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Isn’t it funny how, sometimes, you develop an affinity with a venue or an event without really knowing why. Take this week’s WGC – CA Championship in Doral, Florida. The scenery in Miami is pleasant enough and the tournament has always attracted the world’s best players since its inception in 1999. But I can’t for the life of me think why I look forward to it so much every year! Maybe I once backed the winner at big odds. If I did, a repeat would be very welcome this week as I try to top up my punting fund for Cheltenham. I’m going to throw a few names at you now because all of the following are high on my shortlist on the Blue Monster course this week. Phil Mickelson (a general 9-1) is the defending champion and a regular top 10 finisher at the Doral Resort. He will play alongside Rory McIlroy (a general 25-1) in the opening two rounds and will make his presence felt again, The Ulsterman is the same price at Englishman Ian Poulter, winner of the WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona last month and now ranked fifth in the world, just behind Lee Westwood (also 25-1 with sportingbet and extrabet) this week and just ahead of another Englishman Paul Casey (18-1 with bet365 and extrabet). Australian Geoff Ogilvy, already a winner on the US Tour this year and the champion here in 2008, is another 25-1 chance that makes plenty of appeal and one also has to respect Jim Furyk, also a general 25-1 shot. Furyk, third here 12 months ago tied for second behind Ogilvy in 2008 and clearly feels at home on the course. The 39-year-old has only contested three tournaments so far this year but has made the top 25 in two of those and can be expected to up his game from now on. I’ll be making him my main wager but will also be having a few quid on Kenny Perry (widely availabe at 66-1) who’s another that goes well in Miami, and last week’s Honda Classic winner Camillo Villegas. The young Colombian, a general 18-1 chance, is the pin-up of the US Tour but is now beginning to show he’s a pretty hot player as well and he was only just beaten by Tiger Woods when a rookie here in 2006. A fourth tournament success can’t be far away.

I must admit, I’m still basking a little in the glory of picking out Jenson Button and Brawn GP for success in last year’s Formula One Championship. Alas, I can’t promise you 9-1 and 8-1 winners in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ title races this season but I still think there’s a bit of value to be had in the ante-post markets ahead of this week’s opening GP in Bahrain. For once, there’s been plenty to capture the imagination during the close season, not least Michael Schumacher’s return to the cockpit. The German rightly demands iconic status having won more Grand Prix and F1 World Championships than any other driver in history. One does have to question, however, how much hunger he still has after three years spent testing motorbikes and acting as an advisior for Ferrari. Considering his close relationship with the Italian giants it is also strange that he’s making his comeback with Mercedes. The fact that the innovative Ross Brawn is now chief designer at Mercedes will have heavily influenced Schumacher’s decision to return but I fear the physical strain of a long GP season may be too much for the 41-year-old and would willingly lay boylesports, extrabet and sportingbet’s 13-2 about him making a fairytale comeback to the Drivers’ Championship. Then, of course, there’s the battle of the Britons at McLaren. If Lewis Hamilton is feeling any signs of insecurity about having the current world champion join him at Woking, he certainly isn’t showing it. For the second year in a row, McLaren will have the number one driver in their ranks but, no matter how much practice he’s undergone, it’s going to take a few hours race time for Jenson Button to get the feel of his new car and that’s where Hamilton may hold the edge over his compatriot. The 2008 champion finished last season with a flourish and can carry that momentum forward to this campaign so bwin’s 9-2 is sure to attract support as oppose to Button’s widely available 14-1 quote for back-to-back titles. As always, of course, Ferrari will be competitive. Fernando Alonso is the ante-post favourite (a best 11-4) to bring home the title in his first season in the famous red car but it remains to be seen how the confidence of Felipe Massa (9-1 with bet365, skybet and sportingbet) has been affected by his horrific crash last year and Ferrari are worth opposing in the Constructors’ Championship (2-1 with Paddy Power and Ladbrokes) on that score. How about a punt on Red Bull in that market? There have been early signs this year that Renault have finally developed an engine to match Ferrari and McLaren and new regulations, which have effectively slowed down the cars, may well play into their hands this season. Australian Mark Webber (20-1 on betfair) broke his duck in F1 in Germany last year and is sure to make his presence felt again this time around but their number one driver looks to be rising star Sebastian Vettel, who pushed Button all the way last year and must surely go close again in 2010 with a stronger start. My money will be on the young German at 5-1 with boylesports. His team are priced at 10-3 with the same firm to win the Constructors’ Championship.

