The Jack Nicklaus-designed Montreux golf club plays host to this week’s PGA Tour event - the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Like most Nicklaus courses the Arizona lay-out offers generous fairways and large undulating greens. The venue is also at altitude and that means club selection can be tricky as the ball travels 10-15% further than at sea level.

Therefore players who have experience of Montreux are at an instant advantage to first-timers. Another factor to consider this week is the Arizona sierra winds that are usually at their most severe in the afternoons.

2007 winner Steve Flesch romped home by five strokes by taking advantage of a calm first morning to shoot a stunning 63.

With that in mind we are narrowing down our staking plan to players with an early Thursday tee-time who have an ability to hack it the wind.

With all of the big guns up in Ohio it is pleasing to see ultra-talented Nick Watney up for grabs at 28/1. Watney, who claimed the 2007 Zurich Championship, is a class above 95% of this field and his big hitting will be suited by this spacious course.

He finished 5th in Hawaii’s Mercedes-Benz earlier this season when it was blowing a gale.

Local resident Kevin Stadler was runner up here last year and clearly knows his way around Montreux. There is a lot more to come from the son of former Masters winner Craig, as his 15th at this year’s Players Championship suggests.

Have a nibble at the 50s on offer.

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Having successfully tipped Padraig Harrington for Open glory we are delighted to see a sporting 20/1 on offer for the Dubliner to win the 2008 USPGA Golf Championship.

Oakland Hills, Michigan, is the venue for the season’s final Major, a course that a now supremely confident Harrington will have fond memories of having won the Ryder Cup with Europe there in 2004.

For those who took our advice and backed the Irishman at Royal Birkdale, go back to the well and have another drink.

With Tiger Woods absent it is possible to make a reasonable case for most of the top 10 in the betting.

But on a par 70 that measures a beastly 7,400 yards it is clear that length will be a factor.

Englishman Lee Westwood has never struggled for distance off the tee and his accurate driving will give him an edge on what is predicted to be a tough set up. Like Harrington, “Westy” has course experience from the 2004 Ryder Cup.

His American Major form this year has been fantastic with 3rd at the US Open and 11th at the Masters. At 40/1 he is a massive each-way prospect.

Our final selection is exciting young Colombian Camilo Villegas. The long hitting yoga expert shot an astonishing 65 at Royal Birkdale and will relish the length of the Michigan track.

9th place at this year’s US Open demonstrates how well he performs on Major lay outs and a 23rd at last year’s USPGA augurs well. Take some of that 50/1.

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An early tee-time in golf can be a tremendous advantage in any tournament, but none more so than in a Major.

Those teeing off early at Royal Birkdale on day one will play the course at its very best condition with smooth clean cut and un-trampled putting surfaces.

The first players tee off at 6.30 in the morning, the last ones go off at 4.21 in the afternoon, that’s a staggering 10 hour swing.

Just imagine all the hoof prints and heavy traffic that will have treaded around those holes by the time the afternoon starters tee off.

For punters trying to eke out the “First Round Leader” it makes perfect sense to bear that in mind.

A man who really stands out in the betting at a whopping 200/1 is maverick American Mark Calcavecchia who has a solid Open record having won at Royal Troon back in 1989.

Now in his late 40s, Calc, isn’t the player he was back then but the old gunslinger is still very capable of shooting the lights out.

The Nebraska born player tees off at 7.25am and if he gets off to a fast start could well shoot a mid 60s score which will almost certainly be enough to either win or claim those each-way places 1-5 that totesport are paying.

Another player worth noting is Colin Montgomerie at 66/1.

A tight driving Birkdale is a course that plays to Monty’s strengths. He’s still laser straight off the tee and his early tee-time could well see him top of the leaderboard come Thursday night.

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The 2008 Open Championship gets under way on Thursday where Spain’s Sergio Garcia heads the betting with totesport.

