PGA's Best Bet - Finishing Top 10 at the Valero Texas Open

Tee-off:  5/14/2009

The Valero Texas Open is this week’s PGA Tour Event.  Contested at the Latchera Golf Club in San Antonio Texas, BetUS online sportsbook fans aren’t going to find any of the big name golfers in this week’s tournament.

That’s interesting because the purse is for $6,100,000 dollars.  In any case, bettors will want to see if they can make some money by betting one of the golfers in the field to finish in the Top Ten.

Sacrificing odds for a good chance at cashing a ticket sometimes is the best way to go.

Let’s analyze the chances of some golfers to finish in the Top Ten in the Valero Texas Open.

1. Tim Clark +125 - - He has three Top Ten finishes this year including a 9th place finish at TPC Sawgrass last week.  He’s ranked 6th in driving accuracy and 5th in birdies per round and should be able to make a move to get into the Top Ten at Valero this week.  He’s a top contender in this category.

2. Zach Johnson Ev - - He’s ranked 8th on the money list, has a victory and three Top Tens out of 9 cuts made in 12 tournaments and is the Valero Texas Open defending champion.  The odds are low for Johnson in this category, but no gambler can discount his chances of finishing in the Top Ten.

3. Charley Hoffman +175 - - He’s made the cut in all of 11 tournaments he’s started in this year and has 2 Top Tens to boot.  He also has two Top Fifteens in those 11 tournaments and is tied for 8th in birdie average per round.  He should be right there on Sunday.

4. John Mallinger +225 - - His 3rd place finish at TPC was awesome last week.  Why not carry that over to a course where he tied for 15th in his only start?  If Mallinger can put back to back good tournaments together, a Top Ten finish is likely.

5. Justin Leonard Ev - - Most bettors will find it hard to back Leonard until they see that he has finished in the Top Ten 3 times this season and has 3 wins and 2 second place finishes at Valero out of 11 starts.

6. Brain Davis +400 - - The Australian finished 5th at TPC last week and has 12 straight rounds at or below par on the PGA Tour.  If he can carry over his good form from TPC, then at odds of 4 to 1 to just finish in the Top Ten makes him an overlay.