Jim Furyk - can win again. (Getty Images)

By Dave Tindall and David John.

Betting Box Tipping Guide

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	5pts win Jim Furyk at 16/1 (General)	Straight driving and deadly putting suggests the US Open champion can win again.
	1pt e.w. Scott Verplank at 100/1 (Hills 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)	Top 10 in last two US Majors. Impressive driving accuracy and putting stats.
	1pt e.w. Bob Estes at 125/1 (Blue Square 1/4 1,2,3,4,5)	Like Verplank, fits profile of past USPGA winners - a player in his 30s with several Tour wins.
	4pts win Davis Love at 14/1 (General)	Playing the best golf of his career so a second USPGA title looks on the cards.
	2pts win Kenny Perry at 25/1 (General)	Stunning form in recent months and capable of capping it all off by winning his first major.

You could call it the Ringo of the four majors or a US Open-lite.

But though it may lack the star quality of the Masters or the US and British Opens, the USPGA has become known in betting circles as the easiest to predict.

Pick an in-form player in his 30s with a few regular Tour wins to his name but no major and you'll have every chance of backing the winner.

This magic formula has thrown up Paul Azinger, Steve Elkington, Mark Brooks, Davis Love, Vijay Singh and David Toms in the last 10 years. And even last year's shock winner Rich Beem fitted that profile. Only Tiger Woods (1999 and 2000) has broken the mould.

Oak Hill is the scene for the final act of the 2003 majors season and although it has a long and distinguished history we have to leaf back a few pages to find the most recent instalments.

The last major played here was the 1989 US Open won by Curtis Strange. And the last time it hosted a USPGA was in 1980 when Jack Nicklaus romped home by seven shots.

More recently Oak Hill has been the scene of the 1995 Ryder Cup and the 1998 US Amateur.

Those who attended those tournaments or watched them on TV will have noted that Oak Hill is a tough driving course. The sloping tree-lined fairways are narrow and spraying it off the tee is not recommended.

It's interesting to note that Strange and Nicklaus were both hitting the ball straight at the time of their victories. The stats show that Strange was the fifth straightest driver on the US Tour in 1989 while Nicklaus was ranked 13th in 1980.

Although more recent, it's harder to assess how useful the 1995 Ryder Cup and 1998 US Amateur results are to us as both were matchplay events. However, it's interesting to note that the highest points scorer in the Ryder Cup showdown was Corey Pavin – another accurate driver.

Hitting it in the fairway is only one part of the puzzle though. Another massive factor is getting the ball in the hole.

The last two USPGA winners – Rich Beem and David Toms – were both ranked the number one putters in the week of their victories. Beem used his blade just 107 times – seven less than second placed Tiger Woods who he beat by a shot. And a year earlier Toms took 106 to second-placed Phil Mickelson's 111 when again the victory margin was a single stroke.

Having identified the importance of accuracy off the tee and prowess with the flat-stick it makes sense to look for players proficient in both areas. But surprisingly, it's not that easy to find straight drivers who putt well.

Only one player is ranked in the top 10 in both categories and that is…. drumroll… Jim Furyk.

The US Open champion is fourth in driving and 10th in putting and if there was a stat for confidence he'd be challenging for top spot in that.

Furyk, also seventh in greens hit, has had a career year and it shows no signing of petering out. Despite a missed cut at the British Open, Furyk bounced back in style by producing a commanding performance to win the Buick Open on his last start.

He was seventh in driving and sixth for putting in his Buick win so those two parts of his game are in excellent working order and I think he will benefit from having last week off.

Furyk was 33/1 when we tipped him to win the US Open but is only half those odds here. And, okay, unlike previous winners of the USPGA, he already has a major to his name.

But his game looks in such good shape that I have no hesitation in breaking the rule and backing him to land a second successive major on US soil.

He's flourished in past USPGAs – four top tens and two further top 20s in eight starts – so this steely competitor really does have everything going for him.

And if winning two majors in a year seems a little far fetched if your name isn't Tiger Woods, just think back to 1998 and Mark O'Meara.

The only other player to make the top 20 in both categories – 18th in driving and 6th in putting – is Scott Verplank.

Verplank has made the top ten in both US Majors this year so is clearly a top player.

