PGA Odds – Mickelson And Stricker Head Up Favorites List For Northern Trust Open

Those who keep a close eye on the PGA odds know that there is a list of "usual suspects" to win each PGA event, and especially this week, it should be no surprise that Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker head up the list of favorites to win the Northern Trust Open. The event begins on Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA. Mickelson is the favorite in the PGA odds, at +750, while Stricker is priced at +1000. You can catch the action of the first two rounds on Golf Channel, while weekend rounds can be seen on CBS.

PGA Odds
Northern Trust Open
February 17-20
Riviera Country Club
Pacific Palisades, CA
Purse:  $6.5 million

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TV Schedule
(All times Eastern)
Thursday & Friday: Golf Channel – 3-6 PM
Saturday & Sunday:  CBS – 3-6 PM

Mac Donald Smith and Lloyd Mangrum have registered the most wins in this tournament, with four apiece. Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer won it three times each. Phil Mickelson is one of eleven players who have won it twice, and one of only seven who have won it in consecutive years. This year, Steve Stricker will try to join that group.

PGA Odds
To Win Northern Trust Open

Phil Mickelson            +750
Steve Stricker              +1000
Matt Kuchar                +1800
Dustin Johnson           +2000
Hunter Mahan             +2000
Luke Donald               +2000
Paul Casey     +2000
J.B. Holmes                 +2000
Rickie Fowler              +2500
Ernie Els          +3000
Robert Karlsson          +3000
Retief Goosen             +3000
Jim Furyk        +3000

Mickelson (+750 in the PGA odds) was tied for 45th last year, but it’s actually very impressive how well he has done in this tournament.  If he hadn’t lost to Charles Howell III in a playoff in 2007, he would have won it three years in a row. As it was, he rode home in 2008, by two strokes over Jeff Quinney, and in 2009, a she beat out Steve Stricker by a stroke. That was the first of three titles in ’09 for him, and then he won the Masters in 2010, which was his last trip to the winner’s circle.

Mickelson was the runner-up in this year’s Farmers Insurance Open and was competitive in last week’s Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, where he was tied for ninth. Maybe that’s a disappointment for him, as he has experienced great success on the Monterey Peninsula, but it does represent some progress. And those who like to bet the PGA odds obviously have a great deal of respect for him.

Stricker, who has won five times within the last two years, and is second list of favorites in this event at +1000 in the PGA odds, won last year at Riviera by two strokes over Luke Donald.  You can’t complain a whole lot about the way he has started things out this year, with a fourth-place tie at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, then ninth place at the Sony Open. The last three years in Los Angeles, he’s been eleventh, second and first. he also hasn’t finished outside the Top 25 in any PGA Tour event since last year’s British Open. I think you can count on him being somewhere on that leaderboard. But will he cash a ticket for those betting the PGA odds?

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