The PGA Tour remains in the Lone Star State this week for the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational where eight of the top 30 in the world rankings are pegging it up.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth and Masters champion Sergio Garcia headline the betting field that also includes Jon Rahm, Paul Casey, Matt Kuchar and Jason Dufner.
Past champions playing this week are two-time winner at Colonial, Zach Johnson, fan favorite Phil Mickelson, Chris Kirk, Boo Weekley and Steve Stricker.
The betting field is quite diverse with a good mix of veterans, players in their 30s and young guns.
Colonial Country Club is the host track and has been for the past 72 years. Only Augusta National has a longer tenure on the PGA Tour schedule. The 1936 Perry Maxwell / John Bredemus design is a classic, old school, ball-striker’s layout, known for it’s many doglegs, tight fairways and small greens.
Veteran players thrive on it so age does matter. Until Spieth prevailed at Colonial last year, the previous 14 winners were at least 30 years old. The average age among them was 37.86. Temper your expectations on the young guns this week
TV Coverage: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET – Golf Channel. Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m. – CBS.
Current DEAN & DELUCA Invitational Golf Odds
Jordan Spieth +1000
Jon Rahm +1100
Sergio Garcia +1200
Jason Dufner +1800
Matt Kuchar +2000
Paul Casey +2100
Bud Cauley +2500
Kevin Kisner +2740
Marc Leishman +3000
Phil Mickelson +3200
Tony Finau +3450
Ryan Palmer +3500
Zach Johnson +3550
Adam Hadwin +3750
Billy Horschel +4000
Brandt Snedeker +4050
Emiliano Grillo +4150
Pat Perez +4300
Webb Simpson +4500
Brian Harman +4600
Charley Hoffman +5000
Chris Kirk +5250
Graeme McDowell +5500
Kyle Stanley +5650
Si Woo Kim +5900
William McGirt +6000
Kevin Tway +6050
Ryan Moore +6250
Sung Kang +6500
Bill Haas +6950
Cameron Smith +7000
Danny Lee +7050
James Hahn +7250
Lucas Glover +7500
Ollie Schniederjans +7600
Wesley Bryan +8000
Ben Martin +8250
Graham DeLaet +8500
Jason Kokrak +8700
Nick Taylor +9000
Sean O’Hair +9050
Cameron Tringale +9250
Chad Campbell +9550
Jhonnatan Vegas +10000
John Huh +10500
Martin Laird +11000
Steve Stricker +11500
Brian Gay +12500
Harris English +13000
Aaron Baddeley +13500
Billy Hurley III +15000
Morgan Hoffman +15500
Bryson DeChambeau +16500
FIELD – Any Other Player +475
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(Odds courtesy BookMaker.eu)
StudÂ
JASON DUFNER (+1800) is the horse for the course this week in Texas. He hasn’t won here, but in nine appearances, he’s got three top 10s, including a second and a T6. Duff is in a groove making 11 straight cuts with eight top 25s. He finished T13 last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Dud
JORDAN SPIETH (+1000) continues to struggle with his game after missing his second consecutive cut last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson. His attitude is fragile right now, he’s switching putters, he’s driving it all over the place and shooting some unfamiliar crooked numbers. FADE Spieth!
Fliers
I have two for you this week. I’ve been banging the drums for Ollie Schniederjans (+7600) all season, and recently I’ve been impressed with Kevin Tway (+6050). Both players have the games to win and both players are in good form, especially Tway, who in his last four starts has three top fives and a T20. I like Ollie this week because he’s a ball-striking machine, something that will bode well at Colonial. Both players deserve looks this week in all formats.
Longshot Special
STEVE STRICKER (+11500) is running out of time on the PGA Tour and I would expect in the next year or two that he will primarily be playing on the Champions Tour, but the 50-year old still has a great game and still plenty of gas in the tank to notch one more victory on the real tour. This week’s course is perfect for his game. Veterans usually do well here and Stricker won here in 2009. This week he turns back the clock and churns out a top 10 finish or better.
Click here for the latest Dean and Deluca Invitational golf odds.
