Quail Hollow Picks – Kim holds off tough field in North Carolina

April 28, 2010

Online betting players should be in for a wild weekend at the Quail Hollow Championship, which is annually one of the stronger fields on the PGA Tour. This year’s event has been bolstered by the return of the world’s No.1 player, along with the Masters champion, but this week’s winner will be a guy who lit up Augusta in the final round, and he’s also won here before, too.

What: Golf Betting
When: Thursday, April 29th-Sunday, May 2nd
Where: Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, NC
Defending Champion: Sean O’Hair

The Storyline

There’s another strong field at Quail Hollow this year, and Sean O’Hair will have a tough time becoming the first two-time winner of this event, which started back in 2003. Five of the top 10 in the world are here this weekend, but the field is powered by four of the top five, including Tiger Woods. The closing stretch at Quail Hollow is one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour, and the 217-yard par-3 on No.17 is sure to have a say in who wins the championship on Sunday.

Quail Hollow Picks – The Favorite

Woods and Phil Mickelson will be the favorites this week as the top two players in the world, and Woods won this event back in 2007. Woods also finished fourth here in 2009, while Mickelson was T-5 and shot a 67 on Sunday. Neither have teed it up since the Masters, won by Mickelson, but both have great track records here. Mickelson has three top-10s in five trips to Quail Hollow (with one 12th-place result), while Woods has crack the top 10 in three of four events, along with an 11th-place finish.

Quail Hollow Picks – The Second Tier

There’s a large group of players that you could take in your best sportsbook from this group:  O’Hair as the defending champion, but he’s not the only former winner in the field. Not only is Woods here, but so is Jim Furyk, who also won at Harbour Town two weeks ago, and Anthony Kim, who won in Houston and tore up the final round of the Masters with a 65. Camilo Villegas has been consistent this year, and he finished T-22 here last year. Y.E. Yang is another possibility after finished T-11 here in 2009, and after coming in eighth at the Masters, he won the Volvo China Open and is rock-solid from tee to green.

Quail Hollow Picks – The Longshots

Bubba Watson may be worth a darkhorse pick in your best sportsbook after finishing T2 here last year, even coming off a T-43 result in New Orleans. Boo Weekley is another possibility and he looks to be rounding into form with four top-25 results in his last five starts, including a 10th-place result in New Orleans, and he was T-11 here last year. David Toms is coming off a T-28th at his home tournament in New Orleans, but he won the first event at Quail Hollow in 2003, and he was T-18 in 2009.

Quail Hollow Prediction & Outlook

The pick this week will be the first player to win multiple times here, and we’re going with Anthony Kim, who has finished in the top three in three of his last four starts, and he romped to a five-stroke win at Quail Hollow in 2008. Woods and Mickelson will be there at the end, but Kim, who was already wildly confident in his ability, has even more belief in himself since the Masters and he’s going to a course where he’s had success before. This is Anthony Kim’s breakout year, and you should snag him in your sports betting picks.

Pick: Anthony Kim