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2012 Northern Trust Open Preview | Picks

PGA Tour Betting – Northern Trust Open

The PGA TOUR moves to the Riviera Country Club this week after a very interesting tourney at Pebble Beach. If this week is anything like last is should make for some must-watch golf.

Place: Riviera Country Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
2011 Champion: Aaron Baddeley
Purse: $6.5 Million
Winner’s Share: $1,152,000
FedExCup Points: 500

Last week I had Nick Watney winning and DJ Trahan as my sleeper – both finished T40 after Watney’s melt-down on the last day.

A strong field is once again assembled at Riviera for the 50th time. It has traditionally been one of the toughest courses on TOUR that is not a major. Luke Donald (first in the Official World Golf Ranking), Jason Day (seventh), Adam Scott (eighth), Sergio Garcia (17th) and non-member K.T. Kim (31st) make their first PGA appearances this week and Aaron Baddeley return to defend last year’s triumph.

Buckle up; it is going to be a fun ride. Here are some golfers to keep an eye on and who I think will walk away with the Title this year.

THE FAVORITES:

Phil Mickelson +900

It is hard not to love what Phil was able to accomplish last week – a 64 while playing alongside Tiger on Sunday secured a very impressive win at Pebble Beach. Phil appears to have his mojo back and has a good history at Riviera – wins in 2008 and 2009 and a second place finish in 2007. Unfortunately, Phil isn’t great value, but he is a solid choice to win his third tournament at Riviera.

Luke Donald +1500

Donald, despite missing the cut here last year loves the layout of Riviera. His incredible short game led him to three straight top-six finishes here in 2008-10 (2nd in 2010, 6th in 2009 and 3rd in 2008). The last time he appeared on American soil he won at Disney in October.

Dustin Johnson +2000

Johnson looks dangerous again after finishing T5 at Pebble Beach. He has a good history at Riviera (3rd in 2010 and 10th in 2009) and will be looking to take another huge step this week. He, like Donald missed the cut here last year but there is no doubt that he is looking great going into this year’s tournament.

Jason Day +2500

Day will be making his 2012 PGA TOUR debut this week but doesn’t have the greatest track record at Riviera. When he plays however, he is usually very solid (12 top 10s in his last 23 starts). He finished second in Qatar two weeks ago proving that he is in fine form ahead of the Northern Trust.

THE CONTENDERS:

Aaron Baddeley +3000

Baddeley won this event last year and enters this year’s tournament having finished a very impressive 4th last week at Pebble Beach. He is heating up and he loves this course – Baddeley has made the cut in all nine of his career appearances at Riviera.

Adam Scott +3000

Scott will make his PGA TOUR debut this week after some solid results in his native Australia. In his last 11 starts on TOUR, Scott has seven Top 10s. He has a good record at Riviera – he won in 2005 and finished second in 2006.

Kevin Na +3500

Na has everything that we should be looking for as a potential Winner this week. He has been playing extremely well posting two consecutive fifth place finished (at Phoenix and Pebble Beach). He also loves Riviera – third last year and 10th in 2010. Na is due and this may be his week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

K.J. Choi +4000

Choi always seems to be a factor although his results this year on the European Tour are less-than-impressive. In 11 starts at Riviera, Choi has four Top 10s including a T7 last year. Choi has never missed the cut in 11 tries here.

THE SLEEPERS:

Spencer Levin +5000

Levin has been playing very well. A total collapse kept him from winning the Waste Management and he was T9 last week at Pebble Beach. Levin was T12 last year at this event and is playing better at this point of the season than he did last year.

Mark Wilson +7500

Wilson has arguably been the best player on TOUR in 2012 winning the Humana, ranking seventh on TOUR in greens in regulation, 19th in Strokes Gained-Putting and fifth in both the all-around and birdies or better on par 4s. Wilson’s track record at Riviera isn’t that great but he did finish T11 here in 2008.

Vijay Singh +8000

It has been seemingly a lifetime since Singh was in contention but after a decent T25 showing last week; he just may make some noise this week. He finished second at Riviera last year and is looking to get some momentum heading into some of the bigger tournaments of the year.

THE PICK:

I love Kevin Na +3500 this week. He has consecutive Top 5s on Tour in 2012 and just may be due for his first win of the year. He did finish third here last year so we know that he loves this course. Phil is the popular choice but Na is a sneaky pick that could really pay off.

My sleeper this week is Vijay Sing +8000. He appears healthy and after a good week at Pebble he is prime to do well on a course that he finished second on last year.

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