Northern Trust Open The Northern Trust Open formerly know as the L.A. Open is held at the famed Riviera Country Club a par 71 that measures 7298 yards, but plays much longer than that and certainly will with wet conditions.
It is currently raining at Pacific Palisades, CA and also fore-casted is Friday 50% and Sat 70%. We could be headed for another Monday finish. The longer hitters will have a distinct advantage this week IMO.
[B]Phil Mickelson -115[/B] vs. Steve Stricker
Yes, Strick is the defending champion, but he is a horrible bad weather player, because he is average to short off the tee and despite having one of the best swings on Tour, it is a body swing that does not put much spin on the golf ball and his approach shots skid on the greens. He also does not hit the ball very high which is key in wet conditions.
Mickelson has been in position to win each of the last couple of PGA Tour events, but he is not giving up and has shown some brilliance of play. He committed to playing next week for the WGC Matchplay event and we have to think he is putting all the pieces together going through a five week stretch. He won this tournament 2x prior to Stricker's win LY.
[B]JB Holmes -140[/B] vs. Robert Allenby
Yes, Allenby won here in 2001 in the rain, but that was 10 years ago and now there is something wrong with the ball striking Aussie. He has missed two cuts in three starts and his best finish is a T62 in Phoenix. I believe he is still suffering either wrist or knee injuries from last season. Notice his schedule, he is playing every other week, which can say he cannot go back to back weeks. He was a fixture at the Bob Hope for years but did not play there this year. He ranks 173rd in driving accuracy and 163rd in putting average.
JBH bombs it off the tee, he will relish the wet conditions. In the past three years he has three Top 10 finishes herre at Riviera and currently three straight cuts made and a T5 with a T13 LW at Pebble Beach.
