For Immediate Release May 2, 2012
Wagering lines established for 2012 Western Golf Alliance Open
Bookmakers name McCoy "the man to beat"
BOTHELL, Washington. With the courses and field set for the 2012 Western Golf Alliance Open at Pebble Beach, the sports books have begun releasing their 'futures' odds for this summer's premier golf event. As is their tradition, the Boar's Head and Thistle Pub, Sportsbook and Cricket Club of London is the first sports book to post their official odds, and have installed Robert McCoy as the pre-tournament favorite.
"We are very aware that no first-time participant has ever won the Western Golf Alliance Open," said Nigel Smythe, owner and manager of the Boar's Head and Thistle. "In analyzing this year's field, we heavily considered current player handicaps, recent form, consumption abilities, other person habits, physical ailments, hair color, and the posted individual rounds from the 2008 and 2010 Opens. As a result, we feel confident in our handicapping of the field."
The Boars' Head and Thistle has had a solid track record of accurately predicting the eventual WGA Open winner based on their early odds. In both 2006 and 2008, their initial "favorite" did, in fact, go on to win the event. This year, in addition to McCoy being rated as the favorite, another second-time participant from Southern California - Mark Herms - is just barely behind him in the odds. Herms was handicapped at the 2008 Open by having is golf clubs lost in transit to the event, and is expected to rebound strongly for the 2012 Open. More SoCal members dominate the top of the odds table: three time and defending champion Brian Gray, Mike Contois, Steven Smith, and Doug Atchison round out the top six.
"Knowing the level of competition at the WGA Open, I'm honored to be named as the early favorite for the 2012 championship," said McCoy. "I'll be bringing my 'A' game to Pebble Beach, and I fully expect to meet the expectations of this prediction," he added.
In explaining other aspects of the odds, Smythe babbled something incoherent about "inexperience is bad." The 2012 WGA Open will tie the previous record set in 2004 for the largest collection of first-time participants, including Henry Gonzalez, Doug Brunton, Dan Adkinson, Mike Nadon, and Peter Weidenfeld.
In order to provide fans with the additional ability to assess the WGA Open field on their own, the WGA has also created a "Predictor Engine". Modeled after the "what if sports" online predictor tools, and located on the WGA web site, this Predictor Engine allows users to input variables related to both the natural and unnatural influences that may impact the result of the golf tournament. Using mathematical formulas and probability statistics, the engine produces potential final results for the WGA Open.
The full odds as posted by the Boar's Head and Thistle are as follows:
Robert McCoy, 4-1
Mark Herms, 9-2
Brian Gray, 6-1
Mike Contois, 8-1
Steven D. Smith, 10-1
Doug Atchison, 12-1
David Duval, 15-1
Henry Gonzalez, 15-1
Peter McGarry, 18-1
Phil Gray, 20-1
Doug Brunton, 20-1
Trever Esko, 22-1
Dan Atkinson, 25-1
Mike Nadon, 30-1
Mark Taylor, 35-1
Peter Weidenfeld, 50-1
Big Al Torrico, 100-1
"Field", 14-1
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About the Western Golf Alliance: The Western Golf Alliance is the premier golf organization in the United States. The WGA exists to further the greatness of this grand sport of golf through the improvement of golf play by its members, the promotion of golf rules, etiquette, and tradition, and the ability to gather together from time to time for golf events and tournaments. The regional organization spans five western states, and is organized into nine geographic regions. Further information is available at http://www.westerngolf.org/.
About the Boar's Head and Thistle: Further information is available at http://boarshead.homestead.com/.
© Copyright 2012, Western Golf Alliance, LLC. All rights reserved
