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.

Aaron Baddeley: By the numbers at Riviera

Northern Trust Open Champion Aaron Baddeley (Stuart Franklin / Getty)

Scores: 67,69,67,69, -12

Fairways in Reg: 50% (T57)
Greens in Reg: 72.2% (3)
Sand Saves: 100% (T1)
Putts per round: 28.5 (T35)
Total Birdies: 15 (T18)

Prize Money: $1,170,000.00
Fed Ex Points: 500

The biggest key for Baddeley this week was his ball striking, placing 3rd for the tournament in greens in regulation. He also only made 3 bogeys on the week to go along with 15 birdies, 1 double, and an eagle.

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The 10th at Riviera presents risk and reward

The 10th hole at Riviera is one of the most famous short par-4s in the world due to the various challenges and options that it offers.

Listed at 315 yards, the players have the option to try and drive it or lay back in the fairway. The small green is surrounded by bunkers so even if a player lays back, it's still a difficult approach shot, especially with a back right pin position.

Take a tour of the hole

Yesterday, during the first round of the Northern Trust Open, the featured group of Fred Couples, Bubba Watson, and Anthony Kim had some difficulty with the hole.

Watson hit driver short of the left greenside bunker, attempted a flop shot but left it in the bunker, hit his bunker shot about 15 feet short to the fringe, then missed his par putt. He made bogey.

Kim drove it short of the right greenside bunker, hit a flop shot into the bunker, but then made a great bunker shot to get up and down for par.

Couples chose to lay back with an iron off the tee and put himself in good position in the fairway. From 85 yards, he hit his wedge into the right bunker where it plugged, hit his bunker shot to 15 feet, missed the putt, and settled for bogey.

The 10th should have a significant impact on who wins this week.

Northern Trust Open: Betting Odds

The Northern Trust Open begins this Thursday at Riviera Country Club with Steve Stricker as the defending champion.

The Top Ten Bodog Betting odds are as follows:

Phil Mickelson 10-1
Steve Stricker 18-1
Luke Donald 25-1
Dustin Johnson 25-1
Matt Kuchar 25-1
Hunter Mahan 25-1
Paul Casey 28-1
Rickie Fowler 33-1
Jim Furyk 33-1
Anthony Kim 33-1

Hunter Mahan finished runner up last week at Pebble Beach. (Stuart Franklin / Getty)

Big name pairings becoming the norm

Last week the European Tour paired the top three in the world, Westwood, Kaymer, and Woods together to create excitement and increase ratings. This first started at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines when the USGA paired Woods, Mickelson, and Scott, the top three at the time.

Either way, it's a great idea and should be done for every tournament. The PGA has taken notice and put together some intriguing pairings this week at the Northern Trust Open.

A few good ones include:

(Fred Couples, Bubba Watson, Anthony Kim)
(Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Luke Donald)
(Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy)

Phil Mickelson will be paired with two of the top European players this week at the Northern Trust.(Stuart Franklin / Getty)