Golf Events / Paul Krishnamurty / 11 March 2009 /

Aggressive, big-hitting Anthony Kim can thrive on his Doral debut.

14.45 - Jeev Milkha Singh @ [3.75] (Vs Baddeley, Baird)

No player has improved more over the last year or so than Indian star Jeev Milkha Singh, and he rates solid value in the opening three ball on the first day at Doral. Perhaps it's because he hails from a country not especially well known for producing world-class golfers, but Singh seems almost permanently under-rated in the market. His 2008 campaign produced four titles and two very near misses on the European Tour. How many other players can boast a record as good as that?

Both Singh's previous visits have produced nothing more than ordinary finishes of 26th and 28th, but he should prefer this year's conditions with the greens running fast at 11.8 on the stimp-meter. As he showed when producing his best ever finish in majors at last year's Masters and PGA, fast greens usually bring out the best in him.

Neither of tomorrow's opponents look particularly fearsome. Aaron Baddeley would be a contender on his day, but hasn't shone for some time and played terribly when exiting the World Matchplay in the first round last time. The third member of this group, Briny Baird, is consistent enough, but has never made the top-10 in seven tries at Doral.


15.25 - Robert Karlsson @ [3.75] (Vs Woods, Weir)

It goes without saying that this three-ball will attract the biggest crowds, but odds-on backers looking to buy some money on Tiger Woods could get their fingers burnt here. For a start, on the evidence of his lacklustre comeback at the World Matchplay, its by no means certain that Tiger's 'A-game' will be on show, whatever his awesome record at Doral.

Furthermore, the competition in this three-ball is very strong. Former Masters champ Mike Weir is world-class, though does have to improve dramatically on poor performances in his last two events. In contrast, Order of Merit holder Robert Karlsson, is strongly fancied to contend this week, with conditions ideal. Last year, he was in contention virtually every week no matter what the conditions, but generally speaking the Swede is seen to best effect when faced with a course that favours long driving and offers plenty of birdies. He will also have no concerns about the fast greens.


16.15 - Robert Allenby @ [2.7] (Vs Harrington, Leonard)

It would take a huge leap of faith to back Robert Allenby to win an event right now, after a series of disappointing efforts when in contention, but he still looks set to maintain his relentlessly consistency this week and reach the upper echelons of the leaderboard. Five of the Aussie's last nine strokeplay starts have yielded top-10 finishes, and you have to go back 14 months to find the last time he missed a cut.

His best finish at Doral came two years ago when conditions were very similar to this week, and 3rd place on that occasion is miles better than anything Harrington or Leonard have ever achieved here. Leonard has never made the top-10 here from ten tries, and clearly doesn't like the place. And while Harrington may be the best of this trio on the world stage, he's struggled lately and never bettered 19th place here before.


16.25 - Anthony Kim @ [2.4] (Vs Els, Yang)

He may be at a slight disadvantage making his course debut, but I strongly fancy Anthony Kim to return to his superb best this week. Recent disappointments outside the States are easily forgiven, as the courses in Malaysia and Australia didn't really suit his talents. Doral should be markedly different, emphasising driving distance and an aggressive, birdie-chasing style. In other words, perfect for Kim, who has won before on a championship course with fast greens, (Quail Hollow).

Furthermore, tomorrow's opponents don't look particularly threatening. Yon Eun Yang may be flavour of the month for those who took enormous prices before last week's maiden PGA Tour win, but it would be asking an awful lot to immediately carry that fine form over to this very different venue. As for Ernie Els, well he did play much better at the World Matchplay and in Sunday's final round at PGA National. On that basis, he's not out of it at Doral, but it's still hard to get away from the fact that his general strokeplay form has been dire recently. His main weakness has been with the putter, and that could present big problems at Doral.

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