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2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Preview/Picks

Preview and free golf picks for the PGA 2011 Accenture Match Play, which is hosted by Ritz-Carlton GC, Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona. The purse is $8.2 million, and the defending champ is Ian Poulter…

PGA Betting – WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

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LOOKING TO BET ON THIS WEEK’S 2011 WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY? CHECK OUT BETUS.com’s PGA Tour Betting Odds Today!!!!!

LAST WEEK: There isn’t much to say about the Northern Trust Open. Bubba Watson was the pick but, low and behold, he got hurt and withdrew. Nothing we can do about that but dust ourselves off and move forward.

THIS WEEK’S PGA BETTING
Date: Feb. 23 – 27
Event: World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship
Course: Ritz-Carlton GC, Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona
Purse: $8,500,000
Defending Champ: Ian Poulter
Winning Share: $1,400,000
FedEX Cup Points Up For Grabs: 500

The World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship always makes for a fun, different golf betting experience. It also makes for a challenging one. Even though the host course, the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, is the longest track on Tour at 7,849 yards, recent winners Ian Poulter and Geoff Ogilvy aren’t long hitters. So what can we use to judge our picks?

The best bets this week are guys playing good golf at the moment and guys who have shown they can handle the unique pressure of match play. We should also pay attention to guys who hit greens, as they’re much harder to hit than the fairways at this course.

THE TIGER CATEGORY

Tiger Woods
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +1015

Go ahead and waste your money on Tiger if you want. Until he shows he has something left in the tank, I’m not touching him. He might have his head on straight by 2012.

THE ELITE

Martin Kaymer
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +1415

The world No. 2 won’t sneak up on the competition this year. He won on the European Tour at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship but followed that showing up with a 28th and a 31st. He’s not hot and has finished a ho-hum 17th, 17th and 33rd at the Match Play the last three years.

Paul Casey
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +1415

He certainly warrants strong consideration as one of the world’s top players and a two-time runner up at this event. However, there isn’t a golfer whose health I trust less than Casey’s. The next injury is always just around the corner.

THE CONTENDERS

Phil Mickelson
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +1850

Mickelson certainly hasn’t been bad so far this season, with two top-10s and no worse than 35th over his first four starts. He almost always cracks the top 10 at the Match Play as well. But with a field so strong, I’m looking for a guy who is really hitting the ball on the screws right this second. Lefty isn’t that guy.

Lee Westwood
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +1850

Great golfer but not suited to this tournament. Lee Westwood hasn’t advanced past the second round in any of his last 10 tries at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships. Avoid him.

Graeme McDowell
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +2050

He hasn’t won a match yet at the Ritz-Carlton but I subscribe to the logic that this year’s Graeme McDowell is a different golfer than last year’s. His confidence has never been higher. That makes him an intimidating foe for any opponent and someone for bettors to consider.

SOLID PICKS

Matt Kuchar
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +2550

Few guys are swinging as smoothly as Matt Kuchar is right now. He opened 2011 with three straight top-10 finishes and is a top-25 guy on Tour in both greens in regulation and putting. That bodes extremely well for his chances this week.

Nick Watney
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +2850

Interesting how I like the guys more as we head further down the list and into the longer odds. Watney leads the Tour in adjusted scoring average; it’s hard to argue with that stat as a reflection of who is playing the best golf day-in, day-out. He has three straight top-six finishes on Tour as well.

THE SLEEPER

Justin Rose
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship odds: +6050

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Rose at more than 60 to 1 odds? Even though he’s posted seven-straight top 25s on Tour? That seems like insanity, doesn’t it? Rose is also 19th in greens hit, which I would argue is the most important stat for this tournament.

THE PICK

In all honesty, I like Nick Watney the most to win this week. But I can’t in good conscience ignore how good the return is for picking Justin Rose. It’s more than double what you get for betting on Watney. The books have left me no choice but to recommend Rose, who has almost as good a shot to win as any of the names listed above him.

WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship pick: Justin Rose +6050

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2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Updated Betting Odds

Nick Watney 25-1
Padraig Harrington 50-1
Paul Casey 15-1
Peter Hanson 80-1
Phil Mickelson 20-1
Retief Goosen 40-1
Rickie Fowler 40-1
Robert Allenby 50-1
Robert Karlsson 50-1
Rory McIlroy 15-1
Ross Fisher 50-1
Ryan Moore 60-1
Ryo Ishikawa 125-1
Sean OHair 80-1
Seung-Yul Noh 125-1
Steve Stricker 30-1
Stewart Cink 50-1
Tiger Woods 12-1
Tim Clark 60-1
Zach Johnson 80-1
zx Field (Any Other Golfers) 6-1
Dustin Johnson 30-1
Edoardo Molinari 80-1
Ernie Els 40-1
Francesco Molinari 50-1
Geoff Ogilvy 25-1
Graeme McDowell 20-1
Henrik Stenson 80-1
Hunter Mahan 30-1
Ian Poulter 25-1
Jason Day 80-1
Jim Furyk 40-1
Justin Rose 50-1
KJ Choi 60-1
Lee Westwood 20-1
Louis Oosthuizen 80-1
Luke Donald 30-1
Martin Kaymer 15-1
Martin Laird 80-1
Matt Kuchar 40-1
Matteo Manassero 100-1
Miguel Angel Jimenez 80-1
Adam Scott 60-1
Alvaro Quiros 40-1
Anthony Kim 50-1
Ben Crane 60-1
Bill Haas 50-1
Bubba Watson 60-1
Camilo Villegas 60-1
Charl Schwartzel 50-1