Bellsouth Classic Preview
To play or not to play? The question pertains to this week’s Bellsouth Classic for those players who are scheduled to compete in The Masters next week. Fine tuning their game at Sugarloaf or at the range is the decision that needs to be made for the majority of the 103 players teeing it up at the season’s first major. It seems to be a split decision for the world’s best at least as 10 of the top 20 in the World Golf Rankings will be teeing it up in Duluth.
However, only two of the top eight players are playing this week, Retief Goosen and defending Bellsouth champion Phil Mickelson. Mickelson won in 2005 on Monday in a five-man playoff which culminated a rain soaked week that forced a 54-hole shortened event. The weather should not be a factor this week for the 144-player field vying for the rather generous $954,000 first place prize.
Mickelson is still searching for his first win of the 2006 season although the year has not been bad as proven by his four top-ten finishes. Mickelson is a two-time winner at the Bellsouth, both coming in playoffs, and has finished 10th or better in six of his eight starts including four top three finishes. He is the odds on favorite this week at 7-1 to capture his third championship.
Retief Goosen is right behind Mickelson at 8-1 and his game looks to be a great shape heading into The Masters. Goosen won this event in 2002 and followed that up with a tie for 3rd in 2003. He finished 22nd in last year’s edition after skipping the event in 2004. He has performed well in his four starts in 2006 with two top five finishes and a tie for 15th at the Ford.
Luke Donald and David Toms are the next closest players at 15-1 and both share some common traits. The pair has gotten off to great starts this season, each picking up a win and each having numerous top tens, Toms with four and Donald with three. Neither Toms nor Donald played at the Bellsouth last year and both come in without a ton of confidence after missing the cut at THE PLAYERS last week.
Arguably the least confident player this week is Davis Love III who went from tournament leader last week on Thursday to missing the cut on Friday after a second round 83. It’s a good decision to play here following that debacle as entering The Masters with something other than that 83 will be important. He has not teed it up at Sugarloaf since missing the cut in 2002 but does have 7th and 11th place finishes to his credit.
Love is listed at 20-1 along with Padraig Harrington, who also missed the cut at Sawgrass last week. Harrington did not play this event in 2005 after finishing 4th in 2004 and 8th in 2002. Also in at 20-1 is Chris DiMarco who was forced to withdraw last week at THE PLAYERS due to a rib injury. He does not have a top ten in stroke play this season but he does have three top tens in his last six starts at Sugarloaf.
Matt Fargo is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm
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