Allenby - can challenge heavily again.

By Dave Tindall

Sky Bet's Odds Compare All Prices

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	1pt e.w. Robert Allenby at 50/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Continues to knock at the door and it should open soon. Third here in 2007.
	1pt e.w. Aaron Baddeley at 80/1 (Hills, Ladbrokes, Stan James 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Sixth and 15th on two past visits here and in decent nick. Does well on Bermuda.
	1pt e.w. Steve Stricker at 55/1 (VC Bet 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Could have won twice already this year and a fast-finishing sixth here last year.
	1pt e.w. Sean O'Hair at 66/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Played much better than usual on West Coast so can thrive again in Florida.
	2pts win Phil Mickelson at 18/1 (bet365, Sportingbet, Stan James 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Won last strokeplay event and near-miss here against Tiger in 2005.

Tiger Woods has a 50% strike-rate at Doral's Blue Monster course - scene of this week's WGC-CA Championship in Florida.

Or if you want to get even more pro-Tiger, you can upgrade that to three wins from the last four.

Those numbers will probably persuade diehard Woods backers that, with a run now under his belt, the 7/2 about Tiger is worth snapping up this week - especially when you consider his incredible strike-rate in WGC events.

However, I'm happy to fish around the bigger each-way prices rather than gamble on Tiger's rate of recovery and, in particular, I'm drawn to the Australian challenge.

In-form Geoff Ogilvy is the obvious name but as the defending champ and winner of the WGC-Accenture Match Play he's a pretty off-putting 14/1.

So it's to another Aussie - Robert Allenby - who I turn to first.

Those who backed him at around 20/1 last week would have been swearing at the TV screens when he took a six at the final hole to slip back into a four-way tie for fifth and turn what looked a promising payout into a measly return.

"Typical Allenby" would have been the refrain.

However, let's look at the positives.

Allenby has made 30 consecutive cuts on the US Tour - tied best alongside Woods - and in his last 10 strokeplay events worldwide he has a second, two thirds, a fifth, a seventh and four further top 25s.

In terms of ball-striking he's one of the best around right now and, historically, he plays well in Florida with five top fives in his last 17 starts in the Sunshine State.

At Doral, he's shot 67 or lower six times in his last five visits and was third in this championship two years ago.

It's well documented that he's playing with a heavy heart at the moment following the recent loss of his mother but he wouldn't be the first player to discover that he's able to find something extra in such circumstances.

Forget last week's skinny 20/1, this time he's a perfectly acceptable 50s and, as an each-way price, that's hard to beat.

The second Australian I like is Aaron Baddeley at 80/1.

The two-time Australian Open champ has posted two wins in the last three seasons on the US Tour and both came on courses with the same Bermuda greens he'll tackle here.

He grew up on such surfaces and, like plenty of his compatriots, is able to handle windy conditions too.

Two previous trips to Doral have produced a sixth on debut in 2007 and a 15th last year and so far in 2009 he's made every cut with a tied 12th in the European Tour's Qatar Masters and a tied 11th in the US Tour's Buick Invitational his best performances.

Badds has topped the putting stats in two of his US Tour starts in 2009 and it's that hot blade that elevates him from good player to sometimes excellent one.

"I'm really excited about this year. I feel like I'm very clear about the direction I want to go with my game," said Baddley at Torrey Pines and this looks a good opportunity to catch him at a very decent price - 80/1.

Steve Stricker has had two good opportunites to win this year.

At the Bob Hope, he blew a three-stroke lead going into the final round and had to settle for tied third. And at Riviera he looked to have reeled in Phil Mickelson before the left-hander rallied with two late birdies to leave Stricker just one shot short after an excellent closing 67.

So with two top threes in his last three strokeplay starts, it's a slight surprise to see him as big as 55s this week.

True, most of his Doral course form is shabby but last year he finished like a train to finish sixth and that could prove a real turning point.

Stricker's form in Florida is much improved in recent years (he was fifth in the Honda Classic in 2007 and also tied 14th in the PODS Championship last year) and this year he's hitting lots of greens in regulation (ranked 13th) and holing lots of putts (17th).

After some excellent play in 2009, there's no reason why he can't go well again so get stuck in to the 55s.

Sean O'Hair is always on my radar when the Tour switches from west coast to east.

In his last nine Florida starts, O'Hair can boast a win, a third, a fifth and three further top 15s.

The negative is that none of those have come at Doral where he's twice finished in midfield and last year withdrew at halfway.

However, O'Hair has spent the first part of the year performing way better than he normally does on the West Coast Swing.

Instead of the usual rash of poor finishes he's finished fourth at the Mercedes, 12th at the Sony, 25th in Phoenix, 10th at Pebble Beach and also made it to the last eight of the World Match Play.

So, the thinking is that if he can show vastly improved form in those events, he should be able to repeat the trick on Florida soil which usually favours him.

O'Hair is 66/1 to post his second Florida win and third US Tour victory and with his iron play strong (he's third in greens hit this year) expectations are high that he can feature prominently.

I've still got a couple of points to play with and have toyed with the idea of backing Davis Love, Rory McIlroy, Boo Weekley and Camilo Villegas.

However, my personal rule of backing Phil Mickelson at 16/1 or higher outside of a major is triggered again this week as he's on offer at 18s.

That system paid off when Lefty won at Riviera last month and it's worth reminding ourselves that, apart from some of the iffy stuff, he shot a 63 in round one and a 62 in round three.

Mickelson went mightily close to winning this event in 2005 before playing second fiddle to Tiger and, of course, he won the Players Championship in Florida a couple of years ago to allay the fears that the struggles to read the greens in this part of the world.

With Butch Harmon ironing out any lingering faults, Mickelson brings plenty to the table and the 18/1 may just be underestimating him a little.

Give the three-time major champ another whirl.