple of days time.
Truist Championship Tips
- 2pts each-way T.Fleetwood 28/1 (1/4 5) Betfred
- 1.25pts each-way J.Day 50/1 (1/5 6) General
- 1.25pts each-way S.Burns 50/1 (1/5 6) General
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Tommy Fleetwood @ 28/1 (Each Way)
I won't lie, I was mighty tempted to go with McIlroy this week at 5/1. The Irishman for me is still the best golfer in the world right now and without Scheffler to contend with and only a point shorter than his Masters price, I think it's pretty fair.
He warmed up nicely for the Masters with a top five in Texas and a similar performance at the very least is on the cards. With his duties since winning the Masters there is a slight worry that he hasn't played enough golf or practised enough since so it's probably best to steer clear.
Another Ryder Cup stalwart who can feature this week though is Tommy Fleetwood and I'm happy to include him at 25/1+. Fleetwood played extremely well once again at this year's Masters only to have a nightmare on the greens and it seems that was enough for him to ditch his putter and switch to a mallet head.
That worked a treat at Harbour Town where he gained plenty on the field on the greens and should that continue then he must have a great chance of overcoming that US victory hurdle. Just how this course will play out is up for debate but it must be said Fleetwood has a handful of really good performances on US Major layouts and Wissahickon may just be the perfect switch for him.
People would lead you to believe that Fleetwood is a poor putter, he isn't. For the most part he is just fine but he ranks 39th in this field over the last six months in final round putting and that isn't enough to get the job done.
If we are to see him win then we need to see an elite performance with that club on a Sunday and that's often what has been missing. His 7th place at the Heritage, another signature event, should give him enough confidence heading to Pennsylvania and I believe if there's ever a chance to get an ounce of value in the Englishman's price in the States then it may just be this week.
Jason Day @ 50/1 (Each Way)
The course strikes me as a potential PGA Championship layout and we should see a Major type leaderboard here over the weekend. I was a little surprised to see 50/1 about Jason Day this week and for a golfer who I don't think is far off landing another victory and I'm more than happy to invest at those odds.
The AMEX, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Masters have all yielded top 10 finishes this season for Day so there are plenty of reasons to be positive. The Australian thrives on these types of layouts and should be able to cope with the forecasted poor weather at times throughout the event.
A former runner up at Baltusrol in the 2016 PGA Championship this test should really suit and it's only a matter of putting all four parts of the game together in one week.
Too often this season there has been one part of the game that has slightly let him down on a going week but I'd say he is quietly confident about his chances over the next couple of weeks and more than anything else I just think the 50/1 is a shade too big.
Sam Burns @ 50/1 (Each Way)
A five time PGA Tour winner at 50/1 always needs a second glance but surely Sam Burns is one good week away with the irons from being very close to landing a victory.
5th last week at the Byron Nelson was a fine effort but a country mile behind the runaway winner. That was once again compiled with a below par week with the irons. It was the same two weeks prior when his irons were the reason why he didn't finish any better than 13th at Harbour Town.
His putting has been exceptional all year and his irons have been steadily improving ever since a horror show on approach at Bay Hill. He looks to be improving in his weakest department and if he can continue in that manner something special may be on the horizon.
He has more than enough distance off the tee to here to cope with Wissahickon and folk like Burns should consider this a proper opportunity given the absence of Scottie Scheffler.
Again, similar to Day, the likes of Berger at 28/1 and Im at 40/1 look extremely skinny compared to these two players who don't look far away from adding to their PGA Tour career tally.
