Honda Classic Golf Fixed Odds Betting Preview

The cream of the world's golfers chose last week to come into form, with none of the top four ranked finishing outside of the top three in events on opposite sides of the globe. Firstly in Dubai Ernie Els took the spoils at the Desert Classic, and he was probably back in his Wentworth home to watch the thrilling conclusion of the Ford Championship from Florida. Tiger Woods won there, his one shot success being enough to edge out Phil Mickelson into second, and reclaim the world number one position from Vijay Singh who finished third. With the Player's Championship and the US Masters fast approaching there is good reason to be excited as a golf fan, but for the time being three of the big four are choosing to take a week off. Only Singh will play in the Honda Classic, and the Fijian is a strong favourite at 7/2. He has won the event before in 1999 but we are happy to concentrate our focus elsewhere on this occasion. Chad Campbell makes the move to Florida for the first time this season, but it a state in which he likes playing, and one of his two PGA Tour victories came there. That was at the Bay Hill Invitational last season, an event which takes place next week. He will be keen to make a strong defence there, and should his recent form continue, then there is every chance of him doing so. However, we also believe that he should be in for a good tournament at Mirasol, the venue for the Honda Classic. The 30 year old has only played there three times, but has made the cut on each occasion, and for the last two years has finished 2nd and 9th respectively. His last stroke play outing this term saw a playoff defeat endured at the Nissan Open, and sandwiched between that and this were three good wins at the Accenture World Matchplay. Campbell is regarded by his fellow professionals as one of the brightest prospects for the future, and more wins are sure to come his way. We feel that 25/1 is a good enough offering to take him to add to his tally on the next possible occasion, namely this week. Talking of bright future prospects, further down the list at 50/1 is Kevin Na. At just 21 he is virtually the youngest player on the Tour and this is just his second season, but he has already demonstrated an ability to mix with the best. Last week the South Korean came 16th at Doral, and this came on the back of two runners up cheques, claimed at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson and the FBR Open.31 under par is his cumulative total for his last two events, and in his only entry at Mirasol, 4th position was claimed 12 months ago. No PGA titles have gone his way as yet, although he did win the 2002 Volvo Masters of Asia as a teenager, and is looking ever more accomplished in America. At present he is in 12th place on the Money List and the exuberance of youth is always a dangerous weapon in the patter stages of a tournament. Also at 50/1 is Geoff Ogilvy, and he was the man beat Na in the Tucson playoff referred to earlier. That was his first career victory and was achieved with outstanding golf. Like Na he took last week off and so will arrive at Mirasol full of energy and keen to pick up from where he left off last time out. The 27 year old is a fine player, something reflected in the way that he ranked as the best all round player in 2004, and is 15th on that particular list for the current campaign. The par 72 which has four par fives of over 560 yards ought to play into the hands of one of the longest hitters also, and the man who was level with Vijay Singh in acquiring the largest number of eagles during 2004. Four entries since 2001 have seen results of 2nd, 40th, 14rth and 13th achieved here in successive years, and with confidence sky high we feel the Australian is worthy of some support.