Accenture World Match Play Betting Odds

The Jack Nicklaus designed Ritz Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Arizona.

Expect the unexpected at the Accenture World Match play this week. There is no such thing as an upset in this event as anyone can be anyone on a given day. Anything can happen in match play so it's very difficult to predict who will come out on top.

Here are some notable player betting lines for the tournament:

Rory McILroy: 11-1
Tiger Woods: 11-1
Luke Donald: 16-1
Lee Westwood: 16-1
Sergio Garcia: 20-1
Martin Kaymer: 22-1
Jason Day: 33-1
Keegan Bradley: 40-1
Geoff Ogilvy: 50-1
David Toms: 100-1

Accenture World Match Play Bracketology

The golf version of March Madness begins Wednesday. Fill out the Golf Week Match Play Challenge and win prizes.

Accenture World Match Play begins Wednesday

World number one Luke Donald is looking to go back to back at the World Match Play.

The Accenture World Match Play kicks off Wednesday with the top 64 available players in the world rankings vying to win six consecutive matches in the single elimination format.

The event began in 1999 and is now played at the Jack Nicklaus designed Ritz Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Arizona.

World number one Luke Donald is the defending champion and will look to become the first back to back winner since Tiger Woods did it in 2003 and 2004.

Northern Trust Open: Betting Odds

Phil Mickelson is coming off a stellar performance last week and he won the the Northern Trust Open in 2008 and 2009. Aaron Baddely is the defending champion and coming off a good week at Pebble Beach. Steve Stricker, Charles Howell III, and Adam Scott are all recent winners of the event. Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, and many other great players are in the field this week.

Tiger Woods adds Honda to schedule, will play three straight

With the Masters less than two months away, Tiger Woods appears to be very serious about getting in as many reps as possible in preparation for the the first major of 2012. He announced today that he will be adding the Honda Classic to his upcoming schedule.

Woods will play three straight weeks beginning with the Accenture Match Play Feb 22nd, the Honda Classic March 1-4, and Doral March 8-11.

Phil Mickelson: From pathetic to phenomenal

With his flawless final round 64 Sunday to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Phil Mickelson showed how fast things can change in the life of a professional golfer.

Just a few weeks ago, Mickelson was playing extremely inconsistent, missed a cut, called his own play pathetic, and admittedly questioned whether or not he was working on the proper things. He complained that he was unable to stayed focused throughout his rounds. 

On Sunday, paired with Tiger Woods, Mickelson played one of the best rounds of his life. He made six birdies as well as an eagle, and drained two long putts to save par when he found trouble. He admitted afterword that playing with Woods amps him up and heightens his focus to the highest levels.

Photos: Phil Mickelson wins with final round 64 at Pebble Beach

Photos: Tiger Woods shoots 75 at Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Betting Odds

Tiger Woods makes his 2012 PGA Tour debut this week at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, and Nick Watney will be among the American players in action as well. Should be an exciting tournament at an outstanding venue.

Here are the betting odds for notable players:

Tiger Woods: 5-1
Phil Mickelson: 20-1
Dustin Johnson: 20-1
Hunter Mahan: 20-1
Nick Watney: 20-1
Rickie Fowler: 25-1
Spencer Levin: 33-1
Sean O'Hair: 50-1
Bud Cauley: 66-1
David Duval: 250-1

Tiger Woods progresses to third round 66 and leads in Abu Dhabi

Tiger Woods has said it would be a "process" to overhaul his swing and bring his game back to the form that dominated for so many years. So far in Abu Dhabi, he's gotten progressively better with rounds of 70, 69, and 66 to share the lead at 11-under with Robert Rock heading into the final round.

Woods last played at the Chevron World Challenge in December where he birdied the final two holes to win by one shot over Zach Johnson. He will now have his chance for consecutive wins at a full field event against many of the top players in the world.

It should be quite a challenge as he will be chased by several players, including world number three Rory McILroy, who is two shots back.

