Jim Furyk finally has a leg up on the competition.

After being forced to stare up at Tiger Woods on the odds list in recent months, Furyk is the clear favorite at this week’s PGA Tour event, the Frys.com Open (formerly the Las Vegas Invitational) at TPC Summerlin and TPC The Canyons in Sin City. Furyk is priced at +450; his nearest competitor, Chris DiMarco, is well back at +1800.

Woods was a bettor’s dream (or nightmare, depending on your bankroll) after his return to action following the death of his father, winning six PGA tournaments in a row including the British Open and PGA Championship. But he’s expected to sit out nearly the entire remainder of the season, except perhaps for one more event to reach the 60 rounds he needs to qualify for the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average. If Woods (68.11 average) declines, Furyk (68.88) is a near-lock to take the trophy.

With Phil Mickelson also taking a powder, Furyk is easily the man to beat this week. He won the Las Vegas Invitational three times between 1995 and 1999, he lost a playoff to Wes Short, Jr. at last year’s event, and he’s finished in the top four in seven of his past eight tournaments, including a win at the Bell Canadian Open.

Short is one of six different golfers to win this event since Furyk’s last victory in Las Vegas. He’s part of the field at +250 this time around; those odds may seem short, but the other five golfers in question include such luminaries as Andre Stolz and Phil Tataurangi. The thinning roster of talent at this time of year makes Las Vegas a great place for an unknown golfer to pick up a fat paycheck - $720,000, to be exact.

That unknown golfer may be Harrison Frazar (+3300). The Dallas native has two Top-10 results this season and finished third in Las Vegas each of the past two years. Where Furyk wins with accuracy and putting, Frazar cranks the ball off the tee at 303 yards per blast. He currently sits at lucky No. 100 on the PGA Tour money list.

USA Network has late-round action on the first three days; ABC joins in on Sunday.
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