2009 Bob Hope Classic Odds & Predictions
After a two week stop in Hawaii the PGA TOUR is headed to California for the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by none other than course designer Arnold Palmer himself. The field isn’t very strong, as there isn’t a single player ranked in the Top 10 in action this weekend, but that shouldn’t lead to a lack of scoring, as DJ Trahan shot a 4 round total of 26 under to win by just 3 shots last year. There is rain expected for the first two rounds, so it might slow the scoring down a bit, but we still expect a lot of birdies needed to win this weekend. To get you going on the upcoming action this weekend we have broken down the field into the favorites, guys in the middle of the pack, and the long shots we think have a shot at winning.
Favorites: Justin Leonard +1000, Mike Weir +1200, and David Toms +1200
Its pretty easy to see what we are talking about with not to many big names in action this weekend, as no player has better than +1000 odds to win. Leonard is a solid choice, as he is not only playing some pretty solid golf of late, but has really thrived at this event, including a win here in 2005. Weir is another guy who has played well here over the years, as he won this event back in 2003, and finished tied for 5th in 2006. Toms has been pretty consistent here at the Bob Hope Classic, but has yet to win this event, but maybe now is the time after his tie for 2nd last week at the Sony Open.
Middle of the Pack: Chad Campbell +2000, Steve Stricker +2000, Tim Clark +2000, Scott Verplank +2500, DJ Trahan +3000, Ken Duke +3000, Mathew Goggin +3000, Ryuji Imada +3000, Stephen Ames +3000, and Steve Marino +3000
Trahan is the defending champion, and this guy has been pretty hot of late shooting 20 under combined in his last two starts. The only other guy to win this event out of this group is Campbell who won this thing 3 years ago back in 2006. Each of these golfers has the talent to win this one, but two other guys to keep your on our Ryuji Imada and Steve Marino, as Imada always seems to play well here, and Marino led the TOUR last season with 440 birdies.
Long Shots: Charley Hoffman +4000, Woody Austin +6000, Fred Couples +8000, Jesper Parnevik +8000, Steve Elkington +8000, Joe Durant +10000, and David Duval +20000
There is some talent here, but a lot of these guys will need one special weekend to pull away with the trophy. Hoffman, Durant, Couples, Parnevik, and Duval have all won here before, but other than Hoffman who won it in 2007 the rest of these guys wins came in 2001 or before. Elkington had a solid showing finishing tied for 5th here a year ago, but the guy to watch is Hoffman who had another strong showing with a tie for 8th last year at this course.
Though we pretty much mentioned most of the field, we did leave a few guys out, and for those of you looking for the rest of the field, here is a complete list of odds for each golfer at Sportsbook.com.
Bart Bryant +8000
Ben Crane +5000
Bill Haas +4000
Brian Gay +4000
Briny Baird +8000
Bubba Watson +8000
Chad Campbell +2000
Charley Hoffman +4000
Charlie Wi +5000
Chez Reavie +5000
Chris DiMarco +10000
Colt Knost +15000
DJ Trahan +3000
David Duval +20000
David Toms +1200
Dustin Johnson +4000
Fred Couples +8000
Harrison Frazar +6000
Heath Slocum +10000
Jerpes Parnevik +8000
Jerry Kelly +8000
Joe Durant +10000
John Rollins +8000
John Senden +6000
Jonathan Byrd +8000
Justin Leonard +1000
Ken Duke +3000
Kevin Na +6000
Kevin Sutherland +6000
Lucas Glover +6000
Mathew Goggin +3000
Mike Weir +1200
Nathan Green +6000
Nick Watney +6000
Pat Perez +6000
Ryan Moore +6000
Ryuji Imada +3000
Scott Verplank +2500
Stephen Ames +3000
Steve Elkington +8000
Steve Flesch +6000
Steve Marino +3000
Steve Stricker +2000
Tim Clark +2000
Tim Herron +6000
Tom Pernice Jr +8000
Webb Simpson +8000
Woody Austin +6000
