It was a fantastic week at the US Open and it was great to be there in person to witness Gary Woodland pick up his first Major Championship. All credit must go to him for the way he held his nerve on Sunday, and also to Brooks Koepka who put in a magnificent effort in his attempt to land a hattrick of US Opens.
Moving on and we have two great events to look forward to this week with The Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour and the BMW International on the European circuit.
Looking at the Travelers first and the tour makes its traditional post US Open stop at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conneticut, a par 70 which measures 6841 yards.
A strong field is headed up by Brooks Koepka with a supporting cast of Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, along with three time Travelers Champion Bubba Watson.
The omens here for Koepka are not good as the record of people who performed well at the US Open doing so here is poor. In fact six winners in the last ten years here either missed the cut or did not play at the US Open.
On this basis I am swerving Brooks and while Cantlay could go in again on the back of his Memorial win he is not for me at the price either. Thomas meanwhile is still struggling since his return from injury and Spieth, despite his recent higher finishes, is still struggling to keep the ball in play off the tee.
So, I shall turn first instead to two time PGA Tour winner Daniel Berger, currently priced at 60/1.
After returning in January from a thumb injury Berger struggled for consistency. Seven cuts made in a row, however, has seen him starting to regain momentum lately and I can see the Floridian giving us a big run this week at one of his favourite hunting grounds on tour, where he finished second and fifth on his first two visits.
Moving on and another player in a solid groove of late who catches my eye is 40/1 Emilliano Grillo.
Like Berger, Grillo has made his last seven cuts in a row and again like Berger he fits the mould of solid ball strikers who tend to perform well here. 43rd on his first visit here and 19th last year Grillo is clearly getting the hang of TPC River Highlands and this could be the week he bags a long overdue second PGA Tour title.
Going further down the list and another who appeals is Andrew Putnam who was agonisingly close to landing us a winner with our bet for him to finish Top 40 at Pebble Beach last week. Interestingly though Putnam finished the week at Pebble third in birdies made and if he can just keep the mistakes of his card here he can perform well on a course that should suit.
Finally I shall finish my Travelers team with 150/1 Canadian Mackenzie Hughes. Hughes has struggled with his putter this year, however he has been much improved with the flat stick in his last two starts. A player who tends to play well on shorter courses and with some solid form here all roads point to a strong week for him at a big e/w price.
Over on the European Tour and we are at The Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich for the BMW International Open. It is important to note here that this par 72 measuring 7,157 yards has been playing host to the event on alternate years since 2013 so you can ignore any form from 2014, 16 and 18 for the event.
The standout selection for me here is 35/1 Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal. Larrazabal is a two time winner here and prior to the flare up of an old wrist injury last time out had back to back top ten finishes. Normally this injury would be a concern but Pablo has confirmed on twitter that he is 100% ready to go at one of his favourite venues and that’s good enough for me.
In addition to Pablo I shall add 25/1 Thomas Detry. The Belgian was second here on his only previous visit and with his form continuing to trend in the right direction a maiden tour title for him surely cannot be far away.
Find a full range of golf betting over at paddypower.com