Admittedly, I have trouble backing the 39-year-old as his 17-year career on the US Tour has yielded just four victories.

However, the last two were in 2000 and 2001 and since then he's also made his Ryder Cup debut so he certainly fits the profile of a quality player in his 30s with a few recent(ish) wins to his name.

Verplank was also seventh in this tournament two years ago so all in all a three-figure price looks very attractive.

While we're casting our eyes further down the bookies' lists, we'll stop to recommend another 100/1 shot.

Bob Estes is another who fits the mould of past winners. He is 37, has four US Tour wins (three since 2001) and hits the ball admirably straight. He is 12th in driving accuracy and an even more impressive fourth in greens hit.

The problems occur with his putting which measures in at 109th on the official stats. However, players often have average putting stats if they hit a lot of greens and Estes took less putts than the winner when third in the Fed Ex St Jude Classic at the end of June.

Estes hasn't really taken the eye since but a pair of 66s in rounds two and three of the Buick Open on his last start are obviously encouraging.

If the unassuming Texan is ever going to win a major, the USPGA is by far the most likely. He's had more success in this than any other and three top sixes in the 1990s will give him confidence that he can really throw down a challenge.

One final point is that Estes sits in 11th place in the Presidents Cup standings. This is the final qualifying event so he will be desperate to put in a big performance and force his way into the top 10. It's also worth noting that Verplank is 14th in the standings so has a similar incentive.

Others at fancy prices who know how to win in America are John Huston and Joe Durant. But they can be backed at three-figure prices on the Top American without Woods market so we'll play them there.

Oh yes, Tiger Woods. So what of the world number one, two-time USPGA champion and four-time winner in 2003?

There are those who will simply refuse to believe that Tiger can go through a season without winning a major. (Well he didn't in 1998 so it can happen).

And the Tiger backers will point to the fact that he has regained confidence in his driving after switching back to his old Titleist driver.

But the stat I can't get away from is Tiger's major performances on non-par 72 layouts. When Woods hasn't had a full quota of par fives to feast on (there are just two at Oak Hill), his advantage has been whittled away significantly. So much so that he's won just one major in 19 attempts on non-par 72s. That's enough to put me off.

Ernie Els has a relatively poor record in this event (just one top ten in 11 attempts) and isn't in the same sort of blistering form that he was at the start of the year.

Vijay Singh will almost certainly be thereabouts and the tree-lined fairways of Oak Hill may remind him of Sahalee where he won the USPGA in 1998. However, his putting under pressure has looked distinctly wobbly in recent times so he may have to settle for the minor places again.

Phil Mickelson fits the profile of past USPGA winners almost better than anyone but it will take a huge leap of faith to back him at present. I still think he will win a major but as Oak Hill will punish poor driving, this doesn't look the time or the place.

Mike Weir has plenty going for him but may just have cooled off a little in recent weeks while Chris DiMarco's price (40/1) has become less than appealing following his recent good form. DiMarco has ticks in several boxes but I still wonder if his swing would hold up when under real pressure.

So of the remaining market leaders that leaves us with Davis Love and Kenny Perry.

It's still hard to believe that the 1997 USPGA is Love's only major. But given his brilliant performance at last week's International, he has to have every chance of doubling his tally this week.

Love, who leads the US Money List with earnings in excess of $5m, admits that he's striking the ball better than he ever has done and also says he's never holed as many putts. That's a pretty potent combination and suggests he can't be ignored at 14/1.

Perry's extraordinary summer has produced three wins and also excellent finishes in the last two Majors.

I've kept waiting for the fatigue to kick in and to be honest if he'd played last week that would have put me off. But a week's rest should have done the trick and now I believe he has a golden chance of getting the major that his recent play has deserved.

Perry lost a play-off in the 1996 USPGA when famously opting to go on TV rather than prepare for extra holes. But seven years on he looks to have a great chance of making amends.

He's 14th in driving, number one in total driving and fifth in the all-round stats. Eight of the last 10 USPGA winners could boast a victory in their previous 10 starts so that must bode well for Perry's chances.

Take the general 25/1.

The Europeans have a pretty poor record in this event so it's hard to put anyone forward even though our boys triumphed in the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill.

So instead we'll tip this to be an all-Ameican shootout with Furyk, Verplank, Estes, Love and Perry the men to follow.