Dufner looking for redemption Down Under

Jason Dufner admits he is looking forward to getting back to work at this week’s Perth International to draw a line under the disappointment of the Ryder Cup (Dufner 5/1 fav Tournament Outright with bet365).

The 35-year-old was part of Davis Love III’s US team that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Medinah, as Europe stormed back on the final day to claim the Ryder Cup by 14.5 points to 13.5 (Europe 4/5, USA 5/4 2014 Ryder Cup with bet365).

None of the 12 American players that left the Chicago area shell-shocked on September 30 have reappeared in regular events until this week, when Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk will tee it up at the McGladrey Classic on the PGA Tour (Johnson 11/1 fav  Tournament Outright with bet365).

Dufner took some time off before opting to make the long trip to Australia to line up in a decent-looking field including Charl Schwartzel, Bo Van Pelt, Edoardo Molinari and Paul Casey.

The Alabama resident admits that it has not been easy coming to terms with what happened on the final day of the Ryder Cup and he feels that this week’s event in Western Australia is just what he needs to try to move on.

“It’s been a tough couple weeks since the Ryder Cup for myself, and toughest thing about it is you’ve got to wait two years until you can play again.,” he said.

“But I’m looking forward to playing golf again and getting over it and moving past it a little bit.”

Furyk sees no end to McIlroy magic

Jim Furyk feels it is inevitable that Rory McIlroy will challenge for this week’s Tour Championship title and the huge bonus on offer for winning the FedEx Cup (McIlroy 9/2 Tournament Outright).

McIlroy will go into the final FedEx Cup event at the head of the standings but, with the points tallies reset for the season finale, all 30 remaining players have a chance to scoop the $10m bonus for the overall play-off winner.

It looks set to be an exciting event in Atlanta and the projected standings will change with every hole played towards the business end of the event.

Most of the top names are in the field with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood all breathing down the Northern Irishman’s neck.

But the 23-year-old has shown no signs of buckling in recent times with three victories in his last four events, and veteran Furyk sees no reason why his current streak should end.

“It’s hard to imagine Rory not being in contention this week as well as he’s been playing,” he said. “I think all we can do is really worry about our game and try to get ourselves in position to try to win a golf tournament.”

McIlroy could finish as low as 29th on Sunday and still win the bonus pot if Woods, Mickelson, Nick Watney or Brandt Snedeker fail to win the tournament but, on current form, it is hard to see the Holywood-born star finishing outside the top 10.

He will then turn his attentions to the Ryder Cup and take his place on the European team as they try to retain their title at Medinah (USA 7/10, Europe 7/5, tie 11/2 Ryder Cup Outright with bet365).

McIlroy leads in Boston

Rory McIlroy (7/4 favourite Deutsche Bank Championship outright with bet365) will head into the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship with a one shot lead following a second round 65.

Teeing off on the tenth, the Northern Irishman picked up shots at three of his first six holes, before carding an eagle on the 18th to finish his front nine with an incredible six threes.

He then fired three further birdies on the back nine, to go alongside his two bogeys, as he eventually finished seven-under for the day and 12-under for the tournament.

The 23-year-old, who currently sits fourth in FedEX Cup standings, was understandably delighted with his round and says he is looking for another strong day on Sunday to help keep him in contention going into Monday.

“Now that I’m in the tournament, I just want to play as well as I can and maybe reassess things going into the last day,” he said

“But I was very happy with the two scores that I’ve got already and know that I need to go out and play just as good tomorrow to give myself a chance going into Monday.”

However, despite his form, he is unlikely to have it all his own way at TPC Boston, with 2010 British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen currently sitting a shot adrift, while Tiger Woods (10/3 Deutsche Bank Championship outright with bet365) and Ryan Moore are a further stroke back on 10-under-par.

Garcia in charge at Bethpage

Sergio Garcia is on course to record back-to-back PGA Tour victories for the first time in his career as he heads into the final round of the Barclays Championship with a two-shot lead (Garcia 8/11 tournament outright with bet365).