Garcia’s favouritism comes through a combination of Tiger Wood’s absence and some hot form in 2008 but at single figure odds it could be argued there’s greater value to be found elsewhere.

Surprisingly, the man that beat Garcia in Carnoustie play-off to win last year’s title - Padraig Harrington - is six points bigger in the betting.

The Irishman is a natural links player and with a schedule that is totally geared around the season’s Majors it could be argued that he is even better prepared than he was last year.

His Major focus was rewarded with a 5th at the Masters but 36th at the US Open was poor by his high standards. However, that mid table finish at Torrey Pines was achieved despite two rounds of 78 and 77.

At Royal Birkdale it will be a different story - a course exposed to the Irish Sea - that will play to the Dubliner´s strengths. If the wind gets up he will relish the challenge more than most.

With Tiger on a rest-of-season convalescence it provides an ideal opportunity for the rest of the sport’s big guns to grab some limelight.

Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh would all have won more Majors but for Tiger, however, we fancy young Englishman Justin Rose to go closer.

Rose is a genuine world class contender these days having claimed the 2007 European Order of Merit.

He memorably finished fourth at Birkdale when playing as an amateur and is ten times the player now. At odds of 25/1 he could be one of the bets of the summer.

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Classy Congressional Country Club is the scene of battle for this week’s AT&T National in Maryland.

As befits a prestigious club so close to Washington DC, Congressional boasts former Presidents like Woodrow Wilson, Dwight Eisenhower and Calvin Coolidge as members.

And with mature statesmen in mind we like the look of last year’s runner-up Steve Stricker who actually won this event when it was called the Kemper Open.

Stricker has rebuilt his career over the past two seasons following a disastrous sponsorship switch to a Nike driver in 2000 and is a man to have on your side on these traditional layouts that favour brains over brawn.

The Illinois graduate arrives at Congressional well rested following a lay-off since finishing a highly respectable 29th at the US Open and at 33/1 rates a very fair bet indeed.

Another experienced player who likes the Bethesda track is elegant swinger Fred Couples. Persistently nursing an iffy back Freddie will welcome the East Coast summer temperatures and looks well worth a stab at 66/1.

He’s performed well in the past on this course and with three top 10s already this season has proved there is life in the old dog yet.

With a couple of fortysomethings in the staking plan a rising star in his 20s completes this week’s portfolio.

Camilio Villegas is a winner waiting to happen. Finishes of 3rd, 18th, 9th for his last three tournaments prove he is in top form and can reward support at 33/1.

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With just over a week to go before the US Open - it’s no surprise to see some top class names fine tuning their games at the Stanford St Jude Championship in Tennessee.

Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and David Toms share favouritism with totesport on the shortish par 70 lay out that usually plays hard and fast this time of the year.

Those are conditions have played into the hands of Toms who boasts an astonishing past five-year record at Southwind with two wins, 2nd, 10th and last year finishing 3rd.

Back the Louisiana man again here!

Having gone for the market leader we’ve lined up two far bigger priced players who have shown an aptitude for the Memphis course.

Fredrik Jacobson has a 3rd, 5th and 6th place finish on his CV here and this sublime putter is up for grabs at a tempting 80/1.

He’s endured a fairly low key season thus far but the gritty Swede can be relied upon to post his best finish of the season on a course he loves.

80/1 Tim Herron is another player who has a fine record in Elvis country. It’s been six years since the man affectionately known by his Tour peers as “Lumpy” finished outside the top 25 in this event.

The portly burger munching Herron might not look the picture of health but he came within a whisker of winning the Bank of America Championship in 2007 and on a similar course he might just go one better.

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Pretty Fontana golf club hosts this week’s Austrian Open with Australia’s Richard Green, Irishman Darren Clarke and Denmark’s Soren Hansen among the market leaders at totesport.

Green, winner here in 2007, almost made a right pig’s ear of things when he failed to get down in two putts from 12 feet when just off the back of the 72nd green.

