This week we head to Pacific Palisades in California for the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club.
This event dates back to 1926 when it was known as the Los Angeles Open until 1995 when it became the Nissan Open and more recently in 2008 it became the Northern Trust Open.
The Riviera course is a Par 71 and last  season was ranked the most difficult Par 71 from the eleven courses played apart from majors. It has also hosted the 1948 US Open, 1983 and 1995 PGA Championship and was also used for the horse riding parts of the modern pentathlon at the 1932 Olympics.

Famous members have included Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck and Walt Disney. It was also used to film the movie ‘The Caddy’ with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
Another piece of trivia is that Tiger Woods played his first ever PGA tour event here in 1992 on a sponsors exemption as an amateur. He last played here in 1992.
The course ranks as one of the most difficult to hit in regulation and as such this is a major stat to look at when assessing the chances of a potential winner. We also need to look for experienced players who have a win under their belt as first time winners very rarely appear here.
Due to the difficulty in hitting greens it is also important to hit a lot of fairways and keep the ball in play.

Looking at the field this week we have two dual winners in the field. Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples. Phil is coming off an excellent win at last weeks Pro Am at Pebble Beach and could be a great chance at going back to back. He is paying $11.00 this week.

Aaron Baddeley is the defending champion and looks in great touch after a very encouraging 4th in the Pro Am last week. Could he go back to back at $31.00???
History could be on his side as there have been 7 back to back winners of this event. They include players such as Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson and Corey Pavin.
Baddeley is not the only Aussie with a chance this week. Infact there are eleven Aussies teeing it up this year including Jason Day and Adam Scott who both make their PGA debut for 2012. A quick look at last years event shows that 5 Aussies finished in the Top 25. And 3 Aussies have won this event in the last eleven years.
Taking all this into account and looking at all the stats we have come up with three players who are sure to give a good account of themselves this week.

JOHN SENDEN
He is probably not the Aussie that everyone is looking at this week due to Baddeley being the defending champion, however John could this week be known as the ‘stats man’. He has had two starts this season for a T23rd in the Sony and a T6th at the Humana. He was T21st here last year. If we look at his stats this season he stands out from everyone. 1st in driving accuracy, 1st in GIR’s, 1st in Birdie average, 1st in Ball Striking, 1st in Scoring average, 2nd in putts from 15-25 foot, 16th in driving distance. Those are amazing numbers! He looks an excellent each way chance. He also looks good value to be  the highest placed Australian.

Odds: $67.00 at Sportsbet Australia

Top Aussie Odds: $10.00 at Sportsbet Australia

KEVIN NA
He has had 5 starts this season which have included a T12th in Hyudai, T30th Humana and his last two events which were both T5th’s in Phoenix Open and Pro Am. He has had a great start to the year. He did the same thing last season with T5th Humana and T20th Sony before a 3rd place finish here. And again in 2010 when he was T8th Bob Hope before 10th here again and then in 2009 he started with T5th Sony and 3rd FBR before a T25th here. Add to this his stats of 15th Scrambling, 12th Par 4 performance and 20th driving accuracy. Kevin seems to be a great season starter so at the odds he has to be considered a great chance.

Odds: $41.00

Brendon De Jonge
Brendon was the 2008 Nationwide Player of the year and has had a good start to the season with a T10th Sony, T12th Humana, T27th Farmers and a Cut in the Phoenix. He was T29th here last year and T10th in 2010. He ranks 10th in Ball Striking, 13th in Birdies, 11th in scoring, 7th in Par 4 performance and 17th in GIR. All this should see him play well this week at big odds.

Odds: $81.00

LAST WEEK
Our 3 selections all played well last week with Hunter Mahan T15th, Jimmy Walker T9th and John Huh T35th.

NEXT WEEK
We head over the boarder into Mexico for the Mayakoba Golf Classic.