Tuesday 27 January 2015 19:41, UK
Ben Coley previews the Waste Management Phoenix Open and is siding with a collection of ball-strikers at TPC Scottsdale.
Tiger Woods makes his eagerly-awaited return to action in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Woods hasn’t played the event since the turn of the century and it’s one of the rare tournaments to have eluded him, although many will remember that famous hole in one on the par-three 16th hole as Tiger announced himself on the scene way back in 1997.
Sky Bet make Woods a 20/1 chance and for a player who has won around 25% of his starts across a near 20-year career, you can certainly argue that he’s worth chancing. However, to win he’ll have to chip and putt a lot better than when trailing home in last place in the Hero World Challenge, some 26 shots adrift of winner Jordan Spieth.
Spieth also adds lustre to the event as he makes his seasonal return while Rickie Fowler, who ventured over to the European Tour in January, bids for a second PGA Tour title at a course where he should’ve won his first back in 2010.
Fowler was beaten by Hunter Mahan that day and a repeat is perfectly possible, with Mahan’s ball-striking having returned to the sort of level which saw him win The Barclays last September.
The Texan, a 40/1 shot, is a driver who was also fourth here last year and the comprehensive changes to TPC Scottsdale, which should make things a little tougher, shouldn’t stop him from playing well.
Billy Horschel caught the eye last week and is another with the tee-to-green brilliance to win here.
The reigning FedEx Cup champion would’ve finished much closer to Bill Haas in the Humana Challenge but for a nine at the par-five 14th hole, but he’s proven capable of bouncing back from disappointment before and this is a good venue for him to do just that.
There’s European interest in the event thanks chiefly to Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson and Italy’s Francesco Molinari and both have compelling profiles.
The latter is basing himself in the US until May and has made a tidy start to the campaign, one which he can build on at a course which has historically favourite solid drivers of the ball.
Donaldson meanwhile looks a big price given his career trajectory and the fact that the re-designed layout should represent a level playing field. The same could’ve been said of Doral last year and it’s therefore telling that Donaldson challenged for the title there, since which time he’s taken his career to the next level.
Finally, Harris English is really hitting the ball well and has gone well at Scottsdale before. He finished in the frame in Hawaii a fortnight ago and big things are expected both this week and for the rest of the season.
Live coverage of the Phoenix Open gets underway on Thursday at 8pm on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
