The PGA Tour event this week is under new sponsorship but thankfully the same iconic golf course remains in use when the Genesis Open begins on Thursday.
Traditionalists or recent golf fans will know this tournament as the Northern Trust Open from recent seasons and it is very much one of the winter highlights in the golfing world.
Recent Winners
2016 – Bubba Watson
2015 – James Hahn
2014 – Bubba Watson
2013 – John Merrick
2012 – Bill Haas
2011 – Aaron Baddeley
2010 – Steve Stricker
2009 – Phil Mickelson
2008 – Phil Mickelson
2007 – Charles Howell III
The Course
Once again the fantastic Riviera Country Club is the venue this week. The course is a par 71 which measures 7,322 yards and in light of recent rain in the area it is expected to play every yard of that number.
I always think this is a ball strikers golf course. Obviously this week the longer you are the better your chance as the rough is lacking depth and the ball may not run into it as easily and arguably even more importantly the greens will be soft so players with shorter irons can go pin hunting. The greens here are among the hardest to putt on all season so this won’t become a putting contest.
The Field
If you looked at the field this week you could be forgiven for thinking the tournament is a major such is the stacked quality that is in it. The last two winners on Tour are both here in Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth while last year’s champion Bubba Watson returns to defend his title.
Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose are all here as is the former champion Phil Mickelson so wherever you look in this tournament there is star quality everywhere.
Market Leaders
Jordan Spieth begins the week as the favourite to win a second title in as many weeks. He is an 8/1 favourite although he might not be long enough to get the job done here. Dustin Johnson certainly is and he is half a point bigger at 17/2 and looks primed for a decent assault on the event.
Hideki Matsuyama is in outrageously good form at the minute and if he isn’t hampered by a lack of length then the 10/1 quotes on him will look pretty big at times in this tournament. You can never truly rule Jason Day out of a tournament and I’m sure he will prove pretty popular at 16/1.
Sergio Garcia won in Dubai recently and he’ll begin the week as a 25/1 shot which is the same price Adam Scott currently resides at. You’ll go a long way to find two better ball strikers in the game than those two so both have every chance here. It is 28/1 bar those named.
Main Bets
I was so close to a win in this tournament last year with Adam Scott and then just to compound the misery Scott went and won everything going for the month afterwards but I’m nothing if not a glutton for punishment and I’m going for the Australian again. His runner up last year was a decent effort and he goes into this renewal with five successive top 15 finishes worldwide.
We know when he is on song as he appears to be going in here that he hits the golf ball as well as anyone in the world and at 22/1 he is just about a nice enough price to tuck into again.
Another expert ball striker who heads to Riviera in good form is Justin Rose. Rose has a solid record around here but having played a couple of extra events to normal he is nicely tuned up to go very well here. His runner up in the Sony Open was a decent effort and he backed that up at the Farmers with another top five.
I’m not too worried about his mid-range effort last week as he had the circus that Justin Timberlake was taking around with him to deal with and it is hard to take that tournament seriously at the best of times but Rose ranks fifth on Tour in strokes gained from tee to green and if some putts drop he shouldn’t be far away.
Outsiders
I was only going to have a couple of outsiders here this week but having not taken much in the European Tour event I’ll afford myself an extra one here.
The first of them is Keegan Bradley, another player with a solid record here and who is hitting the ball well coming into the event. Bradley has three top 10 finishes this season and three more top 25s and you get the feeling that as the comfort increases with the short putter his ball striking will open the door for a win soon. He has a pair of top five finishes around here so he enjoys the tournament which could make him dangerous this week. Ranks eight for total driving and that can be a springboard to a good week.
Thomas Pieters is one of the cleanest ball strikers in the world and he has the iron play and short game on top of that to become a real superstar over the next couple of years. In theory he has the game to go really well here. Although this is first go at this tournament he did win a pretty high profile college tournament around here in 2012 beating some illustrious players so he has some knowledge of the course. At 125/1 I fancy he might have a really big week.
There is a school of thought that left handers go well around here and certainly Bubba Watson does that way of thinking no harm at all. Watson isn’t the only one with a decent record here. Brian Harman enjoys it here as well. He has made the cut three out of four times with a top three finish three years ago. I doubt he has ever been here in such good form either. He has two top 10s and two top 25s since the turn of the year and at a three figure price he is well worth chancing.
Tips
Back A.Scott to win Genesis Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-6)
Back him here:
PLACED – Back J.Rose to win Genesis Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 31.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
PLACED – Back T.Pieters to win Genesis Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Back K.Bradley to win Genesis Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 71.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back B.Harman to win Genesis Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
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