Another Victory for Jordan?
Best Bets
2 Pts Win Only Jordan Spieth (13/2 General)
0.5 Pts E/W (1-5) Ernie Els (200/1 Bet Victor)
The PGA Tour heads to a familiar venue this week in one of its oldest events. The Northern Trust Open sees a strong field compete at Riviera Country Club in California. The course is a Par 71 and measures out at over 7,300 yards. There is a driveable par four and three par fives on offer for the pros to make their score. The aim of the game round this course is to take advantage of these holes and then really maintain your score for the rest of the round. Most holes at Riviera average over par and golfers will be in survival mode for a large part of their rounds.
As many will point out this week the grass at Riviera is Kikuyu. This is a type of grass that is prominent in Africa, and one of our tips this week will be at home on this type of fairway. In terms of trends on this course the track seems to favour longer hitters. All around driving is of the utmost importance here with the rough usually being quite penal. This course also tends to favour high quality golfers. The tough rough and minimal birdie holes on offer mostly yield winners that have done it before at the highest level. Again both of our tips are major winners and have multiple wins in high quality fields.
The field this week is very strong, and both Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy will tee it up. Expect to see the top golfers in the world playing more frequently now as they look to gear themselves up for the Masters.
2 Pts Win Only Jordan Spieth (13/2 General)
Spieth is consistent as it comes and by his own very high standards he will see last week at Pebble Beach as a failure. He ended in a tie for 21st which isn’t shameful, but was largely due to a closing 66 where it looked as if things clicked too late for the world number 1. Spieth has all the tools to go well round this course and his flawless closing round at Pebble indicates he could be ready for a big week. He has played this event twice finishing 12th and 4th respectively, so clearly enjoys the tough test Riviera offers. Spieth is no slouch off the tee and his all-round driving is up there with the best. What might be key for him this week though is his ability to hole the tough par putts and keep his round together when others might falter. At the top of the market he is by far the most attractive option and we are happy to make a play on him this week. If he puts himself in contention he will be going all out for the win and we are tipping him on the win only market this week.
0.5 Pts E/W (1-5) Ernie Els (200/1 Bet Victor)
A lot of people this week will favour Charl Schwartzel given his past form in this event and the fact that Kikuyu is in play here. We on the other hand are making a small play on his compatriot Ernie Els. Els has won this event all the way back in 1999 and knows the course as well as anyone else teeing it up this week. He will always feel at home teeing it up on Kikuyu grass, and the big easy still has thelength to get the ball out far enough to go well this week. Ernie has shown promising form recently on the European Tour and looks to have sorted out his putting woes which have plagued him for the last few years. His ball striking is still unbelievably good and he looks to be priced too long given his recent form and record on this course. We will make a small each way play on Ernie this week and hope he still has what it takes if he gets in contention.