Northern Trust Open Tips: Brendon Todd

I doubt many people are familiar with the golfer Brendon Todd, but at 250/1 (William Hill) there are numerous reasons why you want him on your side, not just the price.

Let us look at his 2012 stats first:

• 15th in strokes gained putting
• 28th for scrambling
• 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings
• 33rd for scoring average

Six tournaments into the PGA Tour season it is becoming hard to write-off Brendon Todd as a statistical anomaly. Last week at Pebble Beach he was fourth going into the final round, eventually finishing T9. Considering the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods featured on the leaderboard it was a meritorious performance.

More importantly, his result at Pebble Beach does not feel like a one-off. The 26-year-old from Pittsburgh finished 2011 by winning the PGA Tour Q-School and has carried his form into 2012. Four rounds of 68 were enough to finish T13 at the Sony Open, swiftly followed by a T26 at the Humana Challenge.

Despite his tender years, this isn’t Brendon Todd’s first shot at the big time. He enjoyed a prolific 2008 on the Nationwide Tour, winning once en route to finishing 19th on the money list, enough to earn his tour card. Things then started to go wrong. There were 16/21 missed cuts on the PGA Tour in 2009, a malaise that turned into 13/13 missed cuts on the 2010 Nationwide Tour.

It was a tough learning curve and one that many young pros go through. You only have to think back to Justin Rose and his struggles after his 4th place at the Open. Some players just take longer to adapt to the demands of the main tour. Brendon Todd is showing all the signs that he is ready for the limelight, even if his odds say the contrary.

Back him each way at 250/1 (William Hill) and get ¼ odds for a top five finish.