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  • Northern Trust Open

    Golfers to Bet - Northern Trust

    Tournament: Northern Trust Open
    Date: Thursday, February 18th
    Venue: Riviera Country Club
    Location: Pacific Palisades, CA

    The TOUR stays in California for the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club on Thursday. Last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was extremely exciting and saw Vaughn Taylor come away with his first PGA TOUR victory in 11 years.

    This week’s event will feature some serious firepower, as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson will all be playing. As it seems to be the case with nearly every tournament, Phil Mickelson is a two-time winner at this event. He will, however, be absent from this year’s field.

    James Hahn won’t be absent and he’ll actually be defending his victory from 2015 in this one.

    Bubba Watson was the winner in 2014 and John Merrick came away victorious in 2013. The best score ever shot at the Northern Trust Open was a 20-under by Lanny Wadkins in 1985.

    Let’s now take a look at who might be gunning to beat that come Sunday:

    Golfers to Bet

    Dustin Johnson (16/1) - Dustin Johnson did not play very well at Pebble Beach last week, shooting just a two-under for the tournament. He is, however, going to be hungry to win the Northern Trust Open this weekend. Johnson has been the runner-up at this event in back/1back years and coming that close to victory has to be eating away at him. He lost last year in a playoff and shot a 13-under in his defeat in 2014, but this could be the year he breaks through. At 16/11, he’s more than worth taking a shot on at a course he loves playing at.

    Hideki Matsuyama (16/1) - Hideki Matsuyama did not play at Pebble Beach last week, but he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open the week before. Matsuyama shot a 14-under at that tournament and will be extremely confident coming into this one. He burst onto the scene with a strong 2015 season and he is now showing that he needs to be taken seriously moving forward. Having already notched one win in 2016, Matsuyama is going to stake his claim as one of golf’s best players. He is an excellent pick at 16/11, as this course should really fit his style of play perfectly.

    James Hahn (100/1) - Course history is one of the most important things to factor in when trying to pick a winner and James Hahn is receiving some crazy odds for somebody that won this tournament in 2015. Not only did Hahn win last year, but he has also played pretty well this season. Hahn has a top-10 finish and two top-25 finishes to his name this year and he has made six of the seven cuts he’s faced as well. He is not a guy that is likely to spiral off and should be in the running to win on Sunday. He’s well worth putting a unit on for Sunday.

    Mark Hubbard (300/1) - Hubbard is another guy that is worth putting a unit on this weekend. He has been a pleasant surprise this season, making nine of the 10 cuts he’s faced this season and he is getting 300/11 odds for this weekend’s event. Hubbard’s best finish this season was just a top-25, but he has consistently shot a few good rounds per tournament. He is a guy that just needs to find a way to put it together for four rounds and it’s likely that he’ll find a way to do it at some point. This is an excellent spot for him to show up and his talent could lead him to a win on Sunday.


