AT & T Betting Preview

[Raji]

With The Players Championship, the unofficial fifth major on the PGA Tour, behind us, a majority of the big shooters are taking the weekend off. The top 14 players of the official world golf ranking are all sitting out, leaving 15th-ranked Stewart Cink as the favorite. The big names might not grace the leaderboard but that doesn’t mean there’s not value to be found.

Cink (+1100) and 22nd-ranked Zach Johnson are the favorites heading into the weekend and for good reason. The obvious reason Cink is the favorite is because he’s the highest-ranked golfer in the field. Giving him the extra edge is he’ll be playing at TPC Sugarloaf, his home golf course. Cink has a house not far from the first tee and sleeping in one’s own bed is always an advantage.

Johnson (+1400) has been off his game so far this season but a return to Georgia could cure what ails him. He is the defending champion and has won this tournament twice in the last four years. Johnson has won three tournaments (The Masters and the AT& T twice) in his career and each win has come in Georgia. He is one of just nine repeat winners at Sugarloaf and could join Phil Mickelson as the only golfers to win here three times.

Two other former winners of the AT&T Classic are in the field. Ben Crane (+2000) took home the trophy in 2003, the last time a golfer not names Mickelson or Johnson won the tourney. He’s coming off one of his best outings of the year with a sixth-place finish at the TPC, after which he said his game was as good as it has been all year. Crane has finished in the top-12 in four of the 12 events he has entered this year.

The other former winner in the field is Retief Goosen (+1400). The South African hasn’t exactly been on top of his game this year, though, finishing in the top-13 just once in nine starts and missing two cuts. He took nearly a month off following a 17th-place finish at The Masters but returned with a 51st-place finish at the TPC. Last week may have helped Goosen shake the rust off but he still doesn’t look like a solid play.

A popular sleeper pick could be Ryuji Imada (+3000). He has gradually improved his placing in each of the last three AT&T’s, finishing 15th in 2005, 10th in 2006 and second last year, losing to Johnson on the first playoff hole. Imada has never won a PGA Tour event and missed the cut last week at the TPC but he has had success here in the past. A weak field could be just the edge he needs to cash that initial first-place check.

The AT&T Classic may not have the appeal of other tournaments but that doesn’t mean there’s not great value on the course. There are a number of quality bets on the board so don’t miss out.

Raji