2012 HP Byron Nelson Championship Preview

With Matt Kuchar winning the 2012 Players Championship, the PGA Tour now heads to Irving, Texas for the 2012 HP Byron Nelson Championship.  Keegan Bradley won the event back in 2011 in a playoff over Ryan Palmer for his first career Tour victory, and will be looking to defend his title this week.

The Course: TPC Four Seasons

The event this week will be played at TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas, a par 70 golf course that measures out to over 7,100 yards from the furthest tees.  It was first opened in 1983 and was designed by D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolfard.  Many of the holes are fairly straight, giving long hitters somewhat of an advantage, but there are also many fairway bunkers as well that players will have to deal with throughout the course of the event.  The two par 5s on the course will provide good scoring opportunities, while players will look to just survive some of the the par 4s, with some of them reaching as long as 525 yards.

Players to Watch

The Favorites

Phil Mickelson

Mickelson has played well of late, with the worst finish in his past five starts being a T26 at the Wells Fargo Championship.  He has currently made 10 cuts in 11 starts on the season with six top 25 finishes and a win at the Pebble Beach Pro Am earlier in the year.  Phil obviously has a great putter, but the key for him this week will be the driver once again.  If he can hit a lot of fairways expect him to be in contention on Sunday.

Adam Scott

Adam won event back in 2008 and has had a pretty good year in 2012, with four top 25 finishes in five events played.  He currently ranks 5^th on Tour in greens in regulation, but has struggled with the putter ranking 140^th in strokes gained from putting.  However, he putted well at the Players Championship last week and should do well this week.

The Sleepers

J.J. Henry

Henry is coming off of five cuts made in a row and has a golf game that could translate well to TPC Four Seasons.  He is accurate with the driver, can take advantage of par 5s, and isn’t too bad out of the sand either.

Robert Garrigus

Garrigus has made six cuts on the year with five of them being top 25 finishes along with two second place finishes as well.  He has finished in the top 15 in two out of his last three starts on Tour, and I also like how his game stacks up at the course this week.  He can hit it over 300 yards off the tee and is currently ranked 10^th on Tour in greens hit in regulation.  Not a bad combination to have.