    Odds to win Northern Trust Open

    Jordan Spieth 6/1
    Rory McIlroy 7/1
    Dustin Johnson 16/1
    Hideki Matsuyama 16/1
    Justin Rose 18/1
    Bubba Watson 20/1
    Jimmy Walker 24/1
    Sergio Garcia 26/1
    Charl Schwartzel 28/1
    J.B. Holmes 29/1
    Adam Scott 35/1
    Bill Haas 35/1
    Paul Casey 45/1
    Justin Thomas 55/1
    Harris English 60/1
    Keegan Bradley 60/1
    Matt Kuchar 60/1
    Freddie Jacobson 65/1
    Kevin Na 65/1
    Andy Sullivan 70/1
    Bernd Wiesberger 80/1
    Brendan Steele 80/1
    Charles Howell III 80/1
    Danny Lee 80/1
    Jason Dufner 80/1
    Matt Jones 80/1
    Ryan Moore 80/1
    Billy Horschel 85/1
    Gary Woodland 85/1
    Graham Delaet 100/1
    Luke Donald 100/1
    Patrick Rodgers 100/1
    William McGirt 100/1
    John Huh 110/1
    Daniel Berger 125/1
    Hunter Mahan 125/1
    James Hahn 125/1
    Jamie Lovemark 125/1
    K.J. Choi 125/1
    Marc Leishman 125/1
    Patton Kizzire 125/1
    Robert Streb 125/1
    Si Woo Kim 125/1
    Charley Hoffman 140/1
    Aaron Baddeley 150/1
    Adam Hadwin 150/1
    Anirban Lahiri 150/1
    Brian Harman 150/1
    Bryce Molder 150/1
    Cameron Tringale 150/1
    Chris Kirk 150/1
    Francesco Molinari 150/1
    Hiroshi Iwata 150/1
    Lucas Glover 150/1
    Smylie Kaufman 150/1
    Tony Finau 150/1
    Vaughn Taylor 150/1
    Will Wilcox 150/1
    Ernie Els 170/1
    Fabian Gomez 175/1
    Padraig Harrington 175/1
    Seung-Yul Noh 175/1
    Brendon Todd 200/1
    Cameron Smith 200/1
    Daniel Summerhays 200/1
    Hudson Swafford 200/1
    Jamie Donaldson 200/1
    John Merrick 200/1
    Kevin Chappell 200/1
    Martin Laird 200/1
    Retief Goosen 200/1
    Roberto Castro 200/1
    Scott Stallings 200/1
    Steve Stricker 200/1
    Stewart Cink 200/1
    Zac Blair 200/1
    Ben Crane 225/1
    Morgan Hoffmann 225/1
    Fred Couples 230/1
    Andrew Loupe 250/1
    Blayne Barber 250/1
    Brendon de Jonge 250/1
    Chad Campbell 250/1
    Chez Reavie 250/1
    Harold Varner III 250/1
    Jason Kokrak 250/1
    Kyle Reifers 250/1
    Matt Every 250/1
    Pat Perez 250/1
    Spencer Levin 250/1
    Angel Cabrera 300/1
    Ben Martin 300/1
    Brett Stegmaier 300/1
    Camilo Villegas 300/1
    David Hearn 300/1
    David Toms 300/1
    Jason Gore 300/1
    Jeff Overton 300/1
    John Senden 300/1
    Johnson Wagner 300/1
    Jon Curran 300/1
    Michael Kim 300/1
    Peter Malnati 300/1
    Scott Brown 300/1
    Scott Pinckney 300/1
    Shawn Stefani 300/1
    Vijay Singh 300/1
    Bronson Burgoon 350/1
    Carlos Ortiz 350/1
    Charlie Beljan 350/1
    Greg Owen 350/1
    Mark Hubbard 350/1
    Ricky Barnes 350/1
    Steven Bowditch 350/1
    Chris Stroud 400/1
    Derek Fathauer 400/1
    Mark Wilson 400/1
    Nick Taylor 400/1
    Luke List 450/1
    Tyler Aldridge 450/1
    Tyrone Van Aswegen 450/1
    Andres Gonzales 500/1
    Brian Gay 500/1
    Brian Smock 500/1
    Carl Pettersson 500/1
    Chad Collins 500/1
    Erik Compton 500/1
    J.J. Henry 500/1
    J.J. Spaun 500/1
    Justin Leonard 500/1
    Ken Duke 500/1
    Matt Dobyns 500/1
    Robert Allenby 500/1
    Scott Langley 500/1
    Steve Wheatcroft 500/1
    Stuart Appleby 500/1
    Troy Merritt 500/1
    Whee Kim 500/1
    Will MacKenzie 500/1

    Odds Subject to Change

  • #2
    Re: Northern Trust Open

    10 Players to Watch: Northern Trust Open
    By Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange


    1. Jordan Spieth, United States -- His run atop the World Golf Rankings has reached 21 weeks, and a total of 32 since he first got there last August, but former No. 1 Rory McIlroy has claimed he wants the top spot back before the Masters. Spieth started 2016 by winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions before tying for fifth in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and finishing second in the Singapore Open. Last week, he tied for 21st at Pebble Beach, but hopes his final-round 66 will give him momentum heading to Riviera. After missing the cut in the Northern Trust as an amateur in 2012, he tied for 12th in 2014 and tied for fourth a year ago and is 13-under-par in eight rounds at "Hogan's Alley" as a pro.