After a string of positive results, the Spaniard recorded his first win since 2008 at last week’s Wyndham Championships to seal his place in the European team for September’s Ryder Cup (USA 4/5, draw 11/1, Europe 5/4 with bet365).

His good form has continued in New York and after impressing during the opening two rounds at Bethpage, he recorded a solid 69 on Saturday to cement his place at the top of the leaderboard.

Overnight co-leader Nick Watney is currently the 32-year-old’s nearest rival, two shots behind on eight-under, while Kevin Stadler is a further stroke back on seven-under.

However, Garcia knows that all the pressure is on him going into the final round but is confident he can emerge victorious.

“There will be plenty of thinking,” he said. “So I just want to go out there and try to play the way I’ve been playing, try to believe in what I’m doing as much as I’ve been doing, and if I manage to win, that will be great.

“If I don’t, it will still be great. I’ll be giving it my best effort, so we’ll see.”

Stricker hits first objective

Steve Stricker insists it was job done as far as he was concerned after he carded a second round of 67 at the John Deere Classic and he remains the 4/1 outright favourite with bet365.

The 45-year-old suffered a bogey on just his second hole but recovered to card five birdies on his way to a share of eighth place at 10-under-par at the halfway stage.

Stricker is looking to make it four consecutive victories on the bounce at the tournament and is happy to be in contention just three shots off the lead with two rounds to go.

“Kind of wasn’t the start I was looking for,” Stricker said. “I was hoping to get a birdie before I got a bogey – or no bogeys at all.

“But I hung in there. I was patient and hit some good shots. I made a nice long putt at 13 and birdied 14, so I righted the ship pretty quickly and got her going in the right direction.

“You’ve got to make the cut to be able to try to win the tournament. That’s always my first goal, believe it or not, in tournaments: make sure you’re playing on the weekend.”

Troy Matteson (7/1 – Tournament Outright) still holds the lead at the halfway stage although his advantage has been reduced to one shot after Jeff Maggert (14/1) fired nine birdies in his second round to move into a share of second place alongside Brian Harman (12/1), who carded back-to-back 65s.

‘Stricker Slam’ off to a good start

Steve Stricker remains the favourite at 7/2 with bet365 for a fourth consecutive success at the John Deere Classic after an impressive opening round of 65.

The 45-year-old made a slow start to his opening round but finished strongly thanks to an eagle at the 14th, where he holed from around 80 yards away, to card his six-under-par round.

It represented a more-than-solid opening effort for the American and Stricker believes the fact he himself is downplaying the possibility of taking the title is possibly working in his favour.

“I’m looking at it as an opportunity. It’s fun. But there is pressure involved. You’re trying to do it and there’s a lot of expectations not only from me, but from a lot of other people to do it too,” Stricker said.

“I try to tell myself, I’ve won it three times. How in the heck can I win to the fourth time?

“I’m trying to downplay it to myself. Maybe it’s working. I’ve done that every year here. Every time I come back I’m like ‘oh, there is no chance I can win again’.”

Stricker’s round was only good enough to give him a share of third as Troy Matteson (10/1 Tournament Outright with bet365) fired 10 birdies on his way to a 61, three clear of compatriot Ricky Barnes (25/1) at seven-under.

Patience paying off for Sabbatini

Rory Sabbatini is delighted that his hard work is starting to pay dividends after he carded a second successive 69 to move to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Memorial Tournament (Sabbatini 10/1 Outright In-Play).

The South African dropped two shots in his first six holes in tricky conditions but was rewarded for his patience with five birdies to move up to six-under-par, one shot clear of the chasing pack.

It is perhaps a surprising turn of events for Sabbatini as he has missed eight cuts already this year, but his work off the course with swing coach Rick Smith is starting to come to fruition.

“It’s definitely shown me I have to be a little more patient out there,” Sabbatini said. “There’s nothing that’s going to get achieved in an instant. You’ve got to make sure that you take your time and just make sure that you continue to run the process, and ultimately things will change.

“It feels good. Obviously it’s been a trying year, and obviously it’s great to see some return on the effort I’ve been putting in.

