Tournament Matchups Northern Trust Open The Northern Trust Open (L.A. Open) is once again held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA. The par 71 layout measures 7,325 yards. The fairways are generous throughout most of the course. The rough (Kikuyugrass) has been cut to 2.5 inches, but is thick in spots because of heavy rains two weeks ago and more rain is in the forecast this week, which will make Riviera play very long. The greens are always in top shape here and will be a steady 12 on the stimpmeter.
The field has 9 past champions, including Phil Mickelson the two-time defending champion. No golfer has won this tournament three years straight. It will be interesting to see how this event will cope being up against the Super Bowl this week.
I believe players that played last week at Torrey Pines will fare well here, especially those that posted good rounds on the South Course. With soft conditions and this demanding historic track, length off the tee will be a key factor.
[B]Ernie Els -140 [/B]vs. Padraig Harrington
This line has moved at least 30 cents. I was hoping the bookmakers would put Paddy in against a top tier guy.
Els has started off the season hot. T5 LW at the Farmers Insurance Open and T12 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He's fired 6 of 8 rounds in the 60's and it looks to me he has improved his putting quite a bit. Els has won this event on this course in 1999. Els is a bit longer off the tee than Paddy IMO.
Paddy is making his first start this year this week on any Tour since Nov 22nd. I noticed a quote on-line from The Dubliner. "I will make a few mistakes not being sharp, not being competitive and I'll probably lose focus at times." I'll take his word for it.
[B]Ben Curtis -105 [/B]vs. Stuart Appleby
We bet against Appleby and won again LW with KJ Choi. Appleby missed another cut. Curtis we like because he is a good bad weather player, consistent week in and week out and last week I saw him flush his irons shots in San Diego knocking down flags.
[B]Golf Super Bowl Prop..........Las Vegas Hilton[/B]
[B]Phil Mickelson's 4th round birdies -1/2 -135 [/B]vs. Peyton Manning's TD Passes
We are not kidding around with this prop. Mickelson had 17 birdies and 3 eagles last year in winning the Northern Trust Open. We'll round out the eagles to birdies and say 20 birdies over 4 rounds = 5 birdies per round average. He shot a 63 and a 62 last year! With wet/soft conditions he should be able to fire at all the flags and improve his birdie chances.
Manning's prop line for TD passes is 2.5 -120 (under). I don't expect 4+ TD passes here, Mickelson has the potential and I will predict to make 5-8 birdies in the final round. His final round last year was a 72 but he coasted in because he was well in front of the field after the 63 and 62.
