Travelers Championship Top Ten

Tee-off:  6/25/2009

Sometimes it makes more sense to bet a golfer to win, when the odds are high, and then to bet that same golfer to finish in the top ten, to hedge your bet.

Finishing in the top ten on the PGA Tour is a huge accomplishment, but it’s not necessarily the easy bet that some gamblers may believe which is why looking for odds is still the way to go when betting a golfer to finish in the top ten.

Let’s take a look at the chances of some golfers to finish in the top ten in the Travelers Championship.

1. Hunter Mahan +105 - - He finished 5th in the U.S. Open last week.  At the Memorial Tournament, he finished 14th.  Both of those signal that he should be one of the favorites to win the Travelers much less finish in the top ten.
   
   

2. David Toms +180 - - Out of his last 7 tournaments, Toms has missed the cut twice, finished in the top 30 once, in the top 20 once and in the top ten 3 times.  The chances are that he finishes in the top ten in the Travelers after missing the cut in last week’s U.S. Open.
   
   

3. Stewart Cink +180 - - After four terrible tournaments where he missed the cut twice and finished 62nd and 76th in the other two, Cink has two top 30 finishes and a top 5 finish in his last three tournaments.  That includes finishing 27th at the U.S. Open.  He also won the Travelers in 2008.
   
   

4. Steve Marino +300 - - A 16th at the Byron Nelson, a 2nd at the Crowne Plaza and a 23rd at the Memorial means that Marino could be a great wager at 3 to 1 to finish in the top ten in this tournament.  He didn’t have to face the elements at Bethpage Black last week, which means he’s also fresh while some of his competition has to be tired after the U.S. Open.
   
   

5. Anthony Kim +220 - - Only one top ten out of 12 events this year has to make some gamblers worried, but it does look like Kim’s game is coming around as he finished 16th at the U.S. Open and he was driving the ball very well in the terrible conditions.  If his game has come around, then he’s one of the top players in the Travelers and a top ten finish is very likely.
   
   

6. Kenny Perry +180 - - Perry hasn’t finished in the top ten since finishing second in the Masters in early April, but on the plus side is the fact that he hasn’t missed a cut this year and does have 6 top ten finishes out of 15 tournaments. 
   
   

Best Long Shot

Dustin Johnson +350 - - He’s finished in the top 25 in three of his last four starts and has 3 top tens on the year.  At the odds, Johnson has to be considered for a wager in this category because he’s golfing well and the competition in the Travelers just isn’t what it could be with both Mickelson and Woods skipping the tournament.