Will the top three players in the world, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Tiger Woods – Kaymer is likely to take over No. 1 from Westwood on Sunday — all in the Middle East for the we-pay-appearance-fees Qatar Masters, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has a bit of a watered-down field with just 11 of the Top 50 in the world and two of the Top 10: Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk.
And looking at Bodog’s odds and past performance at this tournament, it’s pretty clear that oddsmakers believe this is very much a two-horse race this week between Lefty and Dustin Johnson. Both players opened at 7/1.
The last time Johnson played at Pebble Beach you may remember: he shot a final-round 82 in the U.S. Open to blow a three-shot lead after 54 holes. Ah, but earlier in 2010 Johnson won this tournament despite a final-round 74. He made a 3-foot putt on the 72nd hole for birdie to win by a shot over David Duval and J.B. Holmes. And that’s not all: Johnson won the year before as well. So Johnson clearly likes Pebble – each pro who makes the 54-hole cut will play Pebble twice: players rotate over Pebble, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula over the first three rounds and then play the final round (all four with amateurs and celebs like Bill Murray) at Pebble.
Mickelson is a three-time champion of this event, coming in 1998, 2005 and ’07. Last year he finished tied for eighth in this tournament and then played well at the U.S. Open at Pebble with a tie for fourth. He also holds the all-time tournament record of 268, which he set in 2007 (that tied Mark O’Meara’s record).
The only other past champions of this tournament playing this week are Vijay Singh and Davis Love III. Singh might be a decent long-shot bet at 33/1 as he comes off a tie for third at the Waste Management Open last week, his since the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship.
Related posts:
Golf - PGA Tour betting: Waste Management Phoenix Open (James Payton) 
0
Golf - Abu Dhabi Championship overshadows PGA Tour this week (James Payton) 0
Golf - PGA Tour opens with Tournament of Champions (James Payton) 0
Golf - World No. 1 ranking on line again at HSBC Champions (James Payton) 0
Golf - Golf betting: Tiger debuts at Farmers Insurance Open (James Payton) 0
RSS
Google
MyYahoo!
MyMSN
NewsGator
BlogLines