Harrington - can win again.
PADRAIG CAN REPEAT IN JAPAN
By Dave Tindall
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Defending champion Padraig Harrington should prove very hard to beat in this week's Dunlop Phoenix in Japan.
And, at 6/1, we will include him as a win bet in our staking plan.
But more of the Open champ later.
Let's instead have a look at the home players who have it in them to beat off the traditional overseas challenge.
The hot player in Japan right now, with three wins in his last 11 events, is Toru Taniguchi.
This year he's top of the Money List, first in Scoring Average and also ranked the Japanese Tour's best putter.
Last week he almost added another win in the Taiheiyo Masters but was pipped by Brendan Jones on the final hole.
He's always played consistently well at this week's venue - the 6,907-yard par 70 Phoenix Country Club - and past results include a sixth last year, an eighth in 2004 and a third in 2000.
The 14-time Tour winner is at the top of his game and is a solid each-way bet at 16/1.
Shingo Katayama (winner in 2000) and Hideto Tanihara (a two-time winner in Japan this year) are two home-based Japanese who should go well but it's returning hero Shigeki Maruyama who interests us most.
Maruyama heads home on a high after overcoming a difficult eighth successive season in America by finishing second in the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro - a result which saw him save his US Tour card.
In interview, Maruyama has suggested that his problems are due partly to golf courses "getting longer and longer" but his lack of length isn't a problem at the shortish Phoenix Country Club.
Indeed, despite not playing here for a long time, it's a course where he's had plenty of past success.
In three Dunlop appearances from 1997 to 1999 he finished sixth, fourth and third and in the latter he threatened to become the first player to break 60 on the Japanese Tour but had to settle for a 61 after only parring the easy par five 18th.
He returned home to play the Suntory Open in September, finishing 13th, and that came during a run of three missed cuts in four events so it was a decent effort and should probably prove beneficial this week in terms of handling the hype and expectation.
As well as his second place last time out, he was also tied 11th in the Texas Open last month so Maruyama has the form to make it a winning return. Take the 20/1.
There's no getting away from the fact that eight of the last 10 champions here have been overseas raiders and a look at past records also shows that repeat winners are commonplace.
Tiger won here in 2004 and 2005, Thomas Bjorn triumphed in 1999 and 2003, Jumbo Ozaki reeled off a hat-trick of wins between 1993 and 1995, Larry Mize won back-to back in 1989 and 1990 while 17 years separated Tom Watson's two wins in 1980 and 1997.
So Harrington, who denied Woods a third straight win last year, must have an excellent chance of defending his title.
The Dubliner was fifth in Shanghai last week and that followed on from a fourth place in the Volvo Masters.
There is no Woods to beat this week and an in-form Harrington has a great chance of adding another trophy to his memorable 2007 season.
American Brandt Snedeker could be an interesting outsider at 33/1 but hasn't had a run out of late so we'll end with a win bet on Henrik Stenson.
The Swede has an exellent record in the Far East - he won the 2006 Asian Open, had third places in China and Malaysia in 2005 and was ninth in the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai last week.
There's every chance he can translate that form to the Japan Tour and he's dropped a couple of hints over the last few months that he's ready to win again.
Stenson won three times in 2006 and has two in 2007 so he knows how to finish the job off when in contention. Back him at 18/1.
Preview posted at 0930GMT on 13/11/2007.
