Great Field Assembles for the Waste Management Phoenix Open

I have always loved watching the Phoenix Open, these days known as the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and hopefully someday I will make it over someday at least to spend a day at the 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale! This week a better than expected field tees it up, compared to previous years, at one of the most fun tournaments on the PGA Tour for spectators and hopefully I can shed some light on the top contenders this week in Arizona.

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Bubba Watson

The two-time Masters champ is joint favourite with Jordan Speith and his shot-making skills can definitely come into play this week. It’s always a bit of a shot in the dark with Bubba though – he is very much a Jekyll & Hyde type of golfer and with odds of 16/1 best price he is too short for me……famous last words!

Jordan Speith

Speith is joint favourite with Bubba and his 16/1 looks of much more value to me. He has turned into a golfing superstar over the past 12 months especially and many more tournament wins are likely. He should be a leading contender this week in Arizona.

Rickie Fowler

Had it not been for Rory McIlroy last year Rickie could well be World No.1 himself, definitely a year of near misses in the Majors and many other tournaments but his improvements in performances since the work he has done with Butch Harmon and results to go with it look like making him a danger to the top of the leaderboard every time he tees it up. Expect Fowler and Speith to possibly fight it out down the stretch this week at TPC Scottsdale. Odds of 22/1 best price looks great to me.

Matt Kuchar

“Kuuuuch” seems to love the desert and has many good performances to his name on these types of courses. He might be a bit short at 22/1 at this stage of the season without a raft of fantastic form behind him but he is as good as any player out there when he hits form. One to watch.

Tiger Woods

It seems every time Tiger tees it up he is the big draw, and rightly so. His rather toothless (excuse the pun!) performances over the past seasons would not fill me with confidence, however, and with a best price of 25/1 I think there is much better value to be found out there.

Phil Mickelson

Phil loves it here at Phoenix – the course, the crowd and previous performances have a lot to do with this of course. He remains a great shot-maker and his short game continues to get him out of trouble when the long game regularly lets him down! Mickelson is the closest thing the golfing world has to Seve these days and he is a joy to watch in full flow, and more so when he is hitting the ball like it’s coming out of a deodorant can! Odds of 25/1 best are tempting and I’m a big believer in horses for courses for tournaments with regular venues, “Old Man” Mickelson isn’t finished as far as appearances on the winner’s rostrum are concerned.

I’m plumbing for Rickie Fowler this week, followed closely by Jordan Speith with the possible surprise package being Mickelson. Some long shots to possibly consider are Jamie Donaldson (still on a high from his Ryder Cup heroics I’m sure) at 66/1, Jason Dufner at 70/1 (you won’t get him at those odds again for long), Brendan de Jonge at 150/1 and just because he’s Irish, Padraig Harrington at a whopping 250/1! That’s my two cents for the Phoenix Open, enjoy the golf this week!