The lengthy 7,442 yard par 72 has earned rave reviews since it started out as a regular Tour stop in 2003 and it should come as no real surprise that four of the five winners were already major champions.

Phil Mickelson is not on that list but my feeling is that he will be by the end of the week.

The left-hander, who had just teamed up with Butch Harmon, was trying to implement swing changes when he arrived here last year, but he still managed to take third place, just four shots behind Tiger Woods, who isn't here to defend after undergoing recent knee surgery.

If you add that to a fifth place on his first appearance in 2004 and a seventh in 2005 it is clear that the classy left-hander knows how to negotiate this testing layout.

Mickelson was last seen finishing tied fifth in the US Masters - a good result on paper but far from satisfactory for a player who turns up at Augusta to win.

His closing comments were certainly worth noting.

"It's encouraging that playing the majors I'm striking the ball better than probably I ever have," said Mickelson.

"My chipping came around this week. It hasn't been where I wanted it the last couple weeks. It came around; I thought I chipped very well.

"The last piece I'll spend a little more time on is putting and try to get that dialed in. I think I've been neglecting it a little bit working on the ball-striking aspect.

"When I come back in a couple weeks hopefully I'll have that straightened out."