PGA Betting – Arnold Palmer Championship Preview & Pick
The PGA TOUR heads to Orlando Florida – Tiger Woods’ home town for the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. By Hill is a tough course, much more difficult than the one experienced last week at the Transitions.
Arnold Palmer Invitational
March 19 – 25, 2012
Course: Bay Hill Club and Lodge
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Purse: $6 million
Winning Share: $1,080,000
FedExCup Points: 500
Sanctioned by: US PGA Tour
Current Champion: Martin Laird
In fact, Arnie’s home course was redesigned by the man himself and is now rated as the eighth most difficult track on TOUR out of the 51 used. Bay Hill is long, it has well placed hazards making accuracy a necessity and the greens are difficult as well.
Tiger Woods who has six victories at Bay Hill will try to forget his troublesome foot issues ahead of the Maters in three weeks as he tries to defeat a star studded field that includes a group of eight winners of 2012 PGA TOUR events. Also included are 34 of the top 50 players on the final 2011 PGA TOUR money list, including three of the top four – Webb Simpson, Nick Watney and K.J. Choi – and the 2011 FedExCup champion, Bill Haas, who also won the Northern Trust Open earlier this year.
Phil Mickelson, Robert Gamez, Andrew Magee, Ernie Els, Tim Herron, Tiger Woods, Chad Campbell, Rod Pampling, Vijay Singh and defending champion Martin Laird are 10 former winners of this event that are entered as well. The accolades go on and on but now is time to get to the players to keep an eye on this week and who should contend for top prize.
The Favorites:
Tiger Woods 8/1
It is pretty hard to bet against Tiger on a course that he has won six times on! Apparently his foot is fine and will be looking for a quality tune-up for the Masters this weekend. Woods has shown flashes (a final round 62 at the Honda) – now he just has to put it all together.
Phil Mickelson 14/1
Mickelson is a former winner of this tournament and has played well this year already. Mickelson will be in the mix for sure this weekend!
Justin Rose 16/1
Rose had a bad Saturday at the Transitions that took him out of contention but he did have one of the low rounds on Sunday at that tournament – a 66. The two weeks before that, he won the Cadillac and finished T5 at the Honda – ya Rose is on fire!
The Contenders:
Webb Simpson 18/1
Has three Top 10s already in 2012 including a T10 last week at the Transitions. He is currently 10th on TOUR in greens in regulation, second in birdie average, first in birdies or better on par 4s and 12th in bogey avoidance – all qualities that will help him at the tough Bay Hill course.
Hunter Mahan 22/1
Mahan proved that when he is on his game, he is virtually unstoppable with his win at the WGC-Accenture Match Play. He currently has six top 10s with the win at the in his last 12 official starts worldwide and is a consistent threat. Mahan has four starts at Bay Hill with three Top 25 finishes.
Bo Van Pelt 28/1
Van Pelt appears due for a win – four straight Top 10`s on TOUR. He is fifth on TOUR in total driving, third in Strokes Gained-Putting and fourth in the all-around and has a good record at Bay Hill – seven appearances and seven made cuts.
Jim Furyk 28/1
Has fared well at Bay Hill especially the last couple of years -Top 11 both years. He will be out for revenge after his playoff loss last week and is playing the best golf of his 2012 campaign. Furyk is consistent and dangerous for sure! [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Sergio Garcia 25/1
Garcia is great off the tee and good out of the sand which is perfect for this course. He also has six Top 10s at Bay Hill in 10 starts and was good in a T16 finish at the Transitions last week. Watch out for Sergio, he could surprise this week.
Bubba Watson 33/1
At 33/1 you almost have to take a shot don’t you? He has nine straight Top 20’s worldwide and finished second in his last tournament – at the Cadillac Championship that he should have won! He leads the TOUR in both distance off the tee and greens in regulation – shocking! And he played well here last year – he was third going into the final round before falling apart and finishing T24.
The Sleepers:
Martin Laird 45/1
Laird is the defending champion at this event but isn’t getting a whole lot of love from the oddsmakers! He has two Top 5 finished already this season including a runner-up and currently ranks third on TOUR in greens in regulation, ninth in ball-striking and fifth in birdie average. Look for Laird to have another strong weekend!
Ernie Els 50/1
Looked terrific last week particularly in the final round in which he almost caught the leaders and finished one stroke back of the playoff. He has won here twice and has two straight Top 25 finishes on TOUR.
