Whereas bombers were clearly suited to the TPC Sugarloaf, Colonial Country Club is one of those classic courses where brain trumps brawn every time.

Perry had an extraordinary run in this event between 2003 and 2006, winning twice and also finishing runner-up.

And after his strong 54 first holes at Sawgrass and unlucky play-off defeat at the AT&T he certainly seems to have plenty in his favour.

My concern is that Perry, now 47, will be running on empty. He was under the gun for a long time in the Players Championship and defeat at hilly Sugarloaf took both a physical and mental toll.

Phil Mickelson is a past winner here while Jim Furyk lost in a play-off last year but, at their prices, neither of the two market leaders grab my attention. Like Perry, I'll pass them by.

Instead I'm going to spread the net with a series of big-priced outsiders.

First up is a player who I honestly thought had withdrawn when I scrolled down the oddschecker.com price grid and hadn't found him at around the 50/1 mark.

I am genuinely surpised that Ryan Moore is 100/1 as the bookies are normally quick to shorten him up after a big performance.

That came on his last trip to Texas when he finished runner-up to Adam Scott at the Byron Nelson.

After that gut-wrenching loss (he traded at big odds-on to post his first US Tour win), it was no surprise to see him miss the cut the following week.

But a solid tied 27th at the Players Championship proved that his game remains in fine nick and this is a good chance for him to shine again.

Perhaps there's a perception that, because he's a new kid on the block, Moore isn't a great fit for these old-fashion courses.

But looking through his record guns down that argument. Indeed, he proved his ability to play strategic golf at this very course on his first visit 12 months ago.

Moore shot back-to-back 66s in round two and three and finished a creditable tied 29th.

Quite simply, he should not be a three-figure price.

Second pick is another player knocking on the door for their first Tour win and, like Moore, he will hopefully gain some inspiration from Ryuji Imada making the big breakthrough last week.

Jeff Quinney has been slow to come to the boil since his 2000 US Amateur win, but has made big strides over the last two seasons.

This year he's already finished runner-up to Phil Mickelson at Riviera while he played some excellent golf to finish third at the Players Championship on his last start.

Those two finishes prove his liking for a traditional test and we can take further encouragement from his performance here last year when he opened with a 65 and added a 68 on Saturday to finish tied 36th.

It looks a matter of if rather then when he gets in the winners' circle and, on a course that suits, 70/1 is a decent price.

Rod Pampling has had six cracks at Colonial and in the last three years has finished sixth, third and 12th.

Those improved finishes are also explained by the fact that Pampling now calls Texas home so he's definitely in his comfort zone around here.

His form in 2008 has been somewhat hit and miss but the hits include an eighth at the PODS Championship and an identical finish at Wachovia two starts ago.

As a two-time US Tour winner - The International in 2004 and Bay Hill in 2006 - he knows how to get the job done and the 66/1 makes appeal.

I'll surprise myself here by putting up Brian Gay at 90/1.

I'd always written him off as a serial bottler and questioned the sanity of some fellow punters who jumped on him at 80/1 in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico back in February.

Despite his good start, I fully expected another Gay collapse but instead he shot 62 in round three and put on a Tiger-esque display of front-running on Sunday to cruise to victory.

As punters we have to reassess sometimes so I've been keeping a close eye on his results since.

Although he hasn't set the world on fire, his latest three starts show a tied seventh at the Byron Nelson on his last Texas visit, a tied 32nd at Sawgrass and a tied 25th at Sugarloaf.

That's pretty solid stuff and there's a decent chance he'll be able to kick on at Colonial - a course he clearly enjoys.

Gay has been a regular visitor and his results show a joint runners-up finish in 2001 and top 15s in 2004 and 2006.

At 90/1 he's each-way value and, who knows, he may even have another win in him.

I'll close with one more big-priced outsider in the form of Tim Petrovic.

The 41-year-old can definitely be put into the category of course specialist here having posted form figures at Colonial between 2003 and 2007 of 21-5-6-71-12.

And it just so happens that in preparation for one of his favourite weeks on Tour he's finished 15th at the Players Championship having started round four in tied seventh.

Petrovic has two seventh place finishes to his credit in 2008 - Mayakoba and Zurich Classic - so his game is ticking over quite nicely so have a little each-way at 100/1.

Preview posted at 1335BST on 20/05/2008