Mickelson 15 shots back at Torrey Pines after "pathetic" first round 77

Phil Mickelson is usually money at Torrey Pines but he had a terrible first round Thursday at the Farmer's Insurance Open. Playing on the more difficult South Course, he shot a 5-over par 77, 15 shots back of leaders Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley, who both shot 62 on the North Course.

"I had some good days of practice and I was ready to play. I don't know what happened, I just wasn't able to focus. Obviously, I made some bad swings just in the wrong spots and so forth. But I felt like my game was ready heading in, and I don't know what to say about the score because it was pathetic."

Not sure what's going on with Phil so far in 2012 but he's obviously not off to the greatest start. Mickelson has admitted staying focused has been one of his weaknesses throughout this career and this round seems to be a good example.

Mickelson is known for pulling off brilliant shots and going on ridiculous hot streaks, but is also capable of having mental lapses and high scores that seem to come out of nowhere.

One possibility is that he's just bored with "normal tournaments" because he's been on Tour so long. Hopefully he will still be able to get fired up for the Majors this year because golf is much more interesting when Phil is in the mix.

Sergio Garcia drains hole in one in Abu Dhabi

Sergio Garcia made a nice hole in one in Abu Dhabi at the 12th hole on Thursday. This showed quite a bit of improvement from his last tournament, when he got bitter and gunned his 5-iron into a lake after an errant shot.

Woods opens with 70 in Abu Dhabi

Tiger Woods began his 2012 season with an opening round 70 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship which included two birdies and no bogeys. He had complete control of his swing while hitting 17 out of 18 greens but struggled on the greens ending with 35 putts.

“It was a good ball-striking round,” Woods said. “But I had a hard time reading the greens. They were pretty grainy, and I just had a hard time getting a feel for it, especially for the first few holes. Towards the end I hit some pretty good putts, but overall I got fooled a lot on my reads.”
 
Woods played with world number one Luke Donald, who shot a 1-under 71, and world number three Rory McILroy, who is tied for the lead after a 5-under 67.

Excellent field set for Torrey Pines

It's about time for AK to get back into the winners circle.

Although Tiger Woods declined to play this week at a course he's dominated throughout his career, a top notch field is prepared to play at Torrey Pines for the Farmer's Insurance Open headed by the pairing of Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney, and Hunter Mahan.

Here are the betting odds for the tournament and other intriguing pairings include:

Anthony Kim, Jhonattan Vegas, D.A. Points
Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy
Rickie Fowler, Bud Cauley, John Mallinger
Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland, Camillo Villegas
Bill Haas, Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley

Woods, Mcllroy, and Donald paired up in Abu Dhabi

The pairings and tee times are set for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with the featured group of Tiger Woods, Rory Mcllroy, and Luke Donald sure to take center stage for at least the first two days.

Question: Luke Donald raised some eyebrows at the end of last year, identifying Rory McIlroy as having the most talent he had ever seen, more even than you in your prime; I just wondered if you could talk to whether you see Rory as the most talented player you've ever seen, and also how you see Luke Donald's accomplishments and whether he deserves his world No. 1 ranking, despite not having won a major?

TIGER WOODS:  Well, you don't have to win a major to become the No. 1 player in the world; you have to be consistent.  You have to play well in the big events, and it's about accumulating points.  That's how the system has developed. But as far as being the most talented player, I think the most talented player that I've ever seen in person was Seve.  Never seen a person do the things with the golf ball that he was able to do and the creativeness that he was able to do.  To me, he certainly had the most talent that I had ever seen in person.  I had never saw Hogan hit a golf ball.  Never saw Mr.Nelson hit a golf ball.  I never saw Jack in his prime.  But I did see Seve when I first came out here, and I was able to play with him a few times; it was impressive.

Other notable pairings include the group of Jason Day, Darren Clarke, and Alvaro Quiros, as well as Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, and Lee Westwood.