Sam Harrop returns with with his preview of the 2012 PGA tour season opener, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, held on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

The field comprises all PGA tour winners from 2011 (or at least, all who wish to participate) which means a much smaller field than standard tour events. This year, 28 players make the trip to the Plantation Course at Kapalua where last year’s winner Jonathan Byrd will be looking to defend his title.

Over the last 10 years, one immediately noticeable trend is that of repeat winners. Stuart Appleby won here in three consecutive years from 2004-2006 and fellow Australian Geoff Ogilvy won in both 2009 & 2010.

Another factor to consider is that of debutantes. This year, almost half the field will be making their Kapalua debuts. This is interesting as over the last nine editions of this tournament, only one player (Daniel Chopra, 2008) has won on his debut here.

Both the above stats would hint that prior experience of the course pays dividends. To quote Graeme McDowell, one of few players to cope well in his first start at Kapalua: “Once you get your head around the slopes, the grain and the tendencies of this golf course, I can understand that you can continue to come back and play well here.”

Here are my 3 selections for this week:

Bill Haas – Despite bagging the 2011 Fedex Cup and a cool $10 million to go with it, the bookies don’t seem convinced by Bill Haas, and his price looks a tad generous. Haas had a very solid showing on his Kapalua debut last year where he finished 8th with a -16 total. Since his Fedex Cup victory, Haas was part of the winning Presidents Cup team in Australia and tied for 13th at the Chevron Challenge despite a disastrous first round. Haas has plenty enough distance off the tee to cope with the 7,411 yards of Kapalua and consistently ranks highly in GIR which will help his cause this week.

4.5pts each way (16/1 Ladbrokes, World Sports Betting and Sportingbet)*

Aaron Baddeley – With the stellar records of Appleby and Ogilvy at Kapalua, there’s clearly something about this track which suits the Aussies. Baddeley made a welcome return to the winner’s podium in 2011 at the Northern Trust Open and comes off the back of a solid off-season back in his homeland where he finished tied for 9th in the Australian Open and tied for 4th in the Australian PGA. As a relatively errant driver of the ball, the generous fairways of the Plantation Course should set up well for Baddeley, and he is capable of building on a solid 12th place finish in his last visit to Maui.

4pts each way (22/1 Sportingbet)

Lucas Glover – 2011 was an odd year for Lucas Glover. The previously very consistent American notched only four top-20 finishes over the course of the season. However, he showed some of his very best form on his way to winning the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. Glover finished 6th in this event on his debut in 2006 and his tie for 12th in 2010 in his only other start here doesn’t really do justice to his performance as he led the event after 54 holes. With four par-5s on this lengthy track, the course definitely sets up well for Glover, and he can follow in the footsteps of his Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd and notch an early win here.

2.5pts each way (40/1 Ladbrokes)

*Haas originally tipped at 20/1, generally available at 16/1 but bookmakers quoted offering quarter odds top 4

To see what other punters fancy or to add your own picks check out our Discussion Forum

Sam Harrop allows us to publish his Golf Betting Previews on Goodforthegame. Sam has been a golfing enthusiast most of his life and has developed an in depth knowledge of the players, tournaments and stats on the PGA Tour.

He has a website www.golfpuntersguide.com and he has kindly made his preview available to Goodforthegame

You can follow Sam on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/golfpunters or join his Facebook Page by clicking here