Let’s be honest, nobody is going to get rich backing England to win their three-match one-day series in Bangladesh at a best 1-4 with betfred so we are going to have to examine alternative options to keep the wolves from the door this week. Backing Graeme Swann to take most wickets is certainly viable. Swann (11-4 with Victor Chandler) has given every indication he will thrive on the Bangladesh wickets and, following a tremendous Ashes series and another solid showing in South Africa, is showing no sign of letting his standards drop. He again shone in last week’s two T20 games against Pakistan in Dubai and in England’s warm-up match against a Bangladeshi Board XI and is a near-certainty to start all three one-day games and be given his full quota of overs with the rest of England’s attack having a fragile look about it at present. Stuart Broad, 11-4 with Stan James and Ladbrokes, is probably the only other of England’s bowlers likely to feature in every match but the youngster can still blow a little hot and cold and looks a risky proposition at that price to me. James Tredwell, England’s second spinner, can be backed at a general 6-1 while Yorkshire team-mates Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad are a best 11-2 (bet365 and extrabet) and 25-1 (skybet) respectively to take most Bangladesh wickets. You can almost certainly guarantee yourself a profit by scouring the correct score markets as well. Let’s not forget, England have played and beaten Bangladesh eight times in the 50-over format of the game and most of those victories were by wide margins. This may be a bit of an experimental squad being led by Alastair Cook but it’s still one that contains proven one-day and Test performers in the shape of Swann, Broad, Cook, Collingwood, Pietersen and Prior and they will have no excuses if failing. Given that, Victor Chandler’s 5-4 for a 3-0 England whitewash shouldn’t be missed, though you can still employ a safety net in the shape of totesport’s 11-5 for a 2-1 scoreline should the England selectors decide to give some fringe players an outing or a touch of complacency creeps in. Either result would still turn you a profit. Kevin Pietersen, incidentally, heads the top England batsmen market at a general 3-1 but you can get 5-1 with skybet against him being upstaged by England’s new ‘South African’ scoring sensation Craig Kieswetter. 

France are 13-8 favourites with Blue Square, Stan James and 888sport to win rugby union’s Six Nations, which gets under way at the weekend, and as short as 11-8 in places. Are they having a laugh? Seriously, how could anyone put money on Les Bleus while the enigmatic Marc Lievremont remains in charge? Prone to unfathomable errors of judgement where team matters are concerned and liable to change a winning formula on a whim, half the time not even the French themselves seem to know what to expect from their team and that would be amajor worry for anyone thinking of following the market. Despite their clubs dominating in the Heineken Cup this season, they are just too unpredictable to back in my eyes and it’s no coincidence that they haven’t won the Six Nations title for six years. So with Italy (250-1 with most bookmakers) again set for their annual role as whipping boys – who are we putting up? Well, in all honesty, there can only be one answer. Ireland, I believe, are a class apart from the other northern hemisphere countries at the moment, a fact reflected in the autumn internationals against the big teams from south of the equator. A victory over South Africa and a pulsating draw against the Wallabies was followed up by a demolition job on Fiji, results which put the efforts of their Six Nations rivals in the shade. Brian O’Driscoll is still the best in his position in the world, and Rob Kearney can also rightly call himself world-class nowadays as well. Add to that, a powerful pack and the experience of last year’s Grand Slam and you should have a winning formula. I wouldn’t have marked up the Irish anywhere near the widely avaiable 5-2 and, though they have to go to Paris and Twickenham this season, another Irish Grand Slam (generally 6-1) is by no means out of the question. Extrabet have also priced up straight forecast odds this year and I might be interested in the Ireland-Scotland combo at 40-1. The Scots are a bit like the French in that you never know what you are going to get but they may have made a shrewd move in appointing Andy Robinson as coach and won’t be easy to beat if the autumn internationals are a good guide. A remarkable victory over Australia showed what the Scots can do when they stick to their game plan and they are more than capable of springing a couple of surprises this term. England’s dismal showing in last year’s champiosnhip and an injury-hit autumn doesn’t inspire confidence that they’ll be in the shake-up so extrabet and totesport’s 5-1 looks short but what of Wales? Winners of the Grand Slam in 2008 but disappointing in the main last season, they looked a dispirited bunch on their last outing at the Millenium Stadium and would probably have to win at Twickenham on the opening day if they are to get themselves back on track. I think that’s unlikely and I’m not remotely interested in Paddy Power and Ladbrokes‘ quote of 5-1 against the Welsh winning the Six Nations – that’s reserved for the men in green!

