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Tiger Woods might be overwhelming favourite to win the US PGA at Hazeltine, but Kenny Perry is a canny pick for the year's final Major.

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THIS WEEK (August 13-16)

Tournament: US PGA Championship

Course: Hazeltine National GC, Chaska, Minnesota

Purse: $7.5 million

Defending champion: Padraig Harrington

A List

How can you look past Tiger Woods? It's a seemingly unanswerable question, as the world number one comes into the week off two brilliant victories in the past fortnight.

Normal players would be considered to have peaked too early, but those rules just don't apply to Woods.

Still, the great man is yet to truly convince he's at his best. He was handed the Firestone victory by Padraig Harrington's late blip after uncharacteristically dropping two shots just after going into the lead on Sunday afternoon, and his still erratic driving could be too much for him on the longest course in Major history.

Driving accuracy will scupper Phil Mickelson as well, and though we're tempted by both Harrington and Sergio Garcia, we've got a feeling that this will be an American's year - and that it could be a spectacular last hurrah for veteran Kenny Perry . He is long and accurate off the tee, steady elsewhere, in good form and well overdue to land a big one.

B List

Look down the B-list players and one name jumps out: Lee Westood . A third place finish at The Open and ninth place at Firestone last week after a final round 65, demonstrates he's in blistering form. Ignore the fact he missed the cut in the 2002 US PGA at Hazeltine - that was back when Worksop's finest was in the middle of his mid-career slump - and stick him on your team list.

Alongside Westwood we'd be tempted to pencil in Rich Beem, who tasted once-in-a-lifetime glory here in 2002 when he beat Tiger down the stretch to win his only Major. Beem later admitted he thought he "was going to puke" with nerves.

But though we expect the Beemer to have a decent nostalgia-tinted showing, we think it's high time Steve Stricker had a Major breakthrough. After watching similarly talented Stewart Cink lift the Claret Jug, Stricker will be insprired. He was fourth last week and is arguably an even better player than Cink. This could well be his week.

C List

The way the chips have fallen this season, you're spoilt for choice in the supposed third tier. It might be tempting to go with Luke Donald, since the US-based Englishman has had previous solid showings at the US PGA.

But his form at Bridgestone last week suggested that he is far from the best: though his putting was solid, he was uncharacteristically spraying the ball all over the shop off the tee.

That leaves the smart money following another Brit: Ian Poulter . Love him or loathe him, Poults has a generally enviable record in the Majors - for a journeyman, winless in two years, at any rate. The missed cut at Turnberry was a blip, so we say pile on Poults.

Eurosport