    2. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland -- The Irishman usually passes on the entire West Coast Swing, but he will be at Riviera this week because he has heard so much about the classic course, which should fit his ball-striker's game. Former world No. 1 McIlroy is down to No. 3 behind Jordan Spieth and Jason Day of Australia despite winning four times last year, and he continues to play some good golf. He started 2016 by tying for third in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and tying for sixth in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after winning his final start of 2015, the DP World Tour Championship-Dubai to wrap up the European Tour's Race to Dubai for the third time in four seasons, and being selected Golfer of the Year on the circuit.


    3. Hideki Matsuyama, Japan -- Coming off his second PGA Tour victory in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Matsuyama should be fresh after taking a one-week break after he beat Rickie Fowler on the fourth playoff hole. That showed his mettle as he bounced back from a missed cut in the Farmers Insurance Open a week earlier. The Japanese star has risen to No. 12 in the World Golf Rankings and is hoping for another strong showing in the Northern Trust Open to climb into the top 10. Matsuyama tied for 23rd in his first start at Riviera two years ago and he closed with a 4-under-par 67 last year to finish in a tie for fourth, one stroke out of the playoff in which James Hahn defeated Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey of England.


    4. Justin Rose, England -- Getting a relatively late start to 2016, Rose missed the cut in the Farmers Insurance Open, but then bounced back with a tie for sixth in his first appearance in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last week. Those results came after he got the wrap-around season off to a solid start with a tie for sixth in the Frys.com Open in October. Rose, ranked No. 7 in the world, is making his 10th start in the Northern Trust Open and he has yet to really figure out Riviera, as his only top-10 finish there was a tie for ninth in 2011 and he also tied for 13th the next year before missing the cut in 2014. He skipped the tournament last year because of an injury to his right wrist.


    5. Bubba Watson, United States -- After getting off to a good start in 2016 with a tie for 10th in the Hyundai Tournament a Champions and a tie for 16th in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Bubba shot 74 in the third round last week at Pebble Beach and missed the 54-hole cut. He will try to get back on track this week and Riviera might be the right place for that, as he closed with 64-64 two years ago to win the Northern Trust Open by two strokes over Dustin Johnson. Watson, who is No. 6 in the World Golf Rankings, also played that well as recently as December, when he shot 63-66 on the weekend to win the unofficial Hero World Challenge against a strong field.


    6. Adam Scott, Australia -- Scott will try to get a jump-start to 2016 when he plays this week in the Northern Trust Open, after tying for 56th at the Sony Open in Hawaii in his only start of the year. Scott, down to No. 19 in the rankings, did get the wrap-around season off to a strong start when he finished second in the CIMB Classic in November, closing with a 63 to finish one stroke behind first-time winner Justin Thomas. Scott, who seems to be making progress in his switch back to the short putter, won the 2005 Northern Trust Open in a playoff with Chad Campbell after it was shortened to an unofficial 36 holes by rain, finished second the next year and tied for 10th in 2013.


    7. Dustin Johnson, United States -- Even though he has yet to really hit his stride in the early stages of 2016, DJ will be one of the favorites this week at Riviera, where he has done everything except win. He will be making his ninth start in the Northern Trust Open and has placed in the top 10 on five occasions, including second the last two years. In 2014, he finished two strokes behind Bubba Watson, and last year he lost when James Hahn made a 25-foot putt on the third playoff hole. Johnson failed to break 70 in any of his fourth rounds while tying for 41st last week at Pebble Beach, two weeks after he played the weekend in 74-80 to slide to a tie for 18th after being in contention in the Farmers Insurance Open.


