Golf - The Buick Invitational - Thurs 5th Feb to Sun 8th Feb 2009

[Jonesy Knows]

A tournament which is rather devalued by the absence of 6 time winner Tiger Woods. One thing is certain that we will not have the defending champ for the past 4 years here due to injury! which gives an opportunity for somebody else to make a name for themselves. This tournament is played over 2 courses - The North & South Course at Torrey Pines in San Diego - South California, on the west coast of America. It has some of the most amazing coast line scenery that you will ever get to see from a links golf course with some sheer cliff drops spanning out onto the Pacific Ocean. Phil Mickelson will be most peoples idea of favourite here because he won this tournament back to back in 2000 & 2001. But Phil to me has not set the world alight these past 12 months and I can't have him at the prohibitive odds that is likely! and I would much rather play with Guys who I feel have just as good a chance on current form and previous course experience at bigger odds! Predictions: Most bookies will give 1/4 odds 1,2,3,4,5 places! Troy Matteson @67.00 EW - Totesport Last year Matteson shot an amazing 65 on the harder South Course in the opening round to take the lead in this tournament. However he undone all his good work by posting a 75 in round 2 on the easier North Course. Despite that blip he played decent golf for the next 2 rounds and finished in 11th place. In 2006 he posted a respectable 23rd finish and a year further back in 2005 in his first attempt in this tournament he finished a very creditable 28th! He is showing improvement every year he has played here and at the decent odds with a Tiggerless field he has as good a chance as any in this field. His current form reads from the end of the 2008 year he has a 6th & 7th finish and has started 2009 in decent form tied 23rd at The Sony Open & tied 35th at The FBR Open. Matteson has shown form on this coast before in the past when he won The Mark Christopher's Charity Classic in California in 2005. His one and only win on US The tour came also on the west coast in Las Vegas at the end of 2007. I will do some more analysis hopefully later with more each way nuggets with decent chances! :ok

[hornet_18]

Re: Golf - The Buick Invitational - Thurs 5th Feb to Sun 8th Feb 2009 Nick pick Jonesy. Thought about Matteson but feel he's too short @ 51. After the near miss with Piercy last week (led with 8 holes to go only to finish sixth!) I'm hoping with a bit more luck there could be a decent result in store this week. With this course it seems a key stat is driving distance Retief Goosen @ 31 Most people know that Goosen is a very pure striker of the ball who has found it tough over the last couple of years, however, he has come out recently saying how this is the best he has felt for the last five years. To back this up he has won 2 of his last 5 tournaments and hasnt finished outside the top 23 in the other 3 tournaments. While he hasnt played this exact tournament, his performance in last years US Open (same venue) should give positive vibes finishing T14 with two of the best rounds of the week. Kevin Streelman @ 81 Streelman started this event very well last year and starting the weekend he was actually five shots clear of eventual runner up Imada, however, a poorly played weekend pushed him back down to T29. However, I feel he has become a much more accomplished player since then finishing 35th in the Fedex Playofs and 11th in All Around Ranking for 2008. He has started this season solidly, not spectacularly, making the cut in both of his starts but his 69-69-69 last 3 rounds at the FBR show signs of encouragement. Add in his positive memories of leading the US Open here after the first round and he should give a good run for our money. Bill Lunde @ 251 A local lad coming back to the tournament he visited as a kid. Do dreams come true? If he wins it'll be a good day all round. But enough of the disney story...this is a man with an all-round game. Finishing 10th in All Around Rankings on the Nationwide Tour last year, he has started off in the same way this year sitting 6th for AAR after his 2 events. Missed the cut in the Sony Open but followed it up with a T14 at the Bob Hope Classic (even managed to 3 putt from 4ft on the last to miss out on a top 10!). Playing at home, had a week to rest, clearly playing decent golf. 250/1? Definitely overpriced. Bubba Watson @ 81 When you think of big hitters, Bubba has to be right up there so surely this tournament should be right up his street - it turns out that in the past it has suited him very nicely. In 2006 he was sitting 17th after 3 rounds (improving with every round) before blowing out with a 79 final round. The next year he finished T4 hitting the second best weekend rounds (after a certain Tiger) with 69-67 and in 2008 he made the cut once again with an unspectacular T47. He has started the season solidly with two T25 finishes at the Bob Hope and FBR Open and hopefully should have shaken off any rust for a tournament he likes and should hopefully break his duck this week at a decent price. Was also tempted on Nick Watney and Ryuji Imada but feel their odds were a bit short (especially the latter) but :hope I wont be regretting that decision come Sunday night! GL