Bubba Watson has released a new video of his drive to the course in the General Lee, which he recently purchased.

Here are the television times for the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open

Thursday and Friday
GOLF - 4 pm

Saturday and Sunday
GOLF/CBS - 1/3 pm

This weeks’ PGA Tour stop, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, has what looks like a fun lineup. Webb Simpson is the favorite (and why not?) at 14/1. He’s followed by last week’s winner, Brandt Snedeker (whom I’m surprised is still in the lineup) at 20/1. Martin Laird and Nick Watney are in at 22/1. Then there’s a big pile at 25/1, including Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Bill Haas.

Given the egalitarian state of the Tour these days, practically anyone could win this event. The one I’d most like to see win is Phil, of course. But—even taking into account the fact that he has been (rightfully) distracted by family issues—his short game and putting are off. Phil has always been wild off the tee, but has made up for it with his crazy good wedge play and putting. Without those ...

If you’re looking for a feel-good story this week, how about JB Holmes. He’s a two-time winner (2006, 2008), who is coming off brain surgery for structural defects on the cerebellum called Chiari malformations. The initial surgery went well, but a month later doctors discovered he was allergic to an adhesive used in the titanium plate in his skull. He was airlifted from his home in Kentucky to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for another surgery. Holmes actually returned to the tour last week, where he missed the cut after opening with a 76. He recovered in the second round, though, with a 69.

Rickie Fowler may be the best bet overall, however. He was T13 last year, and in second alone in 2010.  He also shot a 62 on this course last year.

The complete odds for the Waste Management Phoenix Open are below, courtesy of Bovada, the world’s largest betting destination.

Phil didn’t have a good showing at this weekend’s Farmers Insurance Open, but it turns out he had more on his mind. Media reports say that his ten year old daughter Sophia was undergoing tests relating to a seizure she had experienced the previous week. Phil said “I just wasn’t able to focus.”

No kidding. How could he?

Sophia returned to school Friday and Phil improved with a 68.

Farmers Insurance Open

Thu, 1/26:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Fri, 1/27:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Sat, 1/28:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 1/29:
CBS 3p - 6:30p ET

The Abu Dhabi Championship, with Tiger’s first start of the season, is exclusively on the Golf Channel

Thurs - Sunday:
GOLF 4 am - 8 am ET

Bubba Watson is my new hero. He just dropped $110,000 on General Lee 1, the 1969 Dodge Charger seen in the opening credits of the original Dukes of Hazard. The show apparently went through 300 of the cars during its run, but this was the first. It’s now fully restored.

That show hit all the right spots for me at that time. Cars, girls and Waylon Jennings music. I’m a big country fan, and one of my favorite concert memories was seeing the Highwaymen (Waylon, Willie, Cash and Kristofferson) at the Cap Center in Maryland.

A few years ago, the US Defense Department planned an experiment that would have had large numbers of people betting on the likelihood of various geopolitical events. The DOD’s theory was that where individual “experts” might (likely will) miss something when analyzing a situation, the combined wisdom of crowds—in which each person has but a small chunk of information—could possibly create a better picture. The experiment was abandoned when members of Congress got wind of it and decided to grandstand about the DOD “betting” on terrorist events. Like many things, the members of Congress just didn’t get it.

What the DOD was proposing was a prediction market, which takes advantage of some of the principles of crowdsourcing. That’s all explained pretty well in a couple of books I’ve read on the topic: Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business and The Wisdom of Crowds

I relate this story by way of explaining why I post betting odds for various golf events, even though I am not a betting man. Indeed, I think that gambling is just a tax on stupidity. The system is set up so that you lose.

But that’s not to say that the numbers are not worthwhile. I like to look at the odds to see what the crowd seems to think about about various players’ chances of winning. Reading articles written by “pro golf experts” relies on just one person’s information. And no matter how informed that person is, there still are holes in the data. With the odds, I imagine a large group where some know a thing or two about the course, and others, about the players’ health, or their caddy relationship, while still others have considered equipment changes, weather, and so on. The combined knowledge (and their commitment to that information) then is reflected in the dollars the bettors put down on the game, and thus in the odds.

All that said, the bettors favorite for the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open are Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney, coming in at 14/1. They’re followed by Hunter Mahan, at 18/1, Brandt Snedeker at 22/1 and Ben Crane at 25/1. What all of this says to me is that its anyone’s game and no player is a particular favorite. Briny Baird and Billy Mayfair, on the other hand, at 175/1 are getting practically no action at all.

Over in Dubai, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy are the favorites at 13/2. Tiger is just a little behind, at 7/1. Considering that in his heyday, Tiger often was a 3/2 favorite (meaning a bet of two pays 3) or better, this doesn’t express a lot of confidence. Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are 12/1, while Sergio Garcie is 25/1.
Lee Westwood

The complete betting odds for the Farmers Insurance Open and Abu Dhabi Championship are below, courtesy of Bovada.