Trio primed for battle at Tour opener in Hawaii

HAVING been starved of tournament action for a fortnight, punters will be champing at the bit to get involved in the 2008 PGA Tour opener in Hawaii, where the new season gets underway in the shape of the limited field Mercedes-Benz Championship.

The traditional curtain-raiser to the American term is open only to winners from the 2007 tour, but with the top two in the world, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, side-stepping the event (again) and Pádraig Harrington also an absentee, it will feel a little like a false start to the campaign.

Still, with just 32 players teeing up at the tough Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui — with each-way terms a quarter the odds the first four — I always believe that this tournament represents one of the best betting opportunities of the season.