“So that feels fantastic.”

Tiger Woods has been cut into 13/8 favouritism with bet365 to record his fifth win in the tournament as he matched Sabbatini’s round of 69 with five birdies and a double-bogey.

Spencer Levin and Scott Stallings are alongside the former world number one at -5, while Jim Furyk shot a fine 68 to climb up in to a share of fifth two shots off the lead, and he is now the 8/1 second favourite with bet365.

Watson back but mind elsewhere

Bubba Watson admits he has hardly practised at all as he prepares to return to the PGA Tour at this week’s Memorial Tournament (Watson 33/1 Tournament Outright with bet365).

The 33-year-old has played only one tournament since claiming his first major at the Masters back in April as he has been concentrating on life at home with his newly-adopted son.

The Arizona resident had enjoyed a superb season leading up to Augusta, with three top 10s while never finishing outside the top 20 in any event.

And his amazing shot from the trees in the play-off with South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen to set up his Masters victory will live long in the memory.

Watson has played just one event since April but has now opted to re-join the tour with the US Open just two weeks away (Watson 28/1 US Open Outright with bet365).

But it is open to question as to how effective he will be this week after admitting that his mind is not solely focused on golf anymore and he has spent more time changing nappies that swinging a club.

“I’ve probably really put in about three days of good, hard practice over the last month,” he said.  “It’s a different tired than we’re used to, having a child.

“My mind works differently, as we know throughout the years, so for me my mind is racing any time you hear noise, any time you hear something.  You know, it’s just different.”

Watson will tee it up with the majority of the best players in the world this week, with Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson all in the line-up.

McIlroy relishing Sawgrass return

Rory McIlroy heads into the Players Championship as the 10/1 outright favourite with bet365 and insists his excellent return to the course last week has given him plenty of confidence going into the richest tournament in golf.

The Northern Irishman had been in fine form going into the year’s first major, flirting with the top spot in the rankings, but disappointed at Augusta as he finished at five-over-par for the tournament and well out of contention.

The 23-year-old took some time out to recharge his batteries and returned for the Wells Fargo Championship where he lost in a play-off to Rickie Fowler (50/1 Players Championship Outright) but his tied second place was enough to return him to world number one.

“It gave me a bit of confidence for my first week back after a little (three-week) break,” he said. “It was good to get into the play-off, but I would love to have that second shot back.”

McIlroy – who once said ‘I don’t like the golf course’ – sidestepped this tournament last year, having missed the cut on his two previous visits, but insists he is relishing the prospect of another crack at the title.

“For me it’s a very big tournament and it’s a tournament that I’d love to win one day,” McIlroy added.

The US Open champion has also revealed he is changing tactics going into the event as he has thrown out his three wood in favour of a two iron.

“I’ll hit it a lot off the tee just to try and keep it in play. I don’t mind sacrificing distance as long as you’re hitting from the fairways here,” he revealed.

“Hitting three-woods on some of these holes it still goes a little too far. I don’t mind going into a green with a seven iron instead of a nine iron.”

Fowler eyes further success

American Rickie Fowler (50/1 US Open outright – bet365) has insisted his is looking to build on his first PGA Tour win and continue proving his doubters wrong for the rest of the season.

The 23-year-old produced some superb golf to claim his first win on the tour at the Wells Fargo Championship, at the expense of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and the American DA Points, who both lost out in the playoff encounter.

Fowler (50/1 British Open outright – bet365) has long been regarded as a promising talent in the game but has rarely been able to put together a decent four rounds of golf to challenge for titles.

Now with his first PGA Tour win under his belt on Sunday, the California golfer is looking to continue working on his game and hopefully secure more titles and challenge for major events in the future.

Fowler said: “It’s been a wait, but I’m definitely still young, and hopefully this opens the door to many more.

“But it’s nice to be mentioned as a PGA Tour  winner. There’s a lot of people that have doubted or said you’ll never win.

“There’s all kinds of stuff. So it’s nice to kind of shut them up a little bit.”