The Greenbrier Classic Predictions to Win
Date: July 2-5, 2015
Course: The Old White TPC Sulphur Springs, WV
TV: The Golf Channel/CBS
by Evergreen, PGA Golf Handicapper, Predictem.com
We are in an odd portion of the PGA schedule. There is plenty of golf ahead but it is getting to the time of year where players are looking to get set up for the last two Majors and the FedExCup Playoffs. Many of the top pros that are secure in their rankings will be heading overseas to prep for the British Open, leaving tournament fields wide open, and that often produces surprise winners. The Tour heads to West Virginia this week for the Greenbrier Classic and there is plenty on the line for those teeing it up at the Old White.
Bubba Watson, fresh of his Travelers win, highlights a field that also includes Tiger Woods. Woods is making his second Greenbrier start and we can expect plenty of coverage surrounding the state of his game. Players that have not already qualified for the British Open can punch their ticket by finishing in the top-12 this week and watch out for July 5thfireworks as this event often produces high drama finishes.
The Old White TPC dates back to 1914 but began hosting just recently with 2010 marking the inaugural Greenbrier Classic. The 7,287 yard, par-70 course has seen some amazing golf in just that short history, including Stuart Appleby firing a 59 on his way to winning in the opening year. The event has been kind to the journeymen on Tour with lesser known names like Scott Stallings, Ted Potter and Jonas Blixt etched on the trophy and Angel Cabrera is your defending champ. No winner has bested the field by more than two strokes and no 54-hole leader has even sealed the deal so dont expect this one to be settled until the final holes on Sunday. The course features a par-34 front and a par-36 back nine to add a little different feel and the final four holes include both back-nine par-3s. Those elements make for an exciting finish and anyone within three or four strokes heading into the back nine Sunday will still be alive. The scores have always trended low here and it is not unusual at all to see multiple players shoot rounds in the very low 60s and make big jumps up the leaderboard.
Each week, we take a look at the online betting sites and highlight the players that we think are the best bets to win. We make some picks for the win and breakdown a couple of head to head matches that you can find at any of our Recommended Sportsbooks. Here are our picks to win the 2015 Greenbrier Classic:
Kevin Kisner (25 to 1 odds to win)
The season has gone well for Kisner to this point as he is 14thin the FedEx race but he is still looking for a win. He has two playoff losses so he has been right there and he has gone T5, T8 and T12 in the last three weeks, including the U.S. Open to finish that run. He should be in good spots behind a very accurate driver and he is an above average ballstriker overall. This course requires enough shotmaking to be play into the hands of the more versatile players and that fits Kevins game. He only nets the 100th most birdies per round but his scoring average is top-30 so he does make the most out of his rounds. Not giving strokes away is equally important when the scoring pace heats up so look for Kisner to be in the mix if he can have a good week on the greens.
Graham DeLaet (30 to 1)
DeLaet is a fantastic ballstriker, entering the week inside the top-17 in total ballstriking and total driving. That tee-to-green combo is among the best on Tour so it is a bit puzzling that Graham hasnt come through with a win on American soil. He was fourth at the Travelers last week but he just cant seem to get the putter going well enough to push through. He isnt a bad putter, its just that he too often settles for pars, as many good lag putters do. DeLaet hasnt missed a Greenbrier cut in any on his three appearances, topping out at T12 in 2012 so maybe there is a better chance of him getting on a run at a course he can handle. The field isnt too strong and he fits the mold of a player that should take on the Old White and win. Maybe this is his week.
Seung-yul Noh (66 to 1)
After a win at the Zurich last year, it looked like Noh was going to be in the conversation with other young superstars on Tour but he hasnt really come close to that winning form again. Noh has played well lately with T3 and T20 finishes in his last two starts and he does have a little experience here with a T27 last year. He has put himself back under the radar but that often happens to youngsters and many of them tend to re-establish their good play once that first win hangover finally lifts. Noh has been plagued by mistakes as his birdie average is much better than his overall scoring marks. Young players also go through periods like that and the scoring will immediately spike when they figure out how to plug the holes in the dam. Noh remains one of the best iron players out there, especially from long range and that element is key this week with some longer par-3s looming.
Morgan Hoffman (100 to 1)
Longshot betting in golf can be infuriating but also lucrative. You just need to find one guy on one week and your year might be made. Hoffman fired one of the best rounds of the U.S. Open with his Sunday 66 and he rode that wave a bit last week before settling for a T39 at the Travelers. He is one of the longest drivers on Tour when it comes to measuring all drives and is a top-10 putter in both average and total putts per round. He basically has the front and back ends covered so I think he is just one good week with the irons away from breaking through. This is a very deep field as far as journeymen are concerned but having that top-tier putter separates Hoffman from most of the rest at these odds. If this tournament keeps with its tradition of helping out the lesser-knowns, a guy like fits the bill.
Head to Head Matches
Picks to win are based on predicted final score after all four rounds. Go to 5Dimes Sportsbook for single round matches and prop bets.
Louis Oosthuizen v. Patrick Reed (pick to win: Oosthuizen)
Reed is one of the new breed that seem to milk every last good thing out of a pretty average stat sheet. Both players here are similarly talented off the tee and they score about the same but Oosty does it with better approaches where Reed is the better putter. Putting is great always but I expect Louis to get the better of this match based on a much better greens hit percentage. Old White isnt difficult by most measures but you need to be on your iron game and Oosthuizen is the better option this week.
