The Northern Trust Open is a new title sponsor to the PGA Tour. The field lacks Tiger Woods, but won't lack talent. If everyone plays as scheduled, 17 of the world's top 20 golfers will be teeing it up at the Riviera Country Club for a shot at winning $1.1 million.
Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Retief Goosen, Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia will all be playing on the PGA tour for the first time this season. Scott makes his debut in the event that he won in 2005 after recently winning the European Tour Qatar Masters trophy with a final round 61.
This tournament has been historically won by a player who putts their way past their competition. Of the past 15 winners at The Riviera Country Club (skipping 1998 because the tournament was at a different course), seven of them had their best putting weeks of the season, five had their second best and one had his third. The last three Champions have finished in the top 10 on the year in putting.
Putts per round can be easily be determined by the distance of an approach shot, the driving distance or accuracy off the tee, and greens in regulation percentage. I picked my players to consider incorporating all of those statistics into my decision. Here are my golfers to consider and players to avoid for the Northern Trust Open.
Players to Consider:
Adam Scott -- Even though you'll see Scott's name on the trophy for his play in 2005, you won't find it on the official tour resume. The event was shortened by rain to 36 holes that year, and in order for a tournament to be official it must reach at least 54 holes. Scott's $864,000 check didn't bounce when to took it to the bank, so he won't complain.
Justin Rose -- Rose makes his debut on the PGA tour this weekend. If I believe anyone to be the next best golfer in the world, it's Rose. At 28 years old, he's coming into his 10th year as a pro in his prime. Although his stints on the PGA Tour are limited, Rose takes every event seriously. In the main events last year Rose finished T5 at The Masters, T10 at the U.S. Open, T12 at the British Open, T12 at the PGA Championship and T11 at the Tour Championship.
J. B. Holmes -- Holmes has taken advantage of playing with weak fields to accumulate some early season FedExCup points. With a more difficult field at the Northern Trust Open, Holmes will have to prove he's worthy of being at the top of the standings after one month of golf.
John Mallinger -- Before looking up the Putts Per Round statistics, I thought Mallinger was a great pick. After seeing that he's leading the PGA tour averaging 27.4 ppr, playing on a course that demands greatness from the putter -- I can see Mallinger climbing to the top of the leaderboard.
Mike Weir -- Weir won this winner event in '03 and '04 using a combination of distance and putting. He's been consistent all season and shot 69, 71, 69 to conclude his weekend at Pebble Beach and finish T14. I like Weir's capability to use both his putter and his driver and see him putting together a run for his third win.
Players to Avoid:
Zach Johnson -- Johnson's accuracy off the tee might be his saving grace this weekend, but if he fails to find the fairway -- he could fail to find the leaderboard. With a field packed with the who's who of golf, I'll avoid Johnson on the basis that it's hard to predict what he will do with his flat iron.
Hunter Mahan -- Mahan also drives the ball into the fairway at a very high percentage (9th, 75.7%), but he can't claim he's mastered the putter (184th, 31.5 ppr). After missing the cut in his last two events, I'll avoid Mahan until he begins heating up.
Brandt Snedeker -- In his last three tournaments, Snedeker has gone from 93rd to T9 to T58. His inconsistencies have me avoiding him until he puts together two solid finishes in a row.
Sergio Garcia -- Sergio Garcia is making his PGA Tour debut this weekend at the Riviera where he finished sixth last year. I'm avoiding Garcia because I don't trust his putting style or ability. His belly-putter style can break down and Riviera might exploit it.
Geoff Ogilvy -- Ogilvy was once considered a top 10 player in the world. He looked like a pro finishing in the top 10 seven times last year, but his start to 2008 isn't even top 100 worthy. Ogilvy has played a total of four rounds and hasn't shot under 70, missing the cut in both tournaments he entered.
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