2012 Australian Open: The favourites

We take a critical look at the five golfers the bookies have installed as the favourites to win the 2012 Emirates Australian Open this week.
 
The best field to grace Australian fairways in 2012 arrives at The Lakes in Sydney with Adam Scott teeing up as the clear favourite to win his second Australian Open title. He emphatically held off Ian Poulter to win the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath a few weeks ago, and will be very difficult to beat this week.

But the field has much greater depth than at Kingston Heath and contains a few names that can beat Scott if he fails to fire. Let’s take a look at five golfers who the bookies think can win this week.

Adam Scott ($5)
We all know Scott’s had a fantastic year and like every tournament he seems to play of late, he only needs to putt ‘ok’ to secure his second Australian Open. Get out and watch him for his ball striking, If world rankings were based on ball striking alone, Adam Scott would be number one with daylight second.

Justin Rose ($7)
If there’s one bloke who can win the tournament with his putter, it is Justin Rose. His amazing ‘miss’ at the ultimate European event a few weeks ago is the perfect example of what Rose is capable of with the short stick. Rose is a fighter and will turn up to win. If he doesn’t we can be sure he will fight his way all the way through to Sunday afternoon.

John Senden ($13)
Senden was the pick of the Australian golfers behind Scott in 2012 and was in contention to win on Sunday at several tournaments. The lack of a victory is a potential issue though and Senden has not recorded a victory since the 2006 Australian Open where he won at Royal Sydney. A likely top-10 result, but a victory would be breaking the drought to say the least.

Geoff Ogilvy ($15)
Ogilvy’s fourth place favouritism is a little generous. The 2010 Australian Open champion has had a rough 2012 with just the one Top-10 finish in his 20 starts. The lone top-10 was at The Open Championship where Ogilvy looked to have turned the corner but in truth, his form since has been patchy.

Greg Chalmers ($15)
The defending champ is starting to find form and has had a good finish to his year. Chalmers is the one bloke in this list who is perhaps under priced as he knows how to win at The Lakes.

One thought on “2012 Australian Open: The favourites

  • Hard to disagree with both Adam Scott and Justin Rose being favourites.

    Both guys have had fantastic years and should be the men to beat.

    For Adam is a case of if he holes the putts he’ll be very hard to beat. Justin’s all round game is strong so I would expect him to be fighting out the finish as well.

    Reply

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