Tag: Bubba Watson

Golf: Northern Trust Open Preview

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A bunker in the middle of the green!  Courses are getting pretty freaky to contend with technology these days – although the 6th at Riviera has been around since 1927.  The 6th is one of the many challenges at Riviera, along with tight fairways and steep catchment areas on the wrong side of greens, that will stop players going Pebble Beach low at the Northern Trust Open this week.

Let’s look at the tournament in more detail:

The Course

“Hogan’s Alley”, or the Riviera Country Club as it’s more widely known is a 7,349 yard par 71 course just out of Los Angeles.  Nicknamed after Ben Hogan after he won three times in an 18 month span, the course is home to the unusual site of a bunker nestled in the middle of the green on the par 3 6th.  It’s also home to very drivable number 10th hole.  A par 4 that is sure to see some birdies at this weeks Northern Trust Open.

The Sound Bites

“I’m just so excited about what’s next,” – Brandt Snedeker said after winning at Pebble Beach.  Many are predicting big things for Sneds after the impressive win.  He’s at $23.00 to go back to back.

“Right now it doesn’t matter what I shoot, doesn’t matter if I win the tournament this week or if I lose it with a three-putt, whatever it is. It’s fun. I’m playing golf for a living. It’s fun. And my kids, my wife are more important” – Bubba Watson doesn’t see any pressure coming in as defending champion.

The Defending Champion

Bubba Watson provided one of the best close outs in recent times last year when he shot 64-64 over the weekend to win by two.  The quirky left hander came from four back with a blistering finish that showed off his creative short game and unflappable steel down the stretch.  It broke a torrid drought without a win and set him up on his way to Masters glory.  Dustin Johnson finished second.

The Contenders*

Jimmy Walker – $17.00

Bubba Watson – $13.00

Sergio Garcia – $31.00

Jordan Spieth – $13.00

Dustin Johnson – $13.00

Charlie Beljan – $81.00

Nick Watney – $31.00

*AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am odds courtesy of Bet365 Australia.

The Winner

We’ve gone with the regular guys again this week but also added a couple of well placed smokeys.  Dustin Johnson looks to be shaking off the rust and finding some decent from, and buoyed by last years finish here might do okay.  But we like the look of Beljan; third last week and a good record at Riviera, and Watney; coming into some nice form and having got a good view of Snedeker’s finish last week.  We like Watney.

Golf: Waste Management Phoenix Open Preview

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Tiger Woods isn’t the only big name golfer making his first appearance in a while.  While most of the attention will be on Woods – the last time he played was at his own tournament when most onlookers watched on in shock as he flubbed chip after chip, and more recently he’s received publicity for losing a tooth while supporting Lindsey Vonn at a ski event – others including Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth also return to tournament golf.

Woods’ performance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open will help bring the golfing world back to stories of more sporting significance after Robert Allenby’s Hawaiian incident.  Watching Woods compete for tabloid space with Phil Mickelson who is bidding to become the player with the most wins in Arizona will be fascinating over the coming (hopefully) four days.

The Course

TPC Scottsdale (Stadium) is famous for its party atmosphere and for it’s enclosed arena par 3 16th.  Tiger Woods made the hole famous when he aced it as a 22-year-old, and it has held onto it’s raucous reputation ever since.  The par 71 course has undergone $12 million worth of renovations affecting most of the course.

Crowd favourites Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson should expect plenty of support from the huge galleries encompassing the 7,266 yard course.

The Sound Bites

“We wanted to rebunker the golf course, there wasn’t a lot of pressure on the TOUR player from the tee. The equipment outdated the bunkering. They were blowing it way by (the bunkers), very easily past them. So, we took 73 bunkers and pared it down to 66, but their specific locations were relative to ShotLink.” – Course co-designer Tom Weiskopf speaks about the changes.

“It’s going to be a fun year” – Short and sweet from Tiger Woods when discussing his chances on tour this year.

The Defending Champion

Stadler held steady as Watson stumbled, collecting his first PGA TOUR victory when the once-and-future Masters champion couldn’t save par on the 72rd hole. Watson actually bogeyed two of his last three holes, allowing Stadler to draw even at the top when he couldn’t convert a 6-foot par save at the par-3 16th. After both birdied No.17, Watson flew the green with his second shot at No.18 and ran his chip from a spectator mound 5 feet past the hole. After Stadler two-putted from 10 feet for a 68, Watson’s putt to force a playoff slid past on the left. The result allowed Stadler, son of 12-time PGA TOUR winner Craig Stadler, to complete the ninth pair of father/son winners in history.

