Davis Love - worth a punt at 50/1.

Betting Box Tipping Guide

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	1pt e.w. Davis Love at 50/1 (Coral 1/4 1,2,3,4).	Twice a runner-up in this event and has strong record on courses with similar features.
	1pt e.w. Paul Casey at 50/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4).	Winner of HSBC Match Play and unbeaten at Ryder Cup. Also lives at nearby Scottsdale.
	1pt e.w. Aaron Baddeley at 80/1 (Bet Direct, Coral, Ladbrokes 1/4 1,2,3,4).	Another Scottsdale resident who scored 'home' win at FBR Open last month.
	1pt e.w. Chris DiMarco at 80/1 (Bet Direct, Ladbrokes 1/4 1,2,3,4).	Excellent Match Play record and strong record in the desert.

Missing the Ryder Cup certainly hurt Davis Love although, given what transpired at the K Club, the US Tour veteran was probably glad he never made the trip to Ireland.

Love gave a tantalising glimpse of what might of been when, one week on from the US team being named, he went out and won the Wyndham Championship at Forest Oaks - ending a streak of 76 winless starts.

And Love could well show the folly of leaving him out of the Ryder Cup side again this week when he lines up for the WGC-Accenture World Match Play in Arizona.

There's a brand new venue this year as the tournament moves from La Costa - where bad weather and poor crowds made it an unpopular venue - to the Gallery at Dove Mountain in Tucson.

This place will be a mystery to most but here's a few facts which may help us. 1) It's in the desert 2) It has fairly generous fairways 3) It has turtleback greens which repel rather than gather imprecise approach shots.

That latter characteristic has seen it likened to Pinehurst No.2 and Mirasol which have elevated greens and shaved run-off areas.

And those are two venues where Love has done well before. He was runner-up twice at Mirasol (once at the Sunset course, once at the Sunrise) in previous Honda Classics and in the two recent US Open championships held at Pinehurst No.2 he finished 6th (2005) and 12th (1999).

Ironically, Love was one of the few who enjoyed plenty of success at La Costa, reaching the final in both 2004 and 2006 and also the last four in 2000.

But if we view that as displaying his liking for Match Play rather than the course, there is much to admire about Love's chances.

In strokeplay events this year, Love has finished fourth at both the Mercedes and Pebble Beach and, not surprisingly, says he's happy with his game.

True, he has been an infrequent visitor to Arizona in recent years but he did tee it up in this year's FBR Open and closed with a 65.

He has plenty going for him this week so the 50/1 is more than enough to get us involved.

Our next tip is a player who has a fantastic recent record in Match Play - England's Paul Casey.

The Englishman won the HSBC Match Play crown at Wentworth in December and was then unbeaten in four matches in the Ryder Cup.

Another big bonus is that Dove Mountain is just a short ride from Casey's Scottsdale residence.

Casey told the Independent newspaper recently: "I didn't get on with the one they used to play it on, to be honest," - a fair point given that he suffered four successive first round exits at La Costa.

"So I am excited they moved it to Dove Mountain," said Casey. "It is a classic desert course, and although I am not saying it is easy, I am far more familiar with this type of golf."

Casey has checked out the venue on several occasions and, after a win in the desert in Abu Dhabi last month, looks ready to have a really good crack at this tournament.

Casey's ability to make birdies will stand him in good stead on a venue which should give up plenty and all in all he looks an attractive punt at 50/1.

Another birdie machine who lives locally is Aaron Baddeley.

The Aussie put his local knowledge to the best possible use when winning the FBR Open recently.

He explained later: "Here (in Arizona) I think the ball flies a little bit further than it does in California or Florida and just getting adjusted to that can be a little bit difficult if you don't live here. So it's like at home, I can play with my normal yardages, plus you've got all your family and friends supporting you, so it's pretty cool."

In the past, Baddeley has perhaps got sidetracked when playing at Scottsdale. But this year his wife dealt with all the invites and requests for passes, so "all I had to do was play golf" said her grateful husband.

However, he'd shown his liking for desert golf in the other Arizona tournament - the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. Baddeley was runner-up there in 2004 and sixth the following year.

True, he could face Tiger in the last eight but there's absolutely no guarantee that Woods will make it there so take Badds at 80/1.

By coincidence really, our three picks are all in different quarters of the draw so in a ludicrously optimistic attempt to select all four semi-finalists I'll have one last pick from the remaining bracket.

And the player who gets the final vote is Chris DiMarco.

Although, like all his colleagues, he struggled at the K Club, DiMarco has an excellent Match Play record.

He holed the winning putt in the 2005 Presidents Cup where he won four and a half points out of five and was also runner-up in this event two years ago.

Adding to that is a very clear liking for desert golf.

He won the FBR Open at Scottsdale in 2002, was second in 2004 and also finished runner-up in his last appearance in the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.

And the 'desert rat' reputation was enhanced even further when he made a rare jaunt onto the European Tour and won in Abu Dhabi last year (he also finished fourth there when defending last month).

DiMarco has Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els in his quarter but that helps us secure a decent price - 80/1.