The PGA Tour moves across from Hawaii to the American mainland this week for the Humana Challenge at La Quinta in California. It is a slightly different set up this year as the event, formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic, has been cut to four days from five and will now be played over three courses rather than four.
Despite the changes, there are still the usual suspects at the head of the odds and it is two-time tournament winner Phil Mickelson who starts favourites at 14/1 with Stan James. Mickelson won this event in 2002 and 2004 and he has made the cut on all seven appearances at La Quinta, with 'Lefty' the current all-time highest money earner here. However, this is his first appearance since November and his first here in five years, with better value potentially lying elsewhere.
The consistent Matt Kuchar is available at 16/1 after finishing tied second here in 2010 and seventh last year. He has racked up thirteen top-25 finishes in his last sixteen outings, although this is his first outing of 2012 and first since October, with rustiness possibly coming into play.
Bill Haas has no such worries as he has the benefit of an appearance at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions under his belt, where he showed gradual improvement. Haas loves this tournament in California as he won in 2010 and only missed out on retaining his title when losing in a play-off to Jhonattan Vegas last year. Haas fired a 62 on the Palmer Private course and his last 20 rounds have all been in the 60s. Furthermore, he has the leading twelve stroke average (67.15) from the past four years at La Quinta and he looks nicely priced at 18/1 with StanJames.com.
Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas though is a huge 66/1 to repeat his heroics of last year after enduring a tough time since.
Elsewhere, there are a host 25/1 chances this week and Dustin Johnson arrives as the highest ranked player in the field. Johnson is making his first start of 2012 and his first here for a few years, with his better performances often coming at more testing courses.
The courses at La Quinta are amongst the easiest on the PGA Tour and Charles Howell III will hope to take full advantage after finishing runner up in the Sony Open.
We fancy Martin Laird to offer the best value of the 25/1 shots though as the Scot continues to impress on the PGA Tour. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions runner-up led here after four rounds last year, only to fall away to 22nd with a final round 74. The reduction to 72 holes could play into his hands this year and he is a player that is gaining huge respect in America after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational and finishing in the top-ten on five other occasions during the 2011 season.
2012 Humana Challenge Tips
Tip #1: Bill Haas to win outright @ 18/1 with StanJames.com
Tip #2: Martin Laird to win (each-way) @ 25/1 with StanJames.com
14/1 Phil Mickelson
16/1 Matt Kuchar
18/1 Bill Haas
25/1 Dustin Johnson
25/1 Charles Howell III
25/1 Martin Laird
33/1 Zach Johnson
33/1 Anthony Kim
33/1 Bryce Molder
40/1 Brian Gay
40/1 Bo Van Pelt
40/1 Harrison Frazer
45/1 BAR
Odds supplied byStanJames.com bookmakers, who provide a variety of betting markets - including live betting in-running - for the 2012 Humana Challenge.
Posted: Tuesday, 17th January 2012
Author: Chris James
Tags: pga tour, humana challenge, bill haas, phil mickelson, stan james,
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