Here we go again – will 2010 prove to be another year waiting for Andy Murray to finally come of age and land a Grand Slam, or will he prove all of his doubters wrong? I’m going to stick my neck out and say it will the latter because, put quite simply, Murray is simply too good not to make the breakthrough sooner rather than later.  The 22-year-old Scot shows no sign of being under pressure to end a frustrating run of near-misses in the tournaments that really that matter and his patience could well be rewarded in the Australian Open at Melbourne over the next couple of weeks. Hardcourt is undoubtedly Murray’s favoured sphere (five of his six tournament wins on the ATP Tour last year were on the surface) and he looked in pretty good nick in last week’s Hopman Cup, despite a surprise singles defeat in the final to Tommy Robredo. Some might argue that dropping to fifth in the world rankings has done no favours to Murray in Melbourne. Holder Rafael Nadal is now a possible quarter-final opponent with US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro seeded to await the winner of that one in the last four. However, there are big questions marks against those two at present. Del Potro, a general 6-1 chance, pulled out of last week’s AAMI Classic with a wrist injury and has been nursing a sore knee for the past few weeks, while reigning champion Nadal hasn’t won an ATP title for more than eight months. The Spaniard (4-1 with totesport), despite holding a 7-2 career verdict over Murray, clearly doesn’t get around the court as quickly as he did before last year’s serious injury and, though still having all the shots in his arsenal, may be vulnerable against Murray’s mobility. Of course, even if he reaches the final, the Scot (13-2 with betfred, Victor Chandler and Paddy Power) will still have to beat either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic. Federer (3-1 with boylesports and extrabet) is bidding for an amazing 16th Grand Slam, having bounced back from defeat in an epic final against Nadal in Melbourne 12 months ago to win at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He also lost out to Djokovic here in 2008, however, and maybe this tournament comes a little too early in the season for him nowadays. Indeed, I believe Djokovic may be the one to emerge from the top half of the draw. He’s been in cracking shape on the ATP Tour over the last few months, winning in Beijing, Basel and Paris at the latter end of 2009, and betfair’s 8-1 is a cracking bet considering he’ll make the semi-finals at least on all known form. Backing the Serbian and the Scot at either end of the draw seems a sensible policy to me with doubts over their three main rivals.

Hawaii, land of volcanoes and grass skirts, home to the US Pacific Fleet, the world’s top surfers, Magnum PI and Steve McGarrett (if you’re not old enough to remember Hawaii Five-O, ask Mum or Dad). The islands are also home to the first two tournaments on the US PGA Tour and, after the SBS Championship, it’s the turn of the Sony Open at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu this week. There’s a theory that a strong showing in the first can lead to a successful conclusion in the second and that has certainly been the case in the last two years, KJ Choi and Zach Johnson both building on solid performaces in Kapalua to emerge triumphant on Oahu. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, has followed a similar path this time around and it’s no surprise he is prominent in the betting to reprise his 2009 success. Boylesports and extrabet quoting the at 20-1. But Brian Gay, fifth last year, should have conditions to suit again and Stan James (40-1) look to have seriously underestimated his chances. This course, sandwiched between the giant Koko Crater and the Pacific Ocean, hugely favours those with a high percentage strike rate from fairway to green and Gay is among the best of that breed, as wins in the Verizon Heritage and Stanford St Jude Championship last year testify. He’s come on in leaps and bounds recently and, at those kind of odds, punters can afford an each-way bet and still have a win saver on the classy Steve Stricker, who heads the market at a general 12-1. Stricker was fourth here in both 2007 and 2008 and the world number three traditionally comes to hand early in the season. With no Tiger Woods to worry about for the foreseeable future, the man from Wisconsin should be challenging for the Majors this season and is worth keeping on the right side of.

