The EDS Byron Nelson Championship Preview

For only the third time this season the Big Five?..Tiger Woods, VJ Singh, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen all tee up together for this week's PGA Tour event in Irving in Texas. It should be an intriuging clash. Stan James put Tiger in as 4/1 favourite. VJ is 6/1, Els is 7/1 and Mickelson is 8/1.The event is actually played over two courses. The main course is the Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, but for the first two rounds they alternate between this and the easier Cottonwood Valley course. Both are Par 70's.One player who will be in the forefront of people's minds this week will be Sergio Garcia. He won this last year in a three way play off, but the negative thing about this is that it will remind him (and us) of his final round last week. Garcia managed to lose a six shot lead and then he bowed out tamely in the play off. It will have hurt him for sure and it's difficult to gauge how he will react to it this week. At 25/1 he could be value to bounce back. His game is certainly on at the moment. An alternative market on Sergio could be his finishing position. Stan James bet 17th or better at 5/4, 18th to 36th at 5/2, and 37th or worse at 13/8. A top ten finish for the Spaniard is 14/5. Analysing the records of the Big Four here makes interesting reading. Woods has never finished worse than 12th here, and in 7 starts he has a total score of -77 to par here. He's also won it as well. He's 2/5 to finish in the Top Ten. The battle for World Number One with Vijay will be just the spur he will need this week. In their 72 hole match bet with Stan James, Tiger is slight favourite at 5/6 over Vijay at Evens. It is going to be very difficult to split them this week.Vijay has won it once in five starts (-24 in total) but has been out of the top ten in all the other line ups. But he's coming into this event in great form, having won last week. His game is really on fire and he just never seems to be far away whenever he plays. Ernie Els has won here too in six starts and has had three Top Tens. He is 4/6 to achieve a Top Ten this week. He is also playing well so far this year and cannot be ruled out. The Internationals have always done well here and the last three winners have been non American. At 7/1 he'll be on the premises I'm sure. Phil Mickelson will again be the crowd favourite here. Big Phil has played in the event nine times, has won it once and been in the top Ten three times. His total score to par here is -57. He's a 4/5 shot to get in the Top Ten this year. If he is in contention on the final day, expect fireworks. We have omitted Goosen. Because he is the only one who has not played here before. But that shouldn't put people off backing him. He is playing well without setting the world on fire, and you suspect a win is around the corner. He is the value at 14/1, and the outsider of the big guns. Stan James has a very interesting Group Bet between the Big Five and in the light of their records here it should be an exhilarating contest.Group A Woods?..?9/4Singh??....3/1Els???....7/2Mickelson?4/1But there is a big field this week and it's not just about the Big Five, however compelling their collective games read at the moment. This is a narrow course, which benefits straight hitters, and if the Texan wind blows it can be tough. All these players have very good records here and some could be good value. Scott Verplank (33/1), Nick Price (66/1), S.Maruyama (80/1), Robert Allenby (125/1), Dudley Hart ( 150/1), Jespar Parnevik (175/1) and Robert Damron (200/1) have all got credentials to do well here this week. It would be great to see the big guns in the fray come Sunday, purely because it will give that extra bit of zip to the contest. It is being covered live on Sky from Thursday and Stan James will be betting In-Running throughout the four days. Every golfer has a price to finish in the Top Ten, so log on to find out what price your favourite one is to do well this week.