Golf Preview & Picks - Dell Technologies Championship
DELL TECHNOLOGIES CHAMPIONSHIP
The Top-100 players in the FedExCup standings head to Boston for the next leg of the playoffs. The Dell Technologies Championship kicks off on Friday with a Monday finish to accommodate the Labor Day holiday, so we have an extra day to mull over the options before getting involved financially. The big guns will doubtless be to the fore and, to my mind, Dustin Johnson remains the most likely winner of the event and is a best priced 15/2 with Paddy Power. But tipping favourites with a degree of conviction isn’t really my thing so where should look for value? Bizarrely, in the last seven years the winner of this key FedExCup event has triumphed after a poor showing the previous week, with only one winner in that period having managed as much as a Top-10 finish the week before. The Arnold Palmer / Ed Seay course doesn’t put such a premium on massive length off the tee and the key seems to be accuracy in approach play. One poor performance influences the odds makers at this stage of the season so some players are available at prices bigger than their talents merit. Daniel Berger has performed well here on a couple of previous visits and he ranks among the very best in shots gained in approach play. He is a rock-solid putter and odds of 66/1 with BetFred and Sportingbet underestimate his chances. Both firms offer ¼ the odds for a Top-5 finish. Sooner or later my bank balance will reflect my continued faith in Patrick Reed who was bang in contention after three rounds at Glen Oaks, where he putted really well. He has been 4th and 5th here in the last two seasons and fits the profile of a typical TPC Boston winner: someone with undoubted ability who underperformed the previous week. Stan James pays out on six places and go biggest on Reed at 35/1 so an each way bet is recommended. Any golfer who was outside the world’s Top-1000 in January and who is good enough to still be involved in the FedExCup in September must be a man in form and if last week’s Top-10 finish is anything to go by Patrick Cantlay must be considered exceptional each way value at 66/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral and BoyleSports, the latter offering a payout on six places. Cantlay has had three injury-plagued years and hasn’t played enough to allow his outstanding iron play to be reflected in statistical terms, but he has made the cut in his last nine starts and is a talented golfer whose first Tour victory is not far away. Finally, for those who feel three figure odds are a necessity for each way betting, maybe it’s time to take a little punt on the accurate iron play and sometimes red-hot putting of Zach Johnson, 125/1 with Boyle Sports.
The Green Reader
TPC BOSTON - THE KNOWLEDGE
This Palmer Course Design project has become more strategic as Gil Hanse has added bunkers and shape in the style of Pine Valley. The greens too have become endlessly interesting, with many slopes and countless pin positions so that accurate approach play and confident putting will always be rewarded.
The Dell Technologies Championship, formerly The Deutsche Bank Championship, has been played here since 2003 so the world's best golfers have watched the course changes beginning in 2007 and they universally admire what they see. The shaggy bunkers are seemingly natural affairs but the overall conditioning is as they've come to expect: unbelievably perfect.
The seventh is a 600 yard par-5, the green protected by a massive bunker which traverses the entire fairway, Boston's very own version of Pine Valley's 'Hell's Half Acre.' When players reach this green in two - and they do - we know that golf is forever changed.
tour the course here
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