The glorified Riviera Country Club will host the 2007 Nissan Open this year. This is the 81st time the Nissan Open has been played and even without Tiger Woods in the lineup it will still be the best course of the year so far. The FBR Open drew more than 500,000 fans two weeks ago without Woods playing in his tournament. Pebble Beach was packed last week without Woods, as Phil Mickelson got his first win in as many weeks. The 2007 Nissan Open got some good news this week when Phil Mickelson announced that he will be playing the event for the first time since 2001.
Would Tiger Woods draw more attention to the 2007 Nissan Open? Of course he would, but for true golf fans, it really doesn’t matter. These guys on the PGA Tour are amazing and they are so much better than the players on other tours. So to say that you are not going to watch this tournament because Tiger is not playing would be absurd. This course has 8 of the top 9 players in the world along with 15 of the top 20 as well. These numbers are high because the Accenture Match Play Tournament is taking place next weekend and players are preparing. Even Ernie Else is playing in the United States for the first time this season. He, along with Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia are the three crowd favorites we’ll be sure to see.
When you look at the 2007 Nissan Open Predictions, you might want to know a bit about the past history in the tournament and the recent success of certain players. Since Phil Mickelson won last week’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he opened as a 17/2 favorite to win. Ernie Els is right behind him at 1/10 because he has been a perennial contender in the US for years. Adam Scott is next in line as the 11/1 favorite to win the Nissan Open this year. He won the 2005 Nissan Open and you’d get good value on this guy with a bet. He is now outmatched and we think he will surprise some people this year by getting multiple wins. He also took second place at the 2006 Nissan Open, falling a shot short. Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen are the next three in line, respectively. Any one of these guys can win this prestigious tournament.
When making your 2007 Nissan Open predictions, you’ll want to look at the underdogs because these guys will give you your best value. A good place to start in this tournament would be Mike Weir. He won this event in consecutive years from 2003 to 2004 and his accuracy fits in this field full of natural hazards everywhere. In 2003, he overcame a 7-shot deficit to beat Charles Howell III after birdieing the second playoff hole. He is confident and has the tools he needs to get back on top in 2007. Somehow Rory Sabbatini, the 2006 Nissan Open champion, opens at 70/1 odds to win the tournament. He outplayed Adam Scott by one shot after blowing the lead midway through the tournament only to win it back on the closing holes. These two guys are great value for money as he will collect a lot of chips if either of these two guys wins the thing. We are bringing Adam Scott here after having the most success at the Nissan Open in recent years and we think the mentality of him is that of a champion.