K.J. Choi 60/1
Has a knack of playing poorly at the Transitions and following it up with a good tournament at Bay Hill. Choi hasn’t exactly been lighting the TOUR on fire but he does love Bay Hill. He has a pair of top 10s including a career-best T6 a year ago and is certainly better than his sketchy 2012 results suggest.
Mark Wilson 70/1
Wilson has struggled since a good showing at the Match Play but he hasn’t missed the cut in any of his three starts since. He may not have the driving distance that some others have but his all around game cannot be questioned. He was T9 last year proving that he has the game to be competitive this weekend.
Ryo Ishikawa 100/1
Is a total deep sleeper but has shown well at big events. He is due to finally break through sometime although he has not fared especially well at this event.
The Pick:
Bubba Watson 33/1 may be the most deserving player on TOUR for a win. We all know that he can drive the ball but his putting has been remarkable good as well. While many will struggle with the hazards 320 yards out, Bubba will simply take them out of play. I love Bubba to cash in all his built up karma this week and to record the win.
My sleeper is Mark Wilson – you’ve heard that before but I love his game so I will continue to go to that well as long as he is listed at 70/1!
Our Updated FULL Field Arnold Palmer Invitational odds (Click to bet today)
| Tiger Woods | 7/1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 14/1 |
| Justin Rose | 16/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 16/1 |
| Hunter Mahan | 22/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 22/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 28/1 |
| Nick Watney | 28/1 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 28/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 33/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 33/1 |
| Bill Haas | 33/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 40/1 |
| Ernie Els | 40/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 50/1 |
| Spencer Levin | 50/1 |
| Martin Laird | 50/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 50/1 |
| Jeff Overton | 50/1 |
| David Toms | 50/1 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 50/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 50/1 |
| Kevin Na | 66/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 66/1 |
| Gary Woodland | 50/1 |
| Mark Wilson | 66/1 |
| Sang-Moon Bae | 66/1 |
| Sean O’Hair | 66/1 |
| Ben Crane | 66/1 |
| Robert Allenby | 66/1 |
| Jonathan Byrd | 80/1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 80/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 80/1 |
| Brandt Jobe | 80/1 |
| Carl Pettersson | 80/1 |
| Harris English | 80/1 |
| George Mcneill | 100/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 80/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 100/1 |
| Scott Piercy | 100/1 |
| Bud Cauley | 80/1 |
| Greg Chalmers | 80/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 50/1 |
| Robert Garrigus | 80/1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 80/1 |
| Johnson Wagner | 80/1 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | 80/1 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 80/1 |
| Chris Stroud | 100/1 |
| John Rollins | 100/1 |
| Ken Duke | 100/1 |
| D-A Points | 100/1 |
| John Huh | 100/1 |
| Stewart Cink | 100/1 |
| Pat Perez | 125/1 |
| Michael Thompson | 125/1 |
| Jerry Kelly | 125/1 |
| Steve Marino (Suspended) | 80/1 |
| Brian Gay | 125/1 |
| Davis Love III | 125/1 |
| Brendon De Jonge | 125/1 |
| J.B. Holmes | 125/1 |
| John Mallinger | 125/1 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 125/1 |
| Trevor Immelman | 125/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 125/1 |
| Camilo Villegas | 125/1 |
| Chez Reavie | 125/1 |
| Ricky Barnes | 125/1 |
| Charlie Wi | 125/1 |
| Chad Campbell | 100/1 |
| William Mcgirt | 125/1 |
| Anthony Kim | 150/1 |
| Tom Gillis | 150/1 |
| Andres Romero | 150/1 |
| Seung-yul Noh | 150/1 |
| Justin Leonard | 150/1 |
| Rod Pampling | 150/1 |
| Dicky Pride | 150/1 |
| Brian Davis | 150/1 |
| Cameron Tringale | 175/1 |
| D.J. Trahan | 125/1 |
| Harrison Frazar | 150/1 |
| Boo Weekley | 175/1 |
| Greg Owen | 175/1 |
| J.J Killeen | 150/1 |
| Brendan Steele | 175/1 |
| Matt Every | 175/1 |
| Brian Harman | 175/1 |
| Daniel Summerhays | 175/1 |
| Chris Kirk (Suspended) | 175/1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 175/1 |
| Kevin Chappell | 175/1 |
| Scott Stallings | 200/1 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 175/1 |
| Tim Clark | 200/1 |
| Josh Teater | 200/1 |
| Erik Compton | 200/1 |
| Kris Blanks | 200/1 |
| Tommy Gainey | 200/1 |
| Jeff Maggert | 200/1 |
