Just because we don’t get enough golf this time of year, the European Tour is doubling up with the Australian PGA Championship running side-by-side with the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open. The Aussie dominated field heads down under, or in some cases stays down under, to compete for the Kirkwood Cup at the RACV Royal Pines Resort in Queensland.
The event has been dominated by the natives with the home country boasting 80 victories since the first edition of the Open in 1905. American Harold Varner III ended a streak of 16 straight Aussie wins with a victory in 2016, only to have the host country get the Cup back with Cameron Smith claiming the prize 12 months ago. So it’s not surprising to see Aussies Marc Leishman ( +500 ) and defending champ Smith ( +600 ) top the odds board at BookMaker.eu. Varner III is back to try and break the Aussie spell and is the third favorite at +800.
Odds to Win Australian PGA Championship at BookMaker.eu
Marc Leishman +500
Cameron Smith +600
Harold Varner III +800
Lucas Herbert +1800
Jason Scrivener +1800
Ryan Fox +2000
Adrian Otaegui +2000
Cameron Davis +2500
John Senden +2800
Troy Merritt +2800
Wade Ormsby +3300
Dimitrios Papadatos +3300
Ricardo Gouveia +3500
Nick Taylor +3500
Matthew Millar +4000
Marcus Fraser +4000
Jake McLeod +4000
Sean Crocker +4000
Jordan Zunic +5000
Renato Paratore +5000
Gavin Green +5500
Curtis Luck +5500
Yechun Yuan +6000
Scott Hend +6600
Gaganjeet Bhullar +6600
Rod Pampling +6600
Andrew Johnston +6600
Rhein Gibson +7000
Harrison Endycott +7500
Matthew Griffin +8000
Cameron John +8000
Adam Bland +8500
Anthony Quayle +10000
Aaron Pike +10000
Nick Cullen +10000
Geoff Ogilvy +10000
Jarryd Felton +10000
Ben Eccles +11500
David McKenzie +12500
Josh Geary +12500
Jun-Seok Lee +12500
Sam Brazel +12500
Jae-Woong Eom +12500
Odds Analysis
Cameron Smith +600
Given the number of natives competing and the history, there’s a great chance an Australian player wins this event. And Smith comes in as a favorite. It’s boring to pick a favorite, but I like Smith’s chances after what he’s accomplished since winning here 12 months ago. Smith was brilliant in Melbourne last week and recent form has him in a good spot for one of his favorite courses. He grabbed a T10 at the Australian Open in his last individual start and hasn’t finished outside the top-10 here since debuting at T35 in 2013. He was fifth in 2015 and claimed the title last year. “I’ve been playing really good golf and I feel really confident in myself,” he said.
Jason Scrivener +1800
Again, we can’t pass on the natives and Scrivener has shown increasingly strong form that puts him in a good spot. And the payoff is ripe as well. He’s gone from T54 at the WGC-HSBC Champions to T23 at the Turkish Airlines Open. He followed those two events with a T16 at the Nedbank Challenge and his best finish this season came in the Hong Kong Open with a T3. He has three top-20s here, but he’s yet to crack the top-10. Is this the year?
Harold Varner III +800
The only foreigner to the win this event since the turn of the century, Varner is looking for a repeat of his 2016 victory when his -19 was a tournament record. He’s been on a roll recently with a T6 at the Mayakoba Classic and T23 at the RSM Classic. And you can’t overlook his record at Royal Pines. He lost in a playoff in 2015, won the title in 2016 and earned a share of sixth last year in his title defense.
Course: RACV Royal Pines Resort – 7,364-yards, Par-72
Royal Pines has plenty of character and the greens are smooth. But getting to the cropped grass is what sets the field apart on this layout. The fairways are tight with the first six holes surrounded by water on either side, making accuracy off the tee a key stat. Distance is great, especially on the long par-5s, but miss the fairway and scores can climb in a hurry. And the hazards on the course aren’t all the field has to deal with. When the winds come up, and they will at some point, the course is entirely different. Three years ago we had a three-man playoff with all three at even-par for the week. No one broke 70 in the final round, so if the trees and water don’t affect the scores, the wind likely will.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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