AFTER the scintillating battle for the Green Jacket at Augusta over the weekend, it is time to shift our focus indoors towards the green baize as the best talent snooker has to offer gets ready to do battle for the Halo World Championship.
Despite a swell of opinion to up sticks and head for the riches of China or Saudi Arabia, the biggest event in the game has remained at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where 32 players will go to post from Saturday morning.
The top 16 in the world are already safely in the draw for the event itself, with the qualifiers still ongoing for the other 16 places, and after the way things panned out last term, none of the seeds will be taking any opponent lightly.
The first couple of rounds proved a graveyard for the big guns in 2024, with defending champion Luca Brecel and four-time winner Mark Selby falling at the first hurdle, to be joined by 2019 victor Judd Trump in the last-16.
Indeed, three of the four semi-finalists were qualifiers, with 12th seed Kyren Wilson eventually seeing off Jak Jones in the decider to win his first World title.
Wilson returns as arguably the hottest player in the game, having won three titles this term, most recently seeing off Trump in the final of the Players Championship last month.
Trump is the only man who can put up a case that he has been better than Wilson this term, although his form has tailed off a little since winning the UK Championship in December.
Despite that, Trump will start as favourite at no bigger than 10/3 (Boylesports) to win his second world title, which would still be a poor return given his level of talent.
That favouritism comes chiefly because he is in the bottom half of the draw, while the next four players in the betting are in the top section.
Selby has found form since the turn of the year, and his Crucible pedigree sees him creep ahead of Wilson in the betting at no bigger than 11/2, and he will be a danger for all, with a scheduled quarter-final clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan – should he grace us with his presence – a mouth-watering prospect.
Seven-tine World champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has still to announce whether he will play in this year’s event (Bradley Collyer/PA)
You can never discount ‘The Jester’, but on all recent evidence he shouldn’t be shorter than Wilson despite a run to the Tour Championship final in the last warm-up event, where he went down narrowly to an inspired John Higgins.
Wilson is a 7/1 shot generally – the same price as O’Sullivan, who hasn’t played since withdrawing from his beloved Masters at the eleventh hour – and that price really does catch the eye.
Of course, he would have to break the ‘Crucible Curse’, with no first-time champion ever coming back to successfully defend his crown, but Wilson has gone up a few levels since winning here 12 months ago, and seems to have a mental edge over Trump at present, having defeated him in the Northern Ireland Open final and the Players decider.
That pair can’t meet until the final on the first weekend in May, with Wilson having a tough draw on paper, with a rejuvenated Neil Robertson or Mark Allen potentially in his path in the last eight, before a possible semi with Selby or O’Sullivan.
However, ‘The Warrior’ loves the longer format in Sheffield, and will be secretly relieved he made an early exit from the Tour Championship, as he can go to the Worlds fresh.
At 7/1 he looks the stand-out bet, while I can’t help but like the 25/1 quoted about Barry Hawkins as a strong each-way alternative.
The 2013 finalist and four-time semi-finalist has lost his tag as a Crucible specialist with a few woeful performances in recent seasons, but he has found real form in the last few months, reaching the UK final before losing 10-8 to Trump, and then pushing Wilson to a final frame in the German Masters decider.
Hawkins saw off Trump and the dangerous Shaun Murphy on his way to the semis in the Tour Championship, where defeat to Higgins is no bad omen with Sheffield in mind, given that no finalist there has ever reached the Crucible decider a few weeks later.
Higgins rolled back the years in that event and is no also-ran at 12/1 as he approaches his 50th birthday, and he could take on Hawkins in the last eight, but whether he has the staying power for the Crucible marathon is doubtful these days.
At more than double his price, I’d rather take a chance on Hawkins, while he should be a good bet to win the third quarter when those markets are priced up at the conclusion of the qualifiers.
Whether he could take down Wilson in a final is another matter, with the defending champion fancied to retain his title and banish the Crucible Curse once and for all.
HALO WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTIONS
Kyren Wilson, 7/1 (General)
Barry Hawkins, e/w, 25/1 (Paddy Power)
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Xander Schauffele can underline his return to health with a strong showing at the RBC Heritage (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
FOLLOWING the drama of Sunday night, somehow the PGA Tour has to get back down to business, and the big titles keep on coming with a Signature Event up for grabs this week.
The RBC Heritage was traditionally a gentle wind-down after Augusta, just 150 miles away at the quiet coastal resort of Hilton Head in South Carolina, but the big guns are almost all duty-bound to play these days, and the calibre of winner has reflected that in recent years.
Rory McIlroy had already opted out before his Grand Slam heroics, so he will rest and recover before turning thoughts to next month’s USPGA, to be played at his beloved Quail Hollow and for which he is now favourite at a best-priced 5/1, ahead of Scottie Scheffler.
The latter returns to the Heritage to defend the title he won last year, a week after Masters glory, and is short enough at 4/1 given his frustrations of late.
It says much about Scheffler that he could finish fourth on Sunday without having anywhere close to his ‘A’ game, and naturally he will be a threat on the Harbour Town links, a short course that puts far more emphasis on precision and strategy than power.
However, there are more appealing options, and Xander Schauffele catches the eye at 14/1 ahead of his close friend and course specialist Patrick Cantlay, who is two points bigger but hasn’t won since 2022.
Schauffele quietly finished eighth at Augusta without ever being in the heat of battle, and having recorded a 12th at the Valspar on his previous outing, the signs are good that he has shaken off his rib injury.
A double Major winner last term, the world number three was superb from tee-to-green and with his approach play last week and has a fourth and 18th in his two visits to Hilton Head.
I’ll also take a chance on Tommy Fleetwood (30/1) and Brian Harman (66/1), both of whom love seaside venues and should show up well.
Fleetwood is frustrating to follow but rarely has a bad week, finishing strong for 21st at Augusta before watching his mate McIlroy winning.
He has two top-15s here and his long game is really firing.
Harman won two starts ago at the Valero Texas Open and loves Hilton Head, with three top-15s in the last four years.
A demon putter and former Open champion, he could easily outrun those big odds and go close to a second victory in quick succession.
RBC HERITAGE SELECTIONS
Xander Schauffele, e/w, 14/1 (Sky Bet);
Tommy Fleetwood, e/w, 30/1 (Paddy Power);
Brian Harman, e/w, 66/1 (Paddy Power)