The Accenture World Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Arizona, is the first of the World Golf Championship events of 2010.
It all gets under on Wednesday (get your bets on early!) with 32 18-hole matches and that is the format for all rounds until Sunday's 36-hole final. The seedings this week are based on world rankings and the draw designed to keep the best players apart for as long as possible. So, with world No.1 Tiger Woods continuing his 'indefinite break' from golf, world No.2 Steve Stricker assumes the mantle of No.1 seed and will meet Ross McGowan, the lowest-ranked player in the world, in the first round.
If the seedings prove to be justified - highly unlikely given the uncertain nature of matchplay - he will meet Lee Westwood, the next highest-ranked player, in the final. Last year's winner Geoff Ogilvy, ranked No.10 this week, takes on Alexander Noren in the first round and is vying for favouritism with Stricker, Westwood and Rory McIlroy.
All three have a good chance of winning of course - but so have the other 61 players! Unlike strokeplay, this format is a great leveller and because the matches are so sort if often boils down to which player holes the most putts early on. The winner will also have to negotiate their way past five tricky opponents just to reach the final, which should put anyone off thinking of backing one of the favourites in the outright market.
The lowest priced of my four picks (one from each bracket) is IAN POULTER at 28/1 (William Hill). Granted, the world No.11 has been handed a tough draw with Justin Leonard first up before a likely meeting with Adam Scott in the second round. Both those opponents have played well in this event before but neither come into this in great form, whereas Poulter has already proved his game is in good shape with second place in Abu Dhabi. Never short of confidence, the Englishman has made the semi-finals and quarter-finals in the past and I reckon he could go all the way this time.
I fancy he'll be playing another Englishman, LUKE DONALD (50/1 bet365), in Saturday's semi-final. While Donald cannot be trusted to get the job done in strokeplay events, he often gets past the first two rounds at least - injury saw him concede his third round match last year - and his matchplay record as an amateur (four from four in Walker Cup singles) and as a professional in the Ryder Cup (5-1-1 record) is impressive. More importantly, he's healthy and placing some nice golf at present - fifth at Riviera and top-20 last week - so why can't he win this?
In the other half of the draw, I'm again picking one from each bracket in the hope they will meet in the semi-final! First up, I'm sticking with last week's winner DUSTIN JOHNSON at 35/1 (Paddy Power). OK, I might be biased after backing and tipping up the Californian at 22/1 (hope you were on!) but he has the class to become a multiple winner on Tour. He's a decent price this week due to his seeding which means he his likely to lock horns with defending champ Ogilvy in the second round.
Considering the Aussie's fantastic record in this event (reached the final three times, winning once!), that might appear to be a major stumbling block. However, he's coming back off a paternity break and may not be as sharp as he would want, while his first round opponent Alexander Noren is no mug. I reckon he's there for the taking and there's no way Johnson will be 35's if he makes it through to the third round.
My final pick goes to ZACH JOHNSON (50/1 Skybet), who looks to have drawn the easiest bracket in my mind. Sure, the likes of Paul Casey, Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink stand in his way to the semi-final but the former Masters champion and two-time winner in 2009 is more than comfortable with this format, having made the semi-finals in 2006, and top-20 finishes in the two Hawaiian events at the start of the year suggests his game is in good nick.
Recommended Bets:
Ian Poulter 1.5pts each-way @ 28/1 William Hill
Dustin Johnson 1pt each-way @ 35/1 Paddy Power
Luke Donald 1pt each-way @ 50/1 bet365
Zach Johnson 1pt each-way @ 50/1 Skybet
(all 1/4 odds, 1.2.3.4)