Quicken Loans National 2014 – Jason’s Day

Tiger returns to the fray at the 2014 Quickens National but it’s Jason Day and Jordan Spieth who are joint-favourites.

The Tournament
This is one of the newer events on the PGA calendar, founded in 2007 and positioned between the US and British Opens to attract as strong a field as possible. Hosted by Tiger Woods, it raises money for the Tiger Woods Foundation and is one of only five events on the Tour to have Invitational status, which means a smaller, more competitive field than in most PGA tournaments.

The Course
The Blue Course at Congressional Country Club, Bethseda, has hosted three US Opens and a PGA Championship and is rated one of the best in the country. Over 7600 yards, it is one of the longer courses on the Tour, but distance isn’t the only challenge. The narrow fairways make accuracy from tee and with irons crucial, and the enormous greens offer a stiff test of putting ability.

In The Bunker
All eyes will be on Tiger Woods this week as the two times winner of this event makes his return to competitive golf after back surgery. Prior to his operation he had been in dreadful form, making it to the Sunday of a PGA tournament just once in three starts and carding his highest ever final round at the WGC Cadillac Championships. Given time, he will be back to something like his best, but it is surely too much to expect a win first time out and at 14/1 he makes no appeal.

Recommended Bets
Jason Day goes into this event in excellent form. Two weeks ago he put in another solid performance in a Major, finishing fourth at Pinehurst, and although he started slowly in his last outing at the Travelers Championship, he improved with every round, finishing off with a 65.

He’s already shown a liking for this course, finishing second when the US Open was held there in 2011 and making the top ten last year.

Back him at 14/1 to claim his third title of the season.

In his second season on the PGA Tour, rising star Jordan Speith is making a name for himself and has cracked the top ten of both the world rankings and the FedEx Cup ratings. Last year he got to grips with the Congressional course at the second attempt, finishing sixth, a result that would have been better but for a third round 74. He took a week off after the US Open so should be recharged and is a decent bet at 14/1.