In spite of his early exits in the last few years, Tiger Woods is the heavy favorite this year to win the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. Looking at his bracket, though, that is not a bad pick at 9/1. In fact, I’m convinced that his biggest challenge will be from Charles Howell early on.
Rory is for me a curious pick for second at 12/1. True, he made it to the finals last year, but he has not done well this year in limited action. Charl Schwartzel is third for the bettors at 16/1, but he’s in the same loaded Jones Division as McIlroy.
The names in the Jones division are big: McIlroy, Pettersson, McDowell, Harrington, B. Watson, Furyk, Moore, Schwartzel, Johnson and Day.
I frankly wouldn’t be surprised to see Zach Johnson come out of this division. The bettors would be, though. Zach Johnson is 100/1.
Luke Donald is 16/1, and it looks to me as though his bracket could be favorable. He should get past Marcel Siem, and then face the winner of Piercy-Lawrie. Following that, the biggest threat he faces is Nick Watney. Hel’ll run into trouble if he gets that far, though, because Mr. Match Play, Ian Poulter is coming from the bottom of the bracket.
Poulter is just behind Donald at 20/1.
Last year’s winner, Hunter Mahan joins Justin Rose and Louis Oosthuizen at 22/1. Any of these three could notch a win.
Still, my thought is that a dark horse is likely to win this event. There is so much talent from top to bottom, and match play is really unpredictable.
Read the rest of the betting odds for the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship below, courtesy of Bovada.LV
| Player | Odds To Win |
|---|---|
| Tiger Woods | 9/1 |
| Rory McIlroy | 12/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 16/1 |
| Luke Donald | 16/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 20/1 |
| Hunter Mahan | 22/1 |
| Justin Rose | 22/1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 22/1 |
| Adam Scott | 25/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 25/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 28/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 28/1 |
| Lee Westwood | 30/1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 30/1 |
| Dustin Johnson | 33/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 33/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 35/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 35/1 |
| Nick Watney | 35/1 |
| Nicolas Colsaerts | 50/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 55/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 60/1 |
| Jason Day | 60/1 |
| Bill Haas | 66/1 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 66/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 66/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 66/1 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 66/1 |
| Robert Garrigus | 70/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 70/1 |
| Scott Piercy | 75/1 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 80/1 |
| Chris Wood | 80/1 |
| Ernie Els | 80/1 |
| Jamie Donaldson | 80/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 80/1 |
| Matteo Manassero | 80/1 |
| Padraig Harrington | 80/1 |
| Peter Hanson | 80/1 |
| Richard Sterne | 80/1 |
| Branden Grace | 100/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 100/1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 100/1 |
| George Coetzee | 100/1 |
| Paul Lawrie | 100/1 |
| Tim Clark | 100/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 100/1 |
| Alexander Noren | 125/1 |
| Carl Pettersson | 125/1 |
| John Senden | 125/1 |
| Marcel Siem | 125/1 |
| Russell Henley | 125/1 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 125/1 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 125/1 |
| David Lynn | 150/1 |
| David Toms | 150/1 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 150/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 150/1 |
| Marcus Fraser | 150/1 |
| Rafael Cabrera -Bello | 150/1 |
| Richie Ramsay | 150/1 |
| Stephen Gallacher | 150/1 |
| Hiroyuki Fujita | 200/1 |
| Shane Lowry | 200/1 |
I agree in that Luke Donald is terrific value at 16/1. He’s won this before and started 2013 with a solid effort last week.
He has a favourable draw and could easily get through to at least the semi-finals untroubled.