going right into it. interesting schedules for some of these players this week. for example, BEN CURTIS after playing in that monday finish @ farmers is in this fields DDC. another example is LEE WESTWOOD who is making his first start of the year this week, and this is interesting because lee normally plays the earlier events in this desert swing but also he made a big move in the offseason moving his home to florida, so now he can play golf year round. in his press conference he said all the right things like he normally does, but you get a feel that a change like that is something he has to do if he wants to win the big tournaments and he realizes he needs to find something that will give him that edge and this could be it. certainly would make sense, he says he just locks up his clubs normally in the winter at his old home but now in FL he feels like he got in great practice with his short game and putting. not thrilled about him not playing so far this year, but i think he's worth a play.
GARCIA this week is the odds on fav, and for good reason, he looked pretty sharp last week and had only 4bogeys all week!! unfortunately to me the biggest 1 came in the 3rd rd on the final hole when he had to lay up on his 2nd shot on the par5 and had ~130yds left for his 3rd, and he basically left it short in the water and made bogey. so yes i would think this was the difference in the tournament as he lost by 1 to CHRIS WOOD, who the week before came in dead last after making the cut at abu dhabi. garcia's biggest thing holding him back used to be the putter, now i think its him not hitting it close enough, lol which he hits it right on point most of the time. he looks really sharp, would be surprised if he doesn't come out again this week firing at these tight green targets and with atleast a top10.
for CHRIS WOOD, last week's win came from his great ball striking from long range. the 6'5 englishman was #2 in par5scoring and #1 in hitting the par5s in 2, which coming on those par5s was a big advantage for him because the avg par5 distance was over easily 570yds which for most players that is a lay up. it was mostly his ball striking that helped him secure the win this week as he hit a healthy 59/72 GIR, which is pretty dam solid but also didn't give much up putting by not 3putting. to conclude, he didn't really have to do much other than just good ball striking and taking advantage of the par5s, which i see the same thing this week. easier said than done always. HOWEVER, the par5s this week is an equal opportunity group of par5s that they are short to say the least and are accessible by most players. the wind will be a factor this week as it looks to be higher than what it was last week in DOHA which was uncharacteristic of that course, so scores were pretty low. this week, i see the same thing, maybe including a few other random names in the mix, but for the most part i see it being a heavy fav leading week.
DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC
5.6/1 S. GARCIA(2u) -- to win L
8.05/1 L. WESTWOOD(1.5u) -- to win L
12.5/1 H. STENSON(.2u) -- to win L
18/1 R. C-BELLO(.2u) -- to win L
27/1 P. CASEY(.2u) -- to win L
45/1 J. LUITEN(.1u) -- to win L
60/1 R. RAMSAY(.1u) -- to win L
70/1 M. CAMPBELL(.1u) -- to win L
100/1 R. SANTOS(.1u) -- to win L
110/1 A. WALL(.1u) -- to win L
150/1 F. ANDERSSON-HED(.1u) -- to win L
160/1 J. SJOHOLM(.1u) -- to win L
180/1 L. GAGLI(.1u) -- to win L
225/1 A. SULLIVAN(.1u) -- to win L
2.15/1 L. WESTWOOD(.5u) -- top5 W
2.75/1 P. CASEY(.5u) -- top10 L
8.05/1 R. SANTOS(.5u) -- top10 W
9.5/1 F. ANDERSSON-HED(.5u) -- top10 L
10.5/1 A. SULLIVAN(.5u) -- top10 L
krguer(-105) / singh(.5u) -- tour mu L
ramsay(-135) / jamieson(.5u) -- tour mu L
santos(-110) / green(.5u) -- tour mu W
curtis(-110) / siem(.5u) -- tour mu L
casey(+145) / manassero / wiesberger(.5u) -- 2nd rd 3-ball L
santos(+130) / campbell / kjeldsen(.5u) -- 2nd rd 3-ball W*partial
fraser(-110) / bjorn(.5u) -- 2nd rd mu W
howell(-120) / sterne(.5u) -- 2nd rd mu W
webster(-165) / larrazabal(.5u) -- 2nd rd mu W
wood(+120) / manassero(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
wiesberger(-125) / siem(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
singh(+130) / pe. lawrie(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu W
jaidee(-130) / casey(.5u) -- 4th rd mu L
van zyl(-125) / larrazabal(.5u) -- 4th rd mu L
PHOENIX OPEN
13.5/1 J. DUFNER(1u) -- to win L
17.5/1 B. SNEDEKER(1u) -- to win L
20/1 N. WATNEY(.5u) -- to win L
35/1 B. VAN PELT(.5u) -- to win L
35/1 H. MAHAN(.5u) -- to win L
200/1 B. MOLDER(.1u) -- to win L
2.25/1 N. WATNEY(.5u) -- top10 L
2.5/1 R. FOWLER(.5u) -- top10 L
2.7/1 C. HOWELL III(.5u) -- top10 L
2.8/1 B. VAN PELT(.5u) -- top10 L
3.25/1 J. DAY(.5u) -- top10 L
4/1 H. MAHAN(.5u) -- top10 L
4.5/1 B. HAAS(.5u) -- top10 W
12.5/1 B. MOLDER(.5u) -- top10 L
30/1 J. DUFNER(.1u) -- 1st rd leader L
30/1 B. SNEDEKER(.1u) -- 1st rd leader L
34/1 N. WATNEY(.1u) -- 1st rd leader L
85/1 J. OVERTON(.1u) -- 1st rd leader L
watney(-120) / mickelson(1u) -- tour mu L
watney(-115) / mickelson(.5u) -- 1st rd mu L
fowler(-120) / mickelson(1u) -- tour mu L
fowler(-120) / mickelson(.5u) -- 1st rd mu L
leishman(-140) / steele(.5u) -- tour mu L
woodland -.5(-110) / cink(.5u) -- 1st rd mu W
piercy -.5(-109) / huh(.5u) -- 1st rd mu W
howell III -.5(-116) / cauley(.5u) -- 1st rd mu W
toms -.5(+110) / na(.5u) -- 1st rd mu L
gay(-145) / choi(.5u) -- 2nd rd mu W
glover(-105) / m. thompson(1u) -- 2nd rd mu W
perez -.5(-120) / barnes(.5u) -- 2nd rd mu W
fritsch(-115) / love III(.5u) -- 2nd rd mu
gay(+120) / garrigus(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
rollins(+110) / moore(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
chalmers(+150) / piercy(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
wittenberg(+115) / english(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu W
watson -.5(-112) / mahan(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
howell III -.5(-112) / harrington(.5u) -- 3rd rd mu L
de jonge-.5(-105) / woodland(.5u) -- 4th rd mu W
horschel-.5(-109) / castro(.5u) -- 4th rd mu W
horschel -.5(EV) / castro(.5u) -- 4th rd mu W
mahan(-110) / garrigus(.5u) -- 4th rd mu L
steele -.5(-105) / matteson(.5u) -- 4th rd mu W
crane -.5(-109) / chalmers(.5u) -- 4th rd mu W
rollins -.5(-112) / cabrera(.5u) -- 4th rd mu W