PGA Odds: Bubba Watson is the favorite to win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which begins on Friday and concludes on Monday. Watson is listed with odds of 8-1 while Jason Day is second with odds of 9-1. This event in Maui is a winner’s only event, so 38 players are eligible who won on the PGA Tour last year. Four of those players, including top-ranked Rory McIlroy will not be making the trip to Maui. Let’s look at the tournament and PGA predictions.
Bubba Watson
The Master champion had a very good 2014 season that saw him not only win the Masters but the Northern Trust Open and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions event. Bubba has won seven times since joining the PGA Tour in 2006. This will be his fourth career start at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. His best finish was a tie for fourth two years ago.
Tournament Notes
The 34 players in the field will definitely be shooting for a win but history says players are better off not winning this event. In fact, the winner of this tournament has not had another win in the same season since 2007. Last year Zach Johnson won this tournament and didn’t win again during the year. A number of big name players are not in this event including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson who didn’t win a tournament on the PGA Tour last season. Also missing are winners, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer who are skipping this event.
This year’s field includes Watson, Jason Day, FedEx Cup champ Billy Horschel, and U.S. Ryder Cup players Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Jimmy Walker. There is no cut in this event so all 34 players will be playing all four rounds. No first time player has won this event since Daniel Chopra in 2008 so you may want to eliminate the 12 players who are playing at Kapalua for the first time.
PGA Predictions
I will try to hit with one of the longshots this week as I don’t see much value in taking Watson, Day or Kuchar at single-digit odds. I will take a shot with Ryan Moore at odds of 20-1. He has two top ten finishes in three starts in this event. I also will go with Billy Horshel at PGA odds of 20-1. He is the reigning FedExCup champion and last year he was the lowest of any players in the final two rounds. I will also go with Patrick Reed at odds of 22-1.
