posted August 12, 2009 at 19:01 EST in Golf Props
PGA Championship Matchups - Kenny Perry vs. Geoff Ogilvy
by Charles Jay
PGA Tournament Matchup
KENNY PERRY -120
GEOFF OGILVY -110
KENNY PERRY, the -120 favorite in the BetUS PGA Championship matchup betting odds, maybe 49 years old, but he is having his best season since 2003. He turned pro in 1982, but it took him until his third year to earn his PGA Tour through qualifying school. He's been around for so long that he is now the highest money earner in the history of golf to have not won a major championship. Perry won only three tournaments until 2001, when he captured the Buick Open, then won three more tournaments in 2003. Perry developed some momentum last year, winning the John Deere Classic, as well as the Buick Open for a second time and the Memorial Tournament for the third time.
This year he's already won twice. Perry captured the FBR Open in a playoff with Charlie Hoffman in February, and won the Travelers Championship a month and a half ago. This year he played brilliantly at Augusta in the Masters, and took the tournament into a playoff, where he survived the first sudden death hole but subsequently lost to Angel Cabrera. He would have been the oldest player ever to win at Augusta if he'd have emerged victorious. That was the second time he has lost a playoff for a major; in 1996 he bogeyed the first extra hole to lose the PGA Championship to Mark Brooks. He's finished in the top ten three times in the PGA, and six times in majors overall. In 2003 he had top ten results in the PGA, U.S. Open and British Open. Last year he did not play in any of the first three majors, and withdrew from the PGA.
Want another reminder about how long he has been around? Well, when he won his first tour event, in 1991, Hale Irwin was the runner-up.
So it's all the more impressive to see Perry at #4 in the World Golf Rankings, third in FedEx Cup points, third on the money list, fifth in scoring average (69.55) and fourth in greens reached in regulation. He is 48th in driving distance and 47th in driving accuracy. Putting has been a bit of a problem, in the majors as well as the Tour this season. He ranks 128th in that category.
GEOFF OGILVY, the -110 underdog in the BetUS PGA Championship matchup betting odds, began his pro career on the European Tour. He started playing on the PGA Tour in 2001 and managed to crack the top 100 in money earnings in his very first season, but he didn't win an actual tour event until 2005, when he won the Chrysler Classic. However, he stood out in the British Open, where he finished tied for fifth, and the PGA, where he tied for sixth. The very next year he won the U.S. Open when he parred the final hole while Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie both made a double bogey.
Ogilvy has registered six top ten finishes in majors since 2005. He was tied for 31st in last year's PGA Championship, but he had been in the top ten in each of the previous three years (including sixth-place ties in '06 and '07). He has won twice this season.
He ranks 2nd in this year's money list, although it will take some doing to reach his career high of over $4.3 million in '06.
His 70.17 scoring average is tied for 30th on the Tour. He's averaging 291.7 yards a drive, and has had some problems with accuracy, as he's hit the fairway 56.05% of the time on his drives. He's averaged 28.31 putts per round (17th).
Ogilvy has been as high as #3 in the World Golf Rankings. He is currently #8. Ogilvy has excelled at match play; in fact, he has won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship twice and finished second another time. That should advantage him here, shouldn't it?
Maybe, but this is medal play, not match play. Both guys are having great years, and Ogilvy started out in very hot fashion, but he has tailed off a bit. He's had only one top ten since April. There may be question as to whether he hits long enough to really be a formidable force at Hazeltine. Perry can handle the distance, and he is obviously not someone who has been slowed by age. He would have been the oldest to win a major at the Masters and could be a contender to do that once again. He'll be on the leader board.
We're going with Kenny Perry, the -120 favorite in the BetUS PGA Championship golf betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: PERRY (-120) ****
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
