Zurich Classic 2014 – Betting Tips First Round Leader

Zurich Classic 2014 – Betting Tips First Round Leader

Venue & History

TPC of Louisiana hosts this week’s PGA Tour event, the Zurich Classic. The event has been held at the TPC of Louisiana since 2005, and it has served as a fantastic location for this week’s tournament. With a mixture of high-profile and lo-key winners, the Zurich Classic offers all calibre of golfer the opportunity of a win. Whether distance is your game, like Bubba Watson, or whether consistency  is your forte, like Jerry Kelly , the course is appealing to all who enter the event.  Low scores are certainly out there, too, with last year’s winner Billy Horschel finishing on 2 under par, after carding a final round.

With a mixture of long par 3s and short par 4s, TPC of Louisiana is a course that the players certainly need their thinking caps on for. Course management is at a premium here, and it can be very easy to leave yourself in their wrong spot, making it difficult to get up and down. Although low scores are out there, some larger ones can also make an appearance if you’re not careful, especially considering water is in play on 10 of the 18 holes here.

The weeks following the Masters can be somewhat of a disappointment, but that is certainly not the case with the Zurich Open, which boasts some big names this week, such as US Open Champ Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley.

Previous Winners

2013 – Billy Horschel (-20)

2012 – Jason Dufner (-19)

2011 – Bubba Watson (-15)

72 hole record: 268 (-20) – Billy Horschel (2013)*               *Records for TPC of Louisiana since 2005

18 hole record: 64 (-8) – Kyle Reifers (2007), Troy Matteson (2009) & Billy Horschel (2013)*

Selections – First Round Leader

Ryan Palmer first round leader @ 33/1 – Coral Open a new Coral account by clicking this link bet just £5 and get a free £20 bet!

Having made nine out of 10 cuts so far this season, and recording four top 10s in the process, Palmer has had his best start to a season on Tour. Currently sat in 21^st place in the FedEx Cup standings, the Texas born golfer will be looking to push on after a strong seventh place finish at the Shell Houston Open.  He finished fourth here two years ago, and will be looking to bring his recent form with him this week. Palmer is one of the longer hitters on tour, averaging over 300 yards in driving. This may benefit him on those long par 3s, allowing him to take less club than most, getting the ball to land soft and with more control.  He ranks inside the top ten on par 3, 4 and 5 birdie or better performances, and 6^th in GIR percentage from fairway bunker, which could be key this week.  Palmer seems to go off the boil slightly over the weekend, as he is ranked 138^th in final round scoring average. However, he’s ranked an impressive third in scoring average before the cut, so he could well be a contender for leading at the end of the first round.

Kevin Stadler first round @ 45/1 – Bet365 Open a new Bet365 account and receive a 100% deposit bonus up to £200!

Kevin Stadler has already recorded a win this season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a course that measures a similar distance to TPC of Louisiana. Stadler ranks first in par 3 birdie or better on the PGA Tour this season, and 12^th overall for birdie average. Stadler recorded a top 10 finish at The Masters (eighth), and will be looking to improve on his performance here last year which saw him finish eighth.  Much like Palmer, Stadler seems to excel before the cut is made, and also ranks inside the top 10 in scoring average before the cut, at sixth. He has nine first rounds of 70 or better in 12 stroke play events so far this season, so he could certainly be one to look out for at the end of Thursday.

Russell Knox first round leader @ 45/1 – SkyBET Open a new SkyBET account by clicking this link and get a ‘Risk Free’ £30 bet.

The Scotsman has had a steady start to the 2014 season, notching up 3 top 10s and a runner up finish in his 14 events so far. He’s a fairly straight driver of the golf ball, which is always a bonus on a course littered with bunkers left, right and centre. He’s inside the top 20 for driving accuracy, and also in the top 30 for GIR. If the drives the ball well this week, expect him to be hitting almost 70% of the greens.  He actually tops the list in par 3 performance this season, and is currently an eye-catching -14 so far this season. On a course with severely testing par 3s, his current form in the category could well play dividends.  Much the same as Palmer and Stadler, it’s the first couple of rounds where Knox shines, averaging 69.73 before the cut, good enough for 6^th place on the PGA Tour. He’ll be hoping to build on a ninth place finish last week here at the Zurich Open.

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