    8. Charl Schwartzel, South Africa -- After his start to 2016 was short-circuited by an illness that put him in the hospital, Schwartzel plays for the first time this season on the PGA Tour coming off an eight-stroke victory last week in the Tshwane Open for his 11th European Tour title. And there are reasons to believe he could keep it going this week in the Northern Trust Open. This will be his fourth start at Riviera, and even though he stumbled to a tie for 41st last year, he also tied for third in 2013 and finished solo fifth a year later, breaking 70 in seven of the first eight rounds he played at "Hogan's Alley." Schwartzel also won the Alfred Dunhill Championship in November and has finished in the top 10 in his last four starts.


    9. Jason Dufner, United States -- Thanks to a strong start to the season, including his fourth PGA Tour victory last month in the CareerBuilder Challenge and two other top-10s, Duf enters the Northern Trust Open at eighth in the FedEx Cup standings. However, he is coming off a tie for 51st last week in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and surprisingly has never played very well at Riviera. The 2013 PGA champion is one of the best ball-strikers around and "Hogan's Alley" should be made to order for him, but his best result in five appearances was a tie for 29th in 2011, and he has missed the cut twice. With his game, he figures to play well there sometime, and this could be the week if he can regain the magic he had in the California Desert.


    10. Bill Haas, United States -- After finishing in the top 10 in two of his last three tournaments on the West Coast Swing, Haas comes to Riviera, where in 2012 he claimed perhaps the most impressive of his six PGA Tour titles other than his victory in the 2011 Tour Championship. He reeled off scores of 68-68-69 in the last three rounds of the Northern Trust Open and then took down Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, the reigning PGA champion, with a 45-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. Haas seemed to be on his way to a repeat when he took a three-stroke lead to the final round a year later, but he closed with a 74 and tied for third, one shot out of the playoff in which John Merrick beat Charlie Beljan.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Northern Trust Open

      PGA Tour Picks: Northern Trust Open Odds and Expert Betting Predictions
      by Alan Matthews - 2/16/2016


      I'm a pretty big Phil Mickelson fan. So it was heartbreaking to see him miss that fairly easy putt on the 72nd hole Sunday at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am to miss a playoff against Vaughn Taylor. At the same time, it was great to see the journeyman Taylor win and especially moving to witness the reaction of he and his wife afterward.


      Mickelson played terrific golf almost all week and had a five-footer at 18 on Sunday to force that playoff and a shot at his fifth Pebble Beach Pro-Am title and first PGA Tour win anywhere in nearly three years. Lefty had led by two entering the final round and struggled early. When he got to the par-3 17th, Mickelson was down two to Taylor. Mickelson made a beautiful birdie on that hole to set the dramatics on 18.


      “Never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t make that one,” Mickelson said.


      On the bright side, it does appear Mickelson is back at an elite level. It was his third Top 11 finish in four starts in 2016. As for Taylor, he entered last week at No. 447 in the world rankings and hadn't won on the Tour in 11 years. In fact, he was playing on the Web.com Tour. He pulled out of an event in Colombia two weeks ago with some sort of virus and went straight to California. He was originally an alternate at Pebble Beach and started this season with the limited status afforded to past Tour champions due to wins in the Barracuda Championship in 2004 and 2005. He was on seventh on Tour in starts since 2005 without a win.


      Taylor shot to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday with four consecutive birdies from holes 13-16. He shot a seven-under 65 for the day after beginning Sunday six shots behind Mickelson. And now Taylor has a two-year exemption on the Tour and a ticket to the Masters (he lives in Augusta), among other spoils. Taylor was planning to attempt to Monday qualify for this week's tournament but is now in.


      Needless to say, Taylor wasn't on my radar last week. I went with Jimmy Walker at +1600 (same price as Mickelson) to win. He had a second-round 63 but didn't break 70 in any other round and was T11. For the first time in a long while, I didn't get a single Top 10, liking Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson with Walker. Hit on a few head-to-head props but let's put Pebble in the rear-view mirror.


      The West Coast Swing concludes this week with the best field of the year thus far, thanks to most of the top Europeans coming over, for the Northern Trust Open at storied Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles. Riviera, known as "Hogan's Alley," was the toughest par 71 on Tour last year with a scoring average of 72.592. The Top 50 in the world rankings after this event automatically qualify for next month’s WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral.


