Outright plays (total stake per play: 1.5pts)
Vijay Singh to win 14/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler, William Hill, BlueSq and BetFred
What a difference two years makes ... In 2004, the tournament failed to attract a single player among the top-six in the World Rankings and just one of the top-ten and the title was won in a playoff between Craig Parry and Scott Verplank. One year later, eleven of the top-twelve competed at Doral and the title was won in a battle between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, with four players in the top-5 (Vijay Singh and David Toms finished 3rd and 5th respectively) at odds of no more than 16/1. With all the refinements to Ray Floyd's butchering of the course in 1996, the 'Blue Monster' is now a course that rewards the best overall game and as such has now been awarded a WGC event from 2007 onwards. Very strong fields will continue to be the norm at Doral and, as such, leaderboards packed with the favourites should continue. Vijay's inconsistent form this season is not a concern this week as only twice (Tiger Woods, 2005, and Joe Ogilvie, 2001) in the last thirty years has the winner at Doral also won on the West Coast. This is the first event in Florida and the change in greens, in particular, leads to a very strong home advantage for Florida natives and residents, of which Singh is one. He has finished in the top-5 in each of his last three visits and at these odds is worth backing again in this event.
Jim Furyk to win 22/1 e.w. available generally
The stereotypical winner at Doral of being experienced and a Florida resident is personified in Furyk. He won this event in 2000, was only denied another victory by Scott Hoch in a playoff in 2003 and has finished 8th, 9th and 17th to complete the very impressive record of his last five visits here. This is a shotmaker's course and Furyk does excel under these conditions. Like Vijay, he has not won on the West Coast, but has shown good form in patches, particularly on the Bermuda greens in Hawaii and he didn't waste too much energy on last week's event. In the six times that this event has followed the WGC Match Play Championship, only once has the winner at Doral been involved in the weekend gold at La Costa and on that occasion, Hoch had been eliminated from the event in the Saturday morning quarter-finals. All the trends point to a strong week from Vijay and Furyk.
David Toms to win 22/1 e.w. @ BetInternet
But that is not the case with Toms. He is not a Florida resident and he did win the Sony Open in Hawaii. However, he also exited the matchplay event before the weekend and can boast back-to-back top-5 finishes in this event, the second time after winning the World Matchplay at La Costa. That was quite an achievement after playing almost 126 holes in five days the previous week on the West Coast and so is his achievement of his current run of seven consecutive rounds under 70 around Doral; no-one else in this field currently has more than four consecutive rounds under 70. He may have already won on the PGA Tour, but that was on the Bermuda greens in Hawaii and while he may not be a Florida resident, his home State of Louisiana is not too far away. Odds of 22/1 seem generous enough.
Vijay Singh to win 14/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler, William Hill, BlueSq and BetFred
What a difference two years makes ... In 2004, the tournament failed to attract a single player among the top-six in the World Rankings and just one of the top-ten and the title was won in a playoff between Craig Parry and Scott Verplank. One year later, eleven of the top-twelve competed at Doral and the title was won in a battle between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, with four players in the top-5 (Vijay Singh and David Toms finished 3rd and 5th respectively) at odds of no more than 16/1. With all the refinements to Ray Floyd's butchering of the course in 1996, the 'Blue Monster' is now a course that rewards the best overall game and as such has now been awarded a WGC event from 2007 onwards. Very strong fields will continue to be the norm at Doral and, as such, leaderboards packed with the favourites should continue. Vijay's inconsistent form this season is not a concern this week as only twice (Tiger Woods, 2005, and Joe Ogilvie, 2001) in the last thirty years has the winner at Doral also won on the West Coast. This is the first event in Florida and the change in greens, in particular, leads to a very strong home advantage for Florida natives and residents, of which Singh is one. He has finished in the top-5 in each of his last three visits and at these odds is worth backing again in this event.
Jim Furyk to win 22/1 e.w. available generally
The stereotypical winner at Doral of being experienced and a Florida resident is personified in Furyk. He won this event in 2000, was only denied another victory by Scott Hoch in a playoff in 2003 and has finished 8th, 9th and 17th to complete the very impressive record of his last five visits here. This is a shotmaker's course and Furyk does excel under these conditions. Like Vijay, he has not won on the West Coast, but has shown good form in patches, particularly on the Bermuda greens in Hawaii and he didn't waste too much energy on last week's event. In the six times that this event has followed the WGC Match Play Championship, only once has the winner at Doral been involved in the weekend gold at La Costa and on that occasion, Hoch had been eliminated from the event in the Saturday morning quarter-finals. All the trends point to a strong week from Vijay and Furyk.
David Toms to win 22/1 e.w. @ BetInternet
But that is not the case with Toms. He is not a Florida resident and he did win the Sony Open in Hawaii. However, he also exited the matchplay event before the weekend and can boast back-to-back top-5 finishes in this event, the second time after winning the World Matchplay at La Costa. That was quite an achievement after playing almost 126 holes in five days the previous week on the West Coast and so is his achievement of his current run of seven consecutive rounds under 70 around Doral; no-one else in this field currently has more than four consecutive rounds under 70. He may have already won on the PGA Tour, but that was on the Bermuda greens in Hawaii and while he may not be a Florida resident, his home State of Louisiana is not too far away. Odds of 22/1 seem generous enough.
