Golf Free Picks

The best golfers in the world, with the exception of injured Tiger Woods, will be competing at the US Open, which starts Thursday outside Washington, DC.  The top three golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings will be in the same threesome for the first two days, setting up some exciting head-to-head matchups. We take a look at six matchups involving the top five golfers in the world rankings.

2011 US Open Head-to-Head Odds

Lee Westwood, England (2) -115 vs. Luke Donald, England (1) -115

The last time these two were in the same tournament was three weeks ago, when Donald beat Westwood in a playoff to take the World No. 1 ranking.  Since then Donald placed T7 at The Memorial for his 10th straight top 10, while Westwood finished T11 at the St Jude Classic last week.

Our pick: DONALD.

This week, the PGA Tour heads to Texas for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Some of the world’s top golfers will battle it out for the coveted plaid jacket. The best matchup of five this weekend features Matt Kuchar, last year’s PGA Tour money leader and the top ranked player in the field, and defending champion Zach Johnson. And we’ll try to improve on our 2011 record of 71-61-10.

The 2011 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Head to Head Odds

Hunter Mahan, USA (18) -115 vs. Jason Day, Australia (20) -115

Mahan and Day were both tied for 6th last week at the Players, but Day has been on the more impressive run, with three straight top 10s including a T2 at The Masters. Mahan has six top 10s on the year to Day’s five.

Our pick: DAY.

Nine American golfers are currently in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings, and all of them will be competing this week at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. With Tiger Woods playing his first event since The Masters, most of the focus will be on him and familiar foe Phil Mickelson, but there are four other great matchups.

We’ll try to give you nothing but winners to improve on our year-to-date record of 70-57-10.

The 2011 Players Championship Head to Head Odds

Tiger Woods, USA (8) -115 vs. Phil Mickelson, USA (4) -115

Tiger has been off for five weeks since finishing T4 at The Masters, his best result of the year. Phil  tied for ninth last week at Quail Hollow, collecting his fourth top 10 of the year. Both have won here before, Tiger way back in 2001, and Phil in 2007.

This week, the world’s best golfers will be at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Wells Fargo Championship. Last year, Rory McIlroy won the tournament by four strokes over runner-up Phil Mickelson, and they’ll both be back in the week’s most intriguing matchup. We examine that one and four others as we look to keep picking winners and improve our 2011 record of 70-53-9.

2011 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Head-to-Head Odds

Phil Mickelson, USA (4) -120 vs. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland (6) -110

Mickelson last played four weeks, finishing T27 at the Masters. McIlroy last played three weeks ago, finishing third at the Malaysian Open a week after his disastrous finish at The Masters. He has four Top 10s this year to Mickleson’s three.

Our pick: McILROY.