      The defending champion is James Hahn, his first Tour win. He beat Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey in a playoff that lasted three holes. Johnson just missed a 10-foot putt on his 72nd hole to win it and a 12-footer to extend the playoff. Casey bogeyed the 18th. Sergio Garcia was leading but finished bogey-bogey. Hahn is back to defend but has done little since and is a +10000 long shot at Bovada. Garcia is one of a group of top Euros making their 2016 USA debuts.


      Golf Odds: Northern Trust Open Favorites


      Spieth is the +650 favorite along with Rory McIlroy, also making his debut in the States this year. Spieth was a disappointing 21st last week but did finish strong with a 66 on Sunday. He finished one shot out of this playoff last year. McIlroy was T3 and T6 in his first two starts in 2016 on the European Tour. He has never played an official PGA Tour round at Riviera.


      Johnson (+1400), Hideki Matsuyama (+1600) and Justin Rose (+1800) round out the favorites. Johnson wasn't just runner-up here last year but also in 2014 (solo that year). He has two other Top 5s at Riviera this decade. Johnson was 41st last week. I picked Matsuyama to win two weeks ago outside Phoenix and he did before taking last week off. He also was a shot out of last year's playoff here. Rose was sixth last week at Pebble. His best finish here of late was ninth in 2011.


      Golf Odds: Northern Trust Open Picks


      For a Top 10, I like McIlroy at -150, Johnson at +135, Matsuyama at +140 and Charl Schwartzel at +225 (he just won overseas). For the top Englishman, go Casey at +350. I like McIlroy as the top European at +150. Go Matsuyama at +275 as top "rest of the world."


      Head-to-head, go Casey (-175) over Andy Sullivan (+135), Schwartzel (-115) over J.B. Holmes (-115), Rose (-165) over Walker (+125), Bill Haas (-125) over Adam Scott (-105), McIlroy (-120) over Spieth (-110), Garcia (-115) over Bubba Watson (-115), and Johnson over Matsuyama (-115).


      Johnson has come so close to winning here before and I think he breaks through this time.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Northern Trust Open

        Steve
        ‘Northern Trust Open’
        Six Pack Picks:
        This week I leaned heavily on current form, length, and past success at Riviera. Traditional courses such as this one tend to see the same people moving towards the Top each year.
        Aaron Baddeley 165/1 – Badds has two Top 8 finishes this season which equals his total from the two previous seasons combined. He does tend to find a way to play well when he heads to Riviera though (2013/14 – T18, 2012 – T11, 2011 – WIN, 2007 – T13, 2005 – T7). He obviously has plenty of experience at this course and it will be his outstanding putting that will carry him. Over the years he has rolled the ball in from everywhere on these greens and I expect this trend to continue.
        1.5 Units on Bill Haas 34/1 – Everyone who has been with us for more than a few years can remember our Haas win here in 2012. He was a 50-1 player and managed to fend of both Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in a playoff. It was one of the more exciting victories based on the circumstances and the caliber of players involved. Haas is back playing great golf as he has Top 18 finishes in 4 of his last 5 including a T8 at Pebble Beach. I have explained in the past how Bill is one of the worlds best players on Traditional tracks, and he will be in contention this week come Sunday (has finished inside the the Top 25 five times here including a win and a T3). He goes against our long off the tee approach but there is no way you can leave him off this list at Riviera (but he is extremely accurate off the tee – 3rd on Tour).
        1.5 Units on Jimmy Walker 26/1 – I told you he would be on our list plenty in 2016 and I wasn’t lying. He is going to contend for a major or two this season and build off his huge 2015. Since 2010 his results have been as follows at Riviera (2011 – T4, 2012 – T4, 2013 – T16, 2014 – T20, 2015 – T41). Jimmy is extremely long off the tee (46th on Tour for Driving Distance), and yet is one of the worlds best putters (19th on Tour for Overall Putting Average). Get used to this name being a fixture at the Top of leaderboards.
        1.5 Units on Sergio Garcia 28/1 – I am excited about this selection and the year Sergio will have. He has always been known as one of the best iron players in the world, but now his putting is a real strength. When he switched putting grips he gained plenty of confidence and it really has done wonders. Garcia has Top 25 finishes in 7 of his 9 starts at this tournament, including a T4 last year. I thought his odds would be lower based on his form and history, so we get great value.
        1.5 Units on JB Holmes 31/1 – Holmes is one of the hottest players on Tour right now and is another player who will love the sight of Riviera. JB has Top 25 finishes in all 5 starts and is entering on the heels of three straight Top 11’s. JB has a very solid history at this course including a run that saw him finishing no worse than T12 from 2008 to 2012. The long hitting Kentucky man ranks 5th on Tour in length this season and is 17th for Strokes Gained from Tee to Green. His key this week will be putting, but based on his love for these greens in the past, I like our chances. HEAD TO HEAD
        We keep our head to head winning streak going with the Mickelson over Rose cashing. Another 3 Unit play this week.
        3 Units on Sergio Garcia (-125) over Charl Schwartzel

