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JoePa's CROWNE PLAZA INVITATIONAL Picks
Colonial is a fairly average track but requires and rewards consistency in knowing where to miss and it also puts a premium on putting. The GIR in 2014 was 64% which ranks 24th of 48 Tour courses, but the birdie or better average was 10th lowest on Tour at just 25.74%. You can also expect plenty of wind, storms and steamy 80+ degree weather.
JORDAN SPIETH 5/1 TO WIN OUTRIGHT - Jordan looking to bounce and show Rory that he is indeed a force to be reckoned with and he will not just lay down and let the Irishman through. He has two Top 15s in the last two trips to Colonial with a 14th and a 7th place finish. He knows the course and he should have a nice gallery from his home state.
RYAN PALMER 5/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - A local boy in his 12th straight appearance at Colonial where he T5th in 2012 and 2014. He shot an opening round 62 in 2013. On the season he T9th at the Franklin Templeton, T17th at the Sony Open, T10th at the Humana Challenge, T2nd at the Phoenix Open, T12th at the WGC Cadillac, T6th at the Valero, ranks 13th in driving distance, 11th in strokes gained tee to green, 7th in scoring average, 14th in eagles, 3rd in driving efficiency and 9th in total putting.
CHRIS KIRK 6/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - The captain is 5/5 in cuts made at Colonial with three Top20s here. More recently, he followed a T17th at the Cadillac Match Play with a T13th at The Players, has six Top20s on the that includes two Top10s---T4th at the McGladery and T8th at the Valero Texas Open. Kirk ranks 1st in sand saves at 68% and 6th in approaches from better than 275 yards which will help tame Colonial's 7200+ yards.
CHARLEY HOFFMAN 8/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - I know, I know, what has he done lately! Sans mullet he is still hanging around and he is 8th in the FedEx Cup rankings and 47th in the all-around Tour rankings. He is also perfect in six made cuts at the Colonial even though he has just two Top25s and no Top10s. However, your honor let me say that his recent form is good. So good in fact that he has Top20s in four of his last six Tour starts with a T11th in two Texas events this season---the Valero and Shell Houston---and a T9th at The Masters. Those three finishes just happen to be in consecutive events. His stats aren't stellar, but he just seems to get the job done!
JOHN SENDEN 10/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - Has a nice track record at Colonial with a T5th last year and three Top10 finishes as well. He comes with pretty good form having T5th at the Cadillac Match Play and T8th at The Players.
JIM HERMAN 16/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - It's his debut at Colonial! I usually don't like to back players with no course history, but just a month ago he finished a career-best T7th at the Honda Classic and promptly followed that up with a T4th at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. He finished a solid T13th last week at Quail Hollow and in The Jeffersons-style has moved on up to 82nd in the FedEx rankings. Currently ranks 6th in total driving, 32rd in driving accuracy, 1st in GIR and 20th in proximity to the pin. Let's hope he continue to have his best year on Tour this week.
JORDAN SPIETH 5/1 TO WIN OUTRIGHT - Jordan looking to bounce and show Rory that he is indeed a force to be reckoned with and he will not just lay down and let the Irishman through. He has two Top 15s in the last two trips to Colonial with a 14th and a 7th place finish. He knows the course and he should have a nice gallery from his home state.
RYAN PALMER 5/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - A local boy in his 12th straight appearance at Colonial where he T5th in 2012 and 2014. He shot an opening round 62 in 2013. On the season he T9th at the Franklin Templeton, T17th at the Sony Open, T10th at the Humana Challenge, T2nd at the Phoenix Open, T12th at the WGC Cadillac, T6th at the Valero, ranks 13th in driving distance, 11th in strokes gained tee to green, 7th in scoring average, 14th in eagles, 3rd in driving efficiency and 9th in total putting.
CHRIS KIRK 6/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - The captain is 5/5 in cuts made at Colonial with three Top20s here. More recently, he followed a T17th at the Cadillac Match Play with a T13th at The Players, has six Top20s on the that includes two Top10s---T4th at the McGladery and T8th at the Valero Texas Open. Kirk ranks 1st in sand saves at 68% and 6th in approaches from better than 275 yards which will help tame Colonial's 7200+ yards.
CHARLEY HOFFMAN 8/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - I know, I know, what has he done lately! Sans mullet he is still hanging around and he is 8th in the FedEx Cup rankings and 47th in the all-around Tour rankings. He is also perfect in six made cuts at the Colonial even though he has just two Top25s and no Top10s. However, your honor let me say that his recent form is good. So good in fact that he has Top20s in four of his last six Tour starts with a T11th in two Texas events this season---the Valero and Shell Houston---and a T9th at The Masters. Those three finishes just happen to be in consecutive events. His stats aren't stellar, but he just seems to get the job done!
JOHN SENDEN 10/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - Has a nice track record at Colonial with a T5th last year and three Top10 finishes as well. He comes with pretty good form having T5th at the Cadillac Match Play and T8th at The Players.
JIM HERMAN 16/1 TO FINISH TOP 5 - It's his debut at Colonial! I usually don't like to back players with no course history, but just a month ago he finished a career-best T7th at the Honda Classic and promptly followed that up with a T4th at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. He finished a solid T13th last week at Quail Hollow and in The Jeffersons-style has moved on up to 82nd in the FedEx rankings. Currently ranks 6th in total driving, 32rd in driving accuracy, 1st in GIR and 20th in proximity to the pin. Let's hope he continue to have his best year on Tour this week.