Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Betting Odds – 2015
Carrie Stroup here with your Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial betting odds courtesy of Sportsbook.ag.
Colonial Country Club – Fort Worth, TX
Sportsbook.ag Odds to Win Tournament
The PGA shifts its focus out West for the Crowne Plaza Invitational this week; one of five invitational’s on tour that hosts a smaller 125-player field. The par-70, 7,204-yard course has been the venue for this tourney since 1946 while hosting both the U.S. Open (1941) and second edition of the Players Championship (1975) in past years.
It will be tough to follow up the performance that Rory McIlroy put on at the Wells Fargo Championship this past weekend when he was seven shots better than the runners-up with his score of 21-under-par. McIlroy won’t be attending this event, but the top two players (Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker) from the current FedEx Cup standings will headline a rather weak field which has another five players (Adam Scott, Patrick Reed, Kevin Na, Chris Kirk, Zach Johnson) from the top-25. Two of those golfers in that group are past champions at this tournament with Zach Johnson winning in both 2010, when he shot a tournament record 21-under-par, and 2012. Adam Scott was the eventual victor in last season’s installment. The Aussie made a run on the final day to catch up with Jason Dufner and forced a playoff in which he took at the second hole. His winning score of nine-under par was the lowest since Olin Brown won at eight-under-par in 1999.
As the season continues to heat up, let’s take a look at who could take home the trophy this week in Fort Worth.
Zach Johnson: (+1200) Johnson is actually having a down season in comparison to what he’s used to and has already missed four cuts while also having seven top-25s in his thirteen outings. He also did not perform well here last season (73rd), but it is hard to ignore what he had done before that. Johnson posted four consecutive years of top-four finishes from 2010-2013 which included two victories. The weak field should also allow him to shine as he had three of his four top-10 finishes before March when most of the events aren’t featuring a ton of top talent. His driving accuracy (68.5%, 21st on tour) will aid him in navigating the tight fairways as he also ranks 19th in strokes gained from tee-to-green (0.845). Look for Johnson to put up another great effort at Colonial and make a run at the win.
Ryan Palmer: (+2200) Palmer is a regular at Colonial as both a club and PGA member and has performed like he knows the course well in the past. He’s been in the top-14 at each of the last three installments, including two fifth place finishes, and already has seven top-25s in 11 2015 starts. His huge drive (302.3 yards per, 13th on tour) and total strokes gained (1.385, 8th on tour) have kept him in it every time out and it should be no different at his home course this week as he goes for his first PGA victory since the 2010 Sony Open.
Brendon Todd: (+3500) Todd is coming off a huge 2014 campaign in which he earned his first career victory and finished 27th in the FedEx Cup standings. While he is not played to that level this season, Todd has still been competitive with three top-10s in 14 events as he’s missed only two cuts. He has struggled over the past two events played, going against the toughest of fields at the WGC Match Play Championship and the Players Championship, but had his best showing of the year just before that with a fourth at the RBC Heritage in which he had three rounds of 67 or better. He can thank his driving accuracy (70%, 14th on tour) and solid putting (0.464 strokes gained putting, 22nd on tour) for any success that he’s had and those stats will certainly factor in at this tough course where he had a fifth-place finish last year. He hit only 41.1% of fairways in that performance but was great on par-3s (five-under) and was 1.17 strokes better than the field in putting. Todd is extremely talented and should have no problems being towards the top of the leaderboard.
Kevin Kisner: (+3500) Kisner has nearly won twice in his last four events while being the runner-up at both the RBC Heritage and Players Championship. Overall in that time he has shot under 70 in 11 of his 16 rounds and is 44-under-par. Just like Johnson and Todd, Kisner has excelled with his accuracy off the tee (66.4%, 38th on tour) and also has been one of the best scramblers (64%, 23rd on tour) out there. The 31-year-old has two Web.com Tour victories under his belt and is on the cusp of winning at this level very soon, making him a solid bet each week.
Chris Stroud: (+8000) After two straight seasons in the FedEx Cup top-50, Stroud has stumbled this year and sits at 121st after missing seven of his 17 cuts. He has made four of his last five, though, and has two top-25s in that time with his best showing of the season coming when he finished 17th at the Shell Houston Open behind a score of nine-under par. What Stroud really has going in his favor is his past at the Colonial where he has been in the top-14 at each of the last three tourneys with his best being a seventh in 2013. Despite his poor showings this year, Stroud has been solid around the greens with 56.4% mark in sand saves (49th on tour) while ranking 62nd in scrambling (61.3%). Stroud is still searching for his first career PGA victory and could surprise many with his standing come Sunday afternoon.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