Bill Haas v. Keegan Bradley (pick to win: Bradley)
Its starting to slowly happen for Keegan. The putter is marginally better each week it seems and that transition will only gain more momentum and produce better results. Bradley is the longer player of these two and hits roughly the same amount of fairways and greens so the distance advantage is actually net-able this week. Haas is a little more consistent than Bradley in most weeks but Keegan has scored better to this point, even with a balky putter. Haas has the higher floor this week and Bradley might be a bit more likely to miss the cut even but I see Keegan staying on the right track and he has the higher ceiling. Bet your Greebrier Classic picks for FREE by taking advantage of a generous 50% signup bonus at Bovada Sportsbook! Deposit $200 and get $100 FREE!
Good luck and good golf!
Odds to Win the 2015 Greenbriar Classic
Bubba Watson
10/1
Paul Casey
20/1
Louis Oosthuizen
22/1
Patrick Reed
22/1
Webb Simpson
22/1
Kevin Kisner
25/1
Bill Haas
28/1
J.B. Holmes
28/1
Keegan Bradley
28/1
Graham Delaet
30/1
Tony Finau
30/1
Kevin Na
35/1
Brendon Todd
40/1
George Mcneill
40/1
Justin Thomas
40/1
Tiger Woods
40/1
Daniel Berger
45/1
Kevin Chappell
45/1
Marc Leishman
50/1
Pat Perez
50/1
Russell Henley
50/1
Steve Stricker
50/1
Cameron Tringale
55/1
Patrick Rodgers
55/1
Rory Sabbatini
55/1
Bo Van Pelt
66/1
Brendon De Jonge
66/1
Carl Pettersson
66/1
Chris Stroud
66/1
Jason Bohn
66/1
Nick Watney
66/1
Robert Streb
66/1
Seung-yul Noh
66/1
Steven Bowditch
66/1
Will Wilcox
66/1
Kevin Streelman
75/1
Shawn Stefani
75/1
Angel Cabrera
80/1
Charles Howell III
80/1
David Lingmerth
80/1
Jon Curran
80/1
Daniel Summerhays
90/1
Jason Kokrak
90/1
Billy Hurley III
100/1
Chad Campbell
100/1
Charlie Beljan
100/1
Colt Knost
100/1
John Peterson
100/1
Jonas Blixt
100/1
Morgan Hoffman
100/1
Peter Uihlein
100/1
Scott Pinckney
100/1
Andres Romero
125/1
Brian Stuard
125/1
Danny Lee
125/1
David Hearn
125/1
Fabian Gomez
125/1
Jason Gore
125/1
John Merrick
125/1
Michael Thompson
125/1
Sang-Moon Bae
125/1
Scott Brown
125/1
Scott Piercy
125/1
Scott Stallings
125/1
Sean O’Hair
125/1
William Mcgirt
125/1
Hudson Swafford
150/1
Jeff Overton
150/1
Ken Duke
150/1
Mark Wilson
150/1
Scott Langley
150/1
Troy Merritt
150/1
Adam Hadwin
175/1
Spencer Levin
175/1
Vijay Singh
175/1
Will Mackenzie
175/1
Zac Blair
175/1
Aaron Baddeley
200/1
Alex Cejka
200/1
Ben Crane
200/1
Brice Garnett
200/1
Bryce Molder
200/1
Cameron Percy
200/1
Carlos Ortiz
200/1
Chad Collins
200/1
Chez Reavie
200/1
Greg Owen
200/1
James Hahn
200/1
Jhonattan Vegas
200/1
Jim Herman
200/1
John Huh
200/1
Johnson Wagner
200/1
Luke Guthrie
200/1
Martin Flores
200/1
Nicholas Thompson
200/1
Nick Taylor
200/1
Ryo Ishikawa
200/1
Alex Prugh
250/1
Blayne Barber
250/1
Brian Davis
250/1
D.A. Points
250/1
Erik Compton
250/1
Jonathan Randolph
250/1
Kyle Reifers
250/1
Lucas Glover
250/1
Michael Putnam
250/1
Richard Sterne
250/1
Robert Garrigus
250/1
Tommy Gainey
250/1
Troy Kelly
250/1
Andres Gonzales
300/1
Davis Love III
300/1
Derek Fathauer
300/1
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
300/1
J.J. Henry
300/1
John Daly
300/1
Mark Hubbard
300/1
Maverick McNealy
300/1
Ricky Barnes
300/1
Robert Allenby
300/1
S.J. Park
300/1
Steve Wheatcroft
300/1
Steven Alker
300/1
Tyrone Van-Aswegen
300/1
Andrew Svoboda
350/1
Jim Renner
350/1
Mark Anderson
350/1
Whee Kim
350/1
Blake Adams
400/1
Derek Ernst
400/1
Heath Slocum
400/1
Justin Leonard
400/1
Max Homa
400/1
Sam Saunders
400/1
Tim Wilkinson
400/1
Tom Gillis
400/1
Tom Hoge
400/1
Bill Lunde
500/1
Eric Axley
500/1
Ryan Armour
500/1
Trevor Immelman
500/1
Benjamin Alvarado
750/1
Harrison Frazar
750/1
Oscar Fraustro
750/1
Zack Sucher
750/1
Byron Smith
1000/1
Carlos Sainz Jr
1000/1
Neal Lancaster
1000/1
Roger Sloan
1000/1