Predictions: Greenbrier Classic and U.S. Senior Open

It’s time for more golf predictions, as earlier we took a shot at predicting who would win the Women’s British Open. But now, we turn our attention to the men for a double dose of predictions, as we take a look at the first-ever Greenbrier Classic for the PGA tour, and the U.S. Senior Open for the Champions tour. So let’s get right to it!

U.S. Senior Open

Here’s my top three favorites for the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee:

Fred Couples

You’ve gotta start with the favorite, and I do think Couples is THE favorite to win this event. It’s being played in his hometown of Seattle, so it’s easy to see who the majority of the crowd will be rooting for when he tees off tomorrow morning. When Couples has that kind of backing from the fans, he usually delivers with a great performance. He’s already won three times this year on the Champions tour, and picking against him when everything is stacked in his favor may be the wrong thing to do.

Fred Funk

Funk has yet to pick up a win so far this season on tour, but I tend to believe that he’s the one with the best chance to beat Couples. He won this event last year, and will be looking to repeat an outstanding performance from a year ago. He’s a confident putter, which means that if he’s accurate with the bigger clubs, he’s going to be a major factor this week.

Bernhard Langer

I don’t care where the event, what time the event is being played, or what the weather conditions are…..you simply can never count out Bernhard Langer. He won the Senior British Open last week, and will be looking to build on that here. It was a confident win for him last week, and that’s something to look out for this week. He might be in the best position to win here, despite all the hype for Couples.

And the winner is…..

You didn’t seriously think that I would pick against Couples, did you? It’s going to be great to watch the crowds this week, as Freddie-mania will certainly be in full effect.

Greenbrier Classic

And here are my three favorites for the inaugural Greenbrier Classic (which happen to be the top three in the eyes of most oddsmakers as well:

Jim Furyk

Furyk seems to be the consensus favorite heading into this tournament, as before missing the cut at St. Andrews, he had been quite while as of late. There’s no doubt that he’s the most recognizable figure playing this event, and that his experience should win out in the end, especially if he’s in contention on the weekend. It doesn’t always work out that way though in golf, but I think it’s safe to say that Furyk will be a factor in this tournament considering his solid putting and accuracy.

Matt Kuchar

This guy has been one of the most consistent players on tour this season, with a whopping twelve Top 25 finishes in 18 events so far in 2010. However, he’s yet to pick up a win, which means that this could be the week that he finally cashes in and finishes atop the leaderboard. He played pretty well at the British Open (T27), and had three Top 10s in the three weeks before that. So as you can see, it definitely makes sense that he’s one of the favorites this week at the Greenbrier.

Nick Watney

Close followers of the site know that Nick Watney is one of my favorite players on tour, and more often than not, I tend to make him my sleeper pick for major championships. This week though, Watney is considered one of the favorites and rightfully so. He’s finished tied for seventh in his last two events played, and seems to be playing some very confident golf right now. If he can get the putter going early, then watch out. He can hit the ball a mile and if he gets off to a fast start in the first round, he’s going to be in contention when the weekend rolls around.

And the winner is…..

You all know where I want to go here. But I’m not. I feel like Kuchar will be the winner this week. Every single time I pick Watney to play well, he usually struggles. So I’m going reverse psychology this time around. Which means he’ll probably win by eight strokes. Honestly though, it’s hard to go against Kuchar’s consistency, and I expect him to get his first win of the season.

UPDATE: As reader Mike pointed out below, the whole reverse psychology idea didn’t exactly go as planned. Watney has withdrew from the event.

Now it’s time to make your picks. Who wins this week at the Greenbrier and U.S. Senior Open?

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