Last year’s Masters at Wembley Arena produced one of the best finishes of recent times on snooker’s Grand Prix circuit, with Ronnie O’Sullivan recovering from a 7-5 deficit in the final to edge out Mark Selby (a general 10-1 this time) 10-8. No surprise, then, that ‘The Rocket‘ is a general 11-4 market leader to triumph again this time around. This is undoubtedly O’Sullivan’s favourite tournament and he’ll be bringing added colour to events this week with a new purple cue supplied by sponsors Premier Inn. But though he’ll bidding for a fifth success at Wembley, it’s probably fair to say the Essex cueman isn’t exactly in the form of his life at present. He went out of the Championship League last week and lost out in the UK Championship semi-finals before Christmas, though admittedly that was only by one frame to world champion John Higgins. He also faces a tricky first-round encounter with the ever-improving Neil Robertson (14-1 with totesport). Higgins, a general 11-2 chance, is the top seed in the bottom half of the draw in the Pokerstars.com Masters but that is arguably the toughest section and a potential quarter-final with Ding Junhui may well prove to be the tournament’s pivotal clash. Ding surpassed Thailand’s James Wattana in becoming the most successful Asian player in snooker history when he landed a second UK Championship at Telford recently, capping a renaissance that seemed most unlikely 18 months earlier when he was on the brink of dropping out of the world’s top 16. However, time spent back home in China and a new fitness regime has clearly benefited Ding, who has also reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters this season as well as the final of the Grand Prix in Glasgow. Extrabet’s 11-1 will look very big if he manages to topple Higgins in the last eight. This week’s Masters is also significant in that it sees the return to top-flight snooker of veteran Jimmy White. ‘The Whirlwind‘ is only a peripheral figure on the circuit nowadays but has been handed a wild-card entry at Wembley and will take on Mark King (a general 125-1) in a preliminary round play-off for the right to meet Stephen Maguire (10-1 with Coral) in the last 16. The fact that extrabet are offering odds of 250-1 against one of the sport’s iconic figures shows just how far White’s stock has fallen since his heyday and my money will be on Ding Junhui.

For someone renowned as one of the world’s best drivers, it’s hardly surprising that Tiger Woods‘ argument with a tree and a fire hydrant outside of his Florida home has captured the imagination of the world’s media. Especially as speculation seems to be mounting that his early hours collision may not be all it seems. Let’s be honest, despite golf being a big part of the family’s life, it was a bit of a coincidence that the first thing that came to hand for wife Elin when she was trying to break Tiger out of his damaged auto was a golf club. The next question that comes to mind is why break a rear window to fashion an escape – no wonder Woods couldn’t steer properly if he wasn’t sat in the front seat! The theory, of course, is that Tiger’s facial injuries weren’t caused by his crash, more by an irate Mrs Woods who apparently isn’t too pleased about an alleged romance between her husband and New York night club hostess Rachel Uchitel. The couple’s reluctance to speak to police has further fuelled the fire of gossip columnists, which must be very disconcerting for the Woods family who value their seclusion much more than most celebrities (they even holiday on a yacht called ‘Privacy’ for goodness sake). So, then, it wasn’t really a shock when Woods opted to withdraw from his own event, the Chevron World Challenge, in Thousand Oaks in California this week, announcing at the same time that he wouldn’t be resuming his career until 2010. World ranking points are at stake at the Sherwood Country Club, however, so this is no end-of-season shindig and new European number one Lee Westwood has been installed as favourite, with Paddy Power, Victor Chandler and extrabet all offering the Englishman at 13-2. Anthony Kim knows this course like the back of his hand and could be interesting at a general 11-1, but Padraig Harrington looked to be running into form in Dubai last time and Coral’s 8-1 could be the call.

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Beyonce, Simple Minds, ZZ Top and former ‘wild child’ Lindsay Lohan. All are in town ahead of this week’s Singapore Grand Prix as the Formula One World Championship reaches the Far East. Lohan is probably best known for her role as the teenage driver of ‘Herbie’, the VW Beetle with attitude, but even the souped-up Disney car would struggle to break the current stranglehold Brawn GP have on the Constructors’ Championship. Not that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello can expect to have things entirely their own way on the Marina Bay circuit this weekend. Button leads his team-mate by 14 points with just four races remaining in the season but the Briton can hardly have happy memories of racing under lights last season, finding it difficult to judge his braking and eventually finishing out of the points. Button has reportedly been working hard on a simulator to be more competitive this year but the stop-start layout of Marina Bay is unlikely to suit his style of driving and I’d be prepared to lay the general 6-1. Barrichello could be a different matter being the driver in form over the last three races. He now has his sights set firmly on the title though he, too, had a miserable time of it in Singapore last year so I couldn’t recommend anyone rush in for the general 5-1. Following the repurcussions over ‘Crashgate’, last year’s winner Fernando Alonso would be a controversial victor for the disgraced Renault team at a freely available 25-1 but there is definitely a case to be made for Lewis Hamilton. The defending champion may be waving bye-bye to his title but the way he drove at Monza suggests he’s determined to end the year on a positive note, though the 14-5 on betfair isn’t terribly enticing. I’m more drawn to extrabet’s 8-1 about Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari had two of the first three on the grid here 12 months ago and the Finn was going really well in the race itself until crashing out three laps from the chequered flag. Marina Bay is similiar in format to circuits like Monaco and Valencia with plenty of twists and turns, which have suited Ferrari this year, and that has steered me in Raikkonen’s direction.