Golf Events / Editor / 20 February 2007 /

Paul Casey may be one of the best players of match play on European soil but it would be fair to say the Ryder Cup star has not enjoyed the best of records at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in recent years.

Casey stormed to victory at the 2006 HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth while he has been close to unbeatable at the last two stagings of the Ryder Cup, not losing a match at the 'K' Club last September.

But Europe's Golfer of the Year for 2006 has found the going rather harder on the other side of the Atlantic and is yet to make it past the first-round stage in his four appearances at the World Golf Championships event.

The signs are promising that this could be the year Casey ends his dismal run and he will go into the tournament with renewed optimism.

The event has moved from its previous home at La Costa, California, to a new venue in Dove Mountain, Arizona - just a short journey from his home.

Casey believes that the 7,400-yard desert course, with its generous fairways and upturned saucer greens, will suit his game and he could be a good bet to do well this week at attractive odds of 44 to win and 9.6 to reach the last four.

Geoff Ogilvy is back to defend his title after his victory over Davis Love III in the 2006 final and can be backed at slightly longer odds than Casey to win but the market is dominated by four of the biggest names in world golf.

Tiger Woods, seeking an eighth straight victory on American soil, is the overwhelming favourite and is currently trading at 4.7 to claim his third Accenture title ahead of Ernie Els (15), Phil Mickelson (17) and Jim Furyk (18.5)

Vijay Singh can be backed at 25 to win with Adam Scott and Retief Goosen available at 29, while the likes of David Toms and Henrik Stenson (both trading at 36), Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Charles Howell III (all available at 40) make interesting prospects further down the market.

Woods, Furyk, Mickelson and Scott are the four top seeds in the elite 64-man field.

And Furyk and Mickelson look to have the toughest tasks ahead of them, with the likes of Love, Toms, Singh and Harrington in Furyk's side of the draw while Mickelson will have to take on Els, Garcia and the in-form Howell III in order to reach the last four.

Woods looks to have a straightforward task in the first round as he faces JJ Henry, a late replacement after Charl Schwartzel decided not to play this week.

Henry is a rank outsider at 4.7 to upset the world number one, but performed well at last year's Ryder Cup while Woods has not won this event since 2004 and has previously struggled in the early rounds.

Woods is expected to beat Henry but his likely opponent in the second round is Robert Allenby, who appears to be an altogether tougher prospect. The Australian has started 2007 well and is a man in form after finishing joint third at the Nissan Open last week.

Casey is favourite at 1.88 to progress to the second round at the expense of Mike Weir and looks a good bet, with the Canadian still adjusting to changes in his swing, while there are a number of clashes to savour in an intriguing first-round draw.

Garcia faces former winner Darren Clarke in arguably the match of the round. Like Clarke, Garcia has an outstanding record in Ryder Cup golf but has not done as well as he should have in individual match play tournaments.

The Spaniard, sixth last week, is favoured at 1.69 to beat Clarke (2.36) but, while the Ulsterman is still finding his feet after returning to full-time golf, he relishes the challenge of match play and may be a player to follow if he gets through the early rounds.

The other all-European first-round encounters see Harrington take on Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie face Johan Edfors and Luke Donald clash with Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Harrington (1.63) and Montgomerie (1.78) should progress but Donald versus Jimenez is a harder match to call, with the Englishman having been out of sorts since attending a friend's stag do in Las Vegas two weeks ago, while Jimenez (2.24 to win) played well in the Middle East.

Goosen reached the last eight in the event last year and should prove too strong for Scott Verplank, while it would be a major surprise to his compatriot Els lost to Welshman Bradley Dredge.

Els will face the winner of Ian Poulter's encounter with Bart Bryant if he beats Dredge and looks to have an easier route than most in the early rounds to prepare himself for the tougher later stages.

It would be no surprise if Bryant, at 2.02, beat 1.94 favourite Poulter, as the American has started the new season strongly while Henrik Stenson is strongly favoured at 1.54 to beat Zach Johnson (2.8) - despite his opponent finishing third here last year.

Aaron Baddeley has been in great form over the last month and is attractively priced at 70 to win the tournament. He faces Shingo Katayama in the first round and should have too much power for the Japanese Order of Merit winner.

Mickelson should also take a first step to easing the memory of last week's play-off defeat to Howell III by dispensing of Robert Green while no one is playing with more confidence this week than Howell III, who can be backed at 11 to reach the last four.
Chris DiMarco may not be the longest hitter on tour but loves the mental battle of match play. He finished runner-up to David Toms at this event in 2005 and, trading at 70, is another outsider fancied to do well.

But Ogilvy and Singh may have their work cut out if they want to figure in the later stages in Arizona after being handed tough first-round draws.

Ogilvy, who went to extra time in his first four matches last year before beating Love, faces 2001 winner Steve Stricker, who managed top ten finishes at both the US Open and US PGA Championships last year and is regarded as one of the best putters on tour.

The defending champion is trading at 1.63 to move forward to the next round but has been quiet so far in 2007 and the odds of 2.36 on offer about Stricker could be generous.

World number seven Singh has been matched against John Rollins and the pair represent two of the in-form players of 2007.

Singh may be favourite at 1.62 but Rollins pushed Tiger Woods all the way on his only previous experience at the tournament in 2004 before losing at the final hole.

Rollins should have won that day after being one up with two to play, but the experience could stand him in good stead. Rollins, who has two runners-up finishes already this season and can be backed at 2.38, may be responsible for pulling off the shock of the round.

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