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Northern Trust Open

          Riviera CC hosts PGA TOUR on Thursday
          By Zach Cohen
          Northern Trust Open
          Tees Off: Thursday, February 18th
          Riviera Country Club – Pacific Palisades, CA
          The TOUR stays in California for the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club on Thursday. Last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was extremely exciting and saw Vaughn Taylor come away with his first PGA TOUR victory in 11 years. This week’s event will feature some serious firepower, as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson will all be playing. As it seems to be the case with nearly every tournament, Phil Mickelson is a two-time winner at this event. He will, however, be absent from this year’s field. James Hahn won’t be absent and he’ll actually be defending his victory from 2015 in this one. Bubba Watson was the winner in 2014 and John Merrick came away victorious in 2013. The best score ever shot at the Northern Trust Open was a 20-under by Lanny Wadkins in 1985. Let’s now take a look at who might be gunning to beat that come Sunday:
          Dustin Johnson (16-to-1) – Dustin Johnson did not play very well at Pebble Beach last week, shooting just a two-under for the tournament. He is, however, going to be hungry to win the Northern Trust Open this weekend. Johnson has been the runner-up at this event in back-to-back years and coming that close to victory has to be eating away at him. He lost last year in a playoff and shot a 13-under in his defeat in 2014, but this could be the year he breaks through. At 16-to-1, he’s more than worth taking a shot on at a course he loves playing at.
          Hideki Matsuyama (16-to-1) – Hideki Matsuyama did not play at Pebble Beach last week, but he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open the week before. Matsuyama shot a 14-under at that tournament and will be extremely confident coming into this one. He burst onto the scene with a strong 2015 season and he is now showing that he needs to be taken seriously moving forward. Having already notched one win in 2016, Matsuyama is going to stake his claim as one of golf’s best players. He is an excellent pick at 16-to-1, as this course should really fit his style of play perfectly.
          James Hahn (100-to-1) – Course history is one of the most important things to factor in when trying to pick a winner and James Hahn is receiving some crazy odds for somebody that won this tournament in 2015. Not only did Hahn win last year, but he has also played pretty well this season. Hahn has a top-10 finish and two top-25 finishes to his name this year and he has made six of the seven cuts he’s faced as well. He is not a guy that is likely to spiral off and should be in the running to win on Sunday. He’s well worth putting a unit on for Sunday.
          Mark Hubbard (300-to-1) – Hubbard is another guy that is worth putting a unit on this weekend. He has been a pleasant surprise this season, making nine of the 10 cuts he’s faced this season and he is getting 300-to-1 odds for this weekend’s event. Hubbard’s best finish this season was just a top-25, but he has consistently shot a few good rounds per tournament. He is a guy that just needs to find a way to put it together for four rounds and it’s likely that he’ll find a way to do it at some point. This is an excellent spot for him to show up and his talent could lead him to a win on Sunday.

          Comment

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