84 Lumber Classic preview: A course for bombers but watch out for the lean and hungry

The 84 Lumber website celebrates “50 years of helping to build America!". Unfortunately, after lavishing untold squillions on this course for the best part of 10 years, it has decided building America no longer includes golf. Which is bad news especially for golfers who love firing missiles into the near blue yonder.

But beware those say this is simply a bombers’ course. Ben Crane only ranked 35th for distance when he came third last year, but made up for it with his putting. And some of the strongest fancies this year are not as high up the distance chart as you would expect. So who’s to like among our leaders?

Not Vijay Singh, disappointing last week on a course he should have done well on. He is a past winner but that was at his zenith. He is still to be respected, but I am going to take the favourite on again. There are much hungrier souls around.

David Toms, who was carted off with heart trouble here last year, showed at the Bridgestone last month he is back on song. But his stats don’t really do it for me.

I’d rather put my faith in Chris DiMarco, after steering clear of him all season. He is coming back into form after his injury troubles and has a 10, 3, 5 record in this tournament (yes, he also won the forerunner in 2000 but that was on a different track). He also has to start thinking about qualifying for the Tour Championship - as things stand he’s about $280,000 adrift of the vital 30th place in the money list.

J B Holmes, John Rollins and Robert Allenby also urgently need to raise cash for that event and Allenby especially shows interesting form. He’d be a strong pick of mine if it wasn’t that he seems to suffer from altitude sickness.

You can’t read too much into the market because so little money is coming in - the big guys playing across the pond at Wentworth seem to be siphoning off a lot - but the most popular contender is Jonathan Byrd, who started the week at more than 30 and has since shortened to near 20. Only Singh has attracted more money on the Betfair winner market that I monitor. Byrd’s fighting finish in the Canadian Open, unfortunately penalised at the last, impressed many and he shared fifth place with DiMarco here last year. I have a nasty feeling, however, he won’t quite live up to expectations.

Others to watch are Rory Sabbatini, who came alive on Sunday in the Canadian Open, and Camilo Villegas, fifth last week and with the game for this course.

Looking at outsiders, my eye is caught by Harrison Frazar, 17th here last year and currently flying high in my stats. Sitting next to him in the betting is Ryder Cup rookie Brett Wetterich, a good price at more than 100 on the stats, if not on his recent results.

Tag Ridings also seems to wake up at this time and was seventh last year. He certainly needs the money to get his PGA status for next year - he’s more than $100,000 adrift of that cut line at the moment.

That is something worth considering to find others worth a possible trade. Players in form hovering around the cash cut-off zone are Kevin Sutherland, Jonathan Kaye, Jeffrey Overton and Scott Gutschewski.

I have avoided the Michelle Wie business, because to me it’s a sideshow and there’s plenty enough comment already, on this site alone. But I note that a lot of her media friends are starting to turn nasty. Best take I have read is this one.

PS: knew there was something I’d forgotten. This is just the course to show us what the Australian wunderkind Jason Day is made of. According to PGA Tour’s stats he’s 3rd for distance, first for GIR and 11th for putting, although on too small a sample for official inclusion. Hot figures though!