2009 St. Jude Classic Betting Odds
This week the PGA Tour makes its final stop before the US Open at the 2009 St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee. Last week Tiger Woods had a Sunday for the ages, as he came from 4 shots back to win the Memorial Tournament and hit some of the best shots of his career during that charge. Woods will not be in action this week when players take aim at TPC at Southwind, but some other big names like Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, and defending champion Justin Leonard are ready to go after another win and get their games ready for the second major of the season next week. With action set to get underway in just a matter of days, I have broken down the field into the favorites, guys in the middle of the pack, and the long shots I feel have a shot to win this weekend.
Favorites: Phil Mickelson +1000, Tim Clark +1000, David Toms +1000, Sergio Garcia +1500, and Justin Leonard +1500
A lot to like out of this group, and I feel like there is a good chance we will see a number of these guys with a shot to win this weekend. This is the first tournament for Mickelson since he took a break to help care for his wife, and you have to think he is going to come out a little more motivated to win this week. Toms and Leonard have both won here twice, and it would be no surprise to see one of these two guys holding the trophy at the end of the day. Garcia played well here last year finishing tied for 4th and Clark is a guy who is going to get his first win real soon, as he is just too good not to.
Middle of the Pack: Camil Villegas +2000, Henrik Stenson +2000, Padraig Harrington +2500, Retief Goosen +2500, Andres Romero +3000, Robert Allenby +3000, and Stephen Ames +3000
Another packed group full of great golfers here, and while the big names of Villegas, Goosen, and Harrington stick out, I think guys like Allenby and Ames are great bets to play well this weekend. Allenby finished 2nd here a year ago, and he has the game that fits the difficult courses like Southwind. Ames is another great ball striker coming into this tournament, and he is coming off his best ever finish at Southwind with a tie for 13th last year.
Long Shots: Woody Austin +4000, Matt Kuchar +4000, Boo Weekley +4000, Scott Verplank +4000, Brian Gay +4000, John Senden +5000, Bob Estes +6000, and Alex Cejka +8000
I really like this group to have a few guys be up there in the leaderboard this weekend, and even a shot at winning it all. Austin won this event back in 2007 and when he has it going he can play with anyone. Cejka also played well here last year finishing tied for 4th, but the guy I think has the best shot to win out of this group is Scott Verplank, as Verplank has finished in the top 10 each of the last years at this event.
For those of you looking for the rest of the fields odds to win this weekend, be sure to check out the complete list at Sportsbook.com.