The Contenders*

Bubba Watson – $15.00

Jordan Spieth – $17.00

Matt Kuchar – $21.00

Phil Mickelson – $21.00

Tiger Woods – $21.00

Rickie Fowler – $21.00

*Waste Management Phoenix Open odds courtesy of Sportsbet Australia.

The Winner

Plenty of reasons to pick one of the guys above: Mickelson has six wins in Arizona;  Watson lost by one last year and has multiple other top 10’s at the course;  Spieth has won his last two, he could make it three;  Kuchar’s coming off a T2 and a T3 in his last two events.  But for desert reasons and some nice golf last week we’re going with Mickelson.

Golf: Woods’ return the Hero of World Challenge

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The obvious talking point of the Hero World Challenge is the return of Tiger Woods.  The highest profile player in the history of golf marks his return to professional golf with a new swing coach and a remodelled golf swing.  Woods has been absent from all golf since August, so it’s fitting he returns at the tournament that supports his charitable foundation and that he has won five times.

The event features a field of only 18, hand-picked by Woods himself.  However, the field is still full of high quality players including Jordan Spieth who won in Australia last week, Bubba Watson, and Jason Day, who is also returning from a back injury and paired with Woods for the first two rounds.

The quality of the field is evidenced by the spreading on offer at Ladbrokes Australia.  Only $34 separates the best and worst odds offered for the tournament winner, and while the competitiveness will be interesting to watch, most eyes will be on Tiger as they always are when he plays in golf tournaments.

Can he find a swing that fits his ageing body?  Can he return to a more fluid and comfortable swing?  Can he go low?

All will be answered at the Hero World Challenge Golf tournament starting today.

The Course

Moving away from the famous Sherwood Country Club, the Hero World Challenge is now being hosted at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club.  Isleworth’s signature 18-hole championship course, was originally designed by Arnold Palmer before being enhanced by Steve Smyers in 2003.  The course is built on rolling terrain and features greens that are generous, undulating and fast, earning its title as the toughest and longest course in the state by the Florida State Golf Association.

The Sound Bites

“We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior – even when I came out there and had some really nice years where I hit the ball really well. We went back to some of those old videos and really looked at it.” – Tiger Woods on his new swing under coach Chris Como.

“It looked a lot freer, didn’t look like he was getting in his way. It looked like it was on a better path.” – Steve Stricker on Woods’ new swing.

“It looked great to me, I’m glad he’s playing.” – Zach Johnson on Woods.

The Defending Champion

Zach Johnson won last year in a bizarre playoff finish. Johnson holed out for an unlikely par to get there and then Tiger Woods missed a clutch putt (you don’t say that often) to hand him the title.

The Field*

Henrik Stenson – $7.00

Justin Rose – $7.50

Bubba Watson – $8.50

Rickie Fowler – $10.00

Jordan Spieth – $10.00

Tiger Woods – $13.00

Jason Day – $15.00

Matt Kuchar – $15.00

Hideki Matsuyama – $15.00

Graeme McDowell – $15.00

Chris Kirk – $23.00

Jimmy Walker – $23.00

Billy Horschel – $26.00

Hunter Mahan – $26.00

Keegan Bradley – $29.00

Zach Johnson – $34.00

Patrick Reed – $34.00

Steve Stricker – $41.00

*Hero World Challenge Golf odds courtesy of Tom Waterhouse

The Winner

Hard to go past Speith, Watson or Stenson.  But don’t discount McDowell – he’s won the event twice.

PGA Tour Round Up

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Two tournaments to review this week on the PGA Tour.  One featuring a classy field at a difficult Shanghai course, and the other, a rather boring field at a relatively unnoticed second tier event where a 17-year-old (Camden Backel) commanded the biggest gallery.

WGC HSBC Championship

A par five eighteenth makes for a gripping conclusion to golf tournament.  That’s the conclusion from the recently concluded WGC event in Shanghai.  Oh, and Bubba Watson is crazy; we also concluded that.

The 18th was the theatre of an epic ending to a tournament for the most part of the week seemed to be heading the way of Graham McDowell.  However, the leader in all of the first three rounds succumbed to some breathtaking shotmanship from the unorthodox Bubba Watson who made eagle down the 72nd and then birdied the first playoff hole to beat South Africa’s Tim Clark.

