Golf Matchups: Can Yang get it going in Phoenix?
by Charles Jay
There's a limit to good taste on the PGA Tour. In its ongoing effort to squeeze money out of the highest bidder (not that I don't advocate that approach), this week's stop carries the title of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. When I started to look into it a little more I was surprised to find that this is a tournament that is actually older than the Masters.
It was, in fact, started in 1932 and ran through 1935 as the Arizona Open, then was revived as the Phoenix Open through sheer will by Bob Goldwater, brother of former Senator Barry Goldwater, who died in 2006.
Though this is not a match play event, as last week's was, BetUS has head-to-head odds posted on who will finish higher. Let's look at some of these matchups, beginning with the guy who won the last major:
Y E YANG -135
PAUL GOYDOS +105
Yang, of course, beat out Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship last year, and he will head to Florida next week to defend his title at the Honda Classic. He lost out in the second round of the match play tournament last week to Ben Crane. Yang drives the ball well; his average length of over 288 yards ranks him 19th on the PGA Tour. However, accuracy has been a problem, as he ranks 102nd in that category.
Goydos responded to missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open to post back-to-back top five finishes at the Northern Trust Open and at Pebble Beach. He is not an especially long hitter, but at the same time he's ranked second on the Tour in driving accuracy in the early going and is fourth in birdies. he finished tied for 19th out here in 2001. EDGE: GOYDOS (+105)
STEVE MARINO -125
BRANDT SNEDEKER -105
Marino hasn't won yet on the PGA Tour, but he's been real solid thus far this season, posting a fifth-place tie at the Northern Trust Open, then a fourth-place standing at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. As you may have seen, last year at the British Open, he was tied for the lead after two rounds with Tom Watson. he may be ready for a breakthrough. Snedeker has "been there" a little more than Marino thus far in his career, with an outstanding 2008 season in which he tied for third at the Masters, then turned around and tied for ninth at the U.S. Open.
Lat year he took a dip, though, missing twelve cuts. Four finishes in the Top 21, including the Farmers Insurance Open, where he tied for the runner-up spot, indicate that he is getting his form back. He had a Top 10 finish in this event a couple of years ago. EDGE: SNEDEKER (-105)
CHARLES HOWELL III -120
RORY SABBATINI -110
A couple of top ten finishes bodes well for Howell, but at the Phoenix Open he has never gotten higher than the tie for 18th that he had in 2003. He is currently 16th on the tour in scoring average (69.9). He last won on tour at the 2007 Nissan Open, and has had only one top ten finish in a major. One thing you may be able to handicap about this former college player of the year is that he has started out strong in each of the last four seasons.
He fades later, but this could be within his window. Sabbatini, who won the Nissan Open the year before Howell, is one of many South Africans on tour. He drives the ball decently, and finished second at the SBS Championship in January. He was tied for 12th in Phoenix last year, and his best at Scottsdale was a tie for eighth in 2002. EDGE: HOWELL (-120).
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