Luckily for him he faced the decidedly limited Jean Francois Remesy in the eventual play-off and a par at the first extra hole was good enough for victory.

That was then and this is now and the Aussie left-hander, who has a reputation for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, is probably best left alone this week.

Clarke meanwhile has shown some highly positive signs that another win in 2008 could be on the cards. Dazzler carded a final round 66 to finish 4th at Celtic Manor last week and looks to be right on his game.

The burly Ulsterman missed the cut here in 2007 but was in a very poor run of form at the time and can be excused that effort. He now has his sights firmly set on a bold run for Nick Faldo’s Ryder Cup side and that alone will guarantee punters a highly focused Clarke this week.

Jeev Milka Singh, who shapes the ball from left to right, is a player we also like the look of. Although he has no course experience his faded ball flight will be suited to this course, particularly the decisive 18th.

The 2007 Valderrama Volvo Masters winner is one of the class acts in this field and should prosper. Back the Indian to do well in the outskirts of Vienna.

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The European Tour´s flagship event - the BMW PGA Championship - comes to a climax this weekend - where the continent´s finest battle it out at wonderful Wentworth.

Course re-designer Ernie Els tops totesport´s outright betting but the big South African is worth opposing given his obvious decline over the past two years.

Far better value lies in the form of big hitting Argie Angel Cabrera who claimed this event in 2005 with a spectacular display on Wentworth´s finishing pair of par 5s.

The 2007 US Open champion also has a second (2004) and a fifth (2007) on his Wentworth CV. Jump in for some of the 25s that is available.

The tree-lined Surrey course is very much a specialists´ track. Players either love it or hate it. Padraig Harrington has effectively stuck two fingers up to organisers by staying away this week citing that he just doesn´t enjoy the lay-out.

But another Irishman, Darren Clarke, has shown an affinity for the place. Big Darren´s best finish here was a fourth in 2004 but there have been promising recent signs that he is once again ready to dine at golf´s top table.

His last three finishes read, 16, 22 and 1 - a much awaited win at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai. Clarke finished third and fourth two weeks running in South Africa earlier on this season to give us signs of what was to come and his quote of 33/1 is well worth investment.

With Wentworth having previously thrown up shock 200/1 winners like Andrew Oldcorn, Scott Drummond and Ignacio Garrido our final pick is 150/1 shot Charl Schwartzel.

The Johannesburg-born player has scant little form at Wentworth but then neither did the three rags aforementioned. But at just 23 Schwarztel is twice the player they will ever be and his long hitting, like Cabrera before, could well see him get in the mix.

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Yet again totesport are first on the tee when it comes to golf betting and this week´s US Tour event - the Crowne Plaza Invitational - throws up some tasty outright prices.

The Colonial course in Fort Worth, Texas, is a venue that time and again rewards accuracy rather than power and that´s something to keep at the front of our punting minds when sifting through what looks a decent field that includes Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk.

Furyk gets our first selection at 14/1 on account of his brilliant second place here last year when he was touched off in a play-off by cocky South African Rory Sabbatini.

The ultra-reliable Pennsylvania man has finished in the money places three times this season and it would be no surprise to see one of the tour´s straightest hitters make that four here.

The former US Open winner took a week off after The Players´ Championship and will tee up as fresh as a daisy this week.

Second selection goes to classy iron player Jeff Quinney 66/1 who has already trousered $1.6 million in prize money in 2008 thanks to 2nd and 3rd at the Northern Trust Open and The Players´ Championship respectively.

Colonial is a course that Quinney showed some promise on last term with an opening round 65. Twelve months on and with his tour card now secured we expect to see the 2000 US Amateur Champion feature near the top of the leaderboard.

Our final pick is 50/1 Aussie Nathan Green. Green has played this course twice and finished in the money places on both occasions.

The 33-year-old hasn´t exactly set the heather alight in 2008 but a 3rd at the Honda Classic showed us that he is more than capable of really turning it on when it matters.

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