In fact Bubba’s last five holes included an eagle, a birdie, a par, a bogey and a double bogey as he did his best to butcher the two shot lead he held on 16.  To avert disaster Watson needed something special.  A 60 yard downhill bunker shot for eagle was exactly the tonic.  The eagle helped him tie Tim Clark, and when Martin Kaymer (73); Rickie Fowler (70); and Hiroshi Iwata (72) all failed to make an equalling birdie the field became two.

Watson birdied again after Clark had left his 25ft birdie putt short to win his seventh PGA Tour title.  In doing so he became the 14th player to win a major and a WGC event.  The winnings also included 500 FedEx Cup points and $1.4 million.  The Watson win means he becomes the highest ranked American golfer.

Watson joked with his caddie before holing the final bunker shot; his caddie is quoted as saying “It’s been a miserable couple holes here, but this will change everything if it goes in,” an approach that is likely to be adopted by amateur hacks in their weekend games.

Sanderson Farms Championship

The regular PGA Tour event was far more sedate.  A quiet two shot victory to Canadian Nick Taylor failed to match the golfing pyrotechnics that the best in the World were putting on in Asia.

However, for web.com graduate Taylor, the manner of the victory won’t matter in the slightest.  His low final round was the catalyst for a three shot lead heading down the 18th.  He would make bogey, sign on a 66, and win his first PGA Tour event.  Taylor’s putting was the star of the show on Sunday; his birdie putts either dropped or burned the cup, and was in stark contrast to the efforts from pre-round favourites John Rollins (73) and William McGirt (72).

FedEx Cup leader Robert Streb had a decent week too.  He finished eight to solid his position at the top of the

Of our predictions over both events, none came through for the win but we did have a top five from Rickie Fowler.  Of the other picks William McGirt looked good throughout but faltered, finishing 7th.  Danny Lee was T51 , and Nicholas Thompson T35.  At the WGC HSBC, we chose Rickie Fowler (T3), Jordan Speith (T35), and Thorbjorn Olesen (T6).

Check back in later in the week for the PGA Tour Preview focusing on the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico.

Preview – Will Tiger Woods Win The Masters?

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The first major golf championship of the year is staged this week with the US Masters at Augusta (April 11th – 14th). World Number one Tiger Woods has won the tournament on four occasions and Phil Mickelson has three victories to his credit. Not surprisingly the two Americans feature strongly at the top of the betting lists along with Rory McIlroy.

Woods is hot favourite at 7-2 following his recent return to the top of the world rankings. His victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational gave him a third tour win of the season and enabled him to leapfrog McIlroy. Woods has a phenomenal record here and won by a stunning twelve-shot margin in 1997. He has finished in the top six in eleven of the last sixteen Masters and the bookies aren’t taking any risks, pricing him as 7-2 clear favourite. Most bookmakers are offering ¼ odds the first five this week and that offers a fair place payout with Woods such a short-priced favourite.

The European challenge will be led by McIlroy this week. The late Seve Ballesteros became the first European to win the Masters in 1980, starting a golden era for European golfers at Augusta. The Spaniard recorded his second victory in 1983 and was followed by Bernhard Langer 1985, Sandy Lyle (1988), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990 and 1996) and Ian Woosnam (1991). Langer won a second Masters tournament in 1993 with Jose Maria Olazabal winning in 1994 and 1999. That was the last victory for Europe and seems a long time ago now.

McIlroy looked certain to claim victory here in 2011 but the wheels came off in spectacular style with a final round of 80. McIlroy has been under a cloud following his controversial switch of manufacturer but he showed that he is on his way back at the Texas Open and is a top priced 10-1 this week. If McIlroy can recapture his form of last season, he won’t be starting at double-figure prices in too many tournaments this year. I am also preparted to take a chance on Luke Donald gaining a first major victory. The Englishman has almost been forgotten as Woods and McIlroy make the golfing headlines but he has vowed to concentrate on the majors this season. He finished tied for third in 2005 and finished fourth here in 2011 so he has the game to make his presence felt.

The biggest threat to Woods may come from his compatriot Phil Mickelson. The left-hander’s record at Augusta is almost as impressive as that of Woods, having only finished out of the top six four times in fourteen years. He has already gained a tour victory this season and looks a good bet to finish in the money this week.

I am also keen on the chances of South African Louis Oosthuizen. A final round albatross on the second hole ignited his challenge last year and he was only denied in a playoff by Bubba Watson. He also recorded an early tour victory and looks overpriced at 28-1.

Rory McIlroy 10-1 Ladbrokes
Phil Mickelson 11-1 Skybet, William Hill
Louis Oosthuizen 28-1 Bet365, Paddy Power
Luke Donald 33-1 Coral, William Hill