Hopefully a classic in Dubai!
Paul Lawrie was the winner last week in what has turned out to be a quality ‘desert swing’ this year. Lawrie and Rock in the past two weeks have showed their American counterparts on the PGA Tour how a tournament should be closed out! With this week being the last stop in UAE until the end of the season it’s the last chance for the desert specialists to get a ‘W’ on the board. Rory McIlroy returns this week and duly gets installed as a short price favourite (4/1), which gives the punters value if wanting to look elsewhere.
My selection this week has had a good couple of weeks in the desert and I hope he can top it off with a victory. With a runner up finish last week I fancy Peter Hanson to take the world of beating this week in what’s essentially a deeper field. Hanson’s form goes back to last year where he finished 4th in the season ending tournament in Dubai. He also came 9th in this event last year when Alvaro Quiros came out on top.
The one disappointing thing about Hanson’s season so far is probably how easily he fell away when in the final group of the Abu Dhabi Championship alongside Tiger Woods and Robert Rock. That poor finish ruined a great run of figures beside his name starting with Hong Kong towards the end of last year - 3rd-4th-35th-2nd. The second place finish last week was particularly good as he holed absolutely nothing on the Sunday, so hopefully his putter gets hot this week.
My Selection is Peter Hanson each way @ 22/1( Coral 5 places ¼ odds)
There may be a Dallas Cowboy in town, but there’s only one MVP!
It’s Pro-Am time at Pebble Beach and it’s a rare appearance from Tiger Woods. The announcement from Woods that he had put the AT & T onto his schedule for the first time since 2002 has set up a box office pairing of Woods and Dallas Cowboy Tony Romo. The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is played on three different courses, Spyglass Hill, Monterey Peninsula CC and Pebble Beach itself.
At the start of the season I told myself I wouldn’t be backing Tiger at single figure prices until he actually won a tournament, but I’ve changed my mind, he better not let me down. When it comes to Pebble Beach Tiger has fond memories, his infamous 15 shot victory in the US Open here in 2000 was when he was at the height of his powers, he went on to hold all 4 majors at the same time, dubbed the ‘Tiger Slam.’ In 2010 when the US Open returned to Pebble Beach he eventually finished T4th behind the champion Graeme McDowell.
Tiger hasn’t been associated with many tournaments of this structure in the past, he was all about preparation for the WGCs and the majors but a lot has changed in the last couple of years. The one noticeable thing about Tiger this year is how much he appears to be enjoying golf again, lots of smiles and lots of banter with his playing partners and I think he will thrive in the atmosphere this week.
The changes that Tiger has undergone with Sean Foley are really starting to show even to the most novice eye. The reduced back swing, the still head, it adds up to a more controlled swing and subsequently better results. His game has continually progressed, towards the end of the 2011 season he came 3rd in the Australian Open, moving on to the Presidents Cup where he emphatically won his singles match, before winning his own tournament in December. His 2012 season started in Abu Dhabi where he finished in 3rd place with a very quiet Sunday round. This will be his first start on the PGA Tour in 2012; hopefully he makes it a winning one.
My Selection is Tiger Woods @ 11/2 to win (Boylesports)
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