Golf Events / Paul Krishnamurty / 26 January 2010 / Leave a Comment

Golf fans will know this tournament as the Buick Invitational but while the sponsor has changed, the course, Torrey Pines, remains the same. Paul Krishnamurty selects three men who know how to tackle a track known as 'The Beast'

While his personal problems are undoubtedly good news for gossip columnists and those obsessed with the private lives of others, the jury remains out over whether Tiger Woods' ongoing absence from the game is good for punters.

From a negative perspective, liquidity is bound to suffer as Tiger's presence in an event is the one surefire way of guaranteeing a strong market. On the positive side, every event now becomes wide open. When Woods missed the second half of 2008 due to knee surgery, it was arguably the most exciting period of golf betting of the past decade, with double figures pretty much guaranteed about every single player.

Those differences of opinion are particularly relevant this week, as the PGA Tour heads to Torrey Pines, California, for one of its longest standing annual fixtures. The Farmers Insurance Open, formerly known as the Buick Invitational, has become known as one of the best events on the calendar for favourite backers, with Tiger effectively making the tournament his own during the past decade.

Woods won all of his last five events at Torrey Pines, including arguably the most incredible performance of his career at the 2008 US Open, when playing in severe pain as that knee injury took its toll. It had become virtually impossible for layers to accurately measure Tiger's odds on his favourite course. No matter how short they put him up at, an army of favourite backers were on hand to claim their annual gift.

The main reason for Tiger's domination of this event is that three of the four rounds are played on the South course. Widely referred to as a 'beast', it provides one of the most thorough long game examinations in the world. This layout's extreme length and small greens place a massive emphasis on high-class long-iron play and hitting greens in regulation.

There is little mercy for those straying off line here, and that may work against Phil Mickelson on his seasonal debut. Indeed all of Mickelson's best course form came back in the 1990s, before the South course was toughened up ahead of that US Open date. However, while Mickelson and several other big names have questions to answer, Tiger's absence offers a golden opportunity for a trio of capable, lesser names who have previously suggested this tough layout is ideal.

Firstly, [40.0] chance Charles Howell must be licking his lips at the prospect of playing one of his favourite courses without the main opposition. Howell has twice been pipped by Woods for this title, in 2005 and 2007, the best of four top-15s at Torrey Pines. Furthermore, recent form is good, with a fast finishing fifth place at Waialae on his seasonal debut followed by a respectable performance in last week's less suitable Bob Hope Classic birdie-fest.

Reigning US Open champion Lucas Glover must also enter calculations having twice made the top-four here. As best illustrated by that breakthrough major victory, Glover is a vastly superior player to the one that finished fourth behind Tiger back in 2006. So long as he's overcome the shock of an awful finish after leading for well over half of the SBS Championship, (which on balance, at least shows he's in fair form), Lucas looks likely to take a hand at odds of [40.0].

Finally, Brandt Snedeker has always struck me as the ideal type for this event since he put up a strong challenging effort in third place behind Woods in 2007. That was one of his very first efforts on the PGA Tour, and since then he's often shown that he's best suited to tough courses with long par-fours where his quality long-iron play is rewarded. Ninth place in that US Open confirmed his suitability for Torrey Pines, and after an encouraging top-ten on last week's seasonal debut, Snedeker could be primed to shine at the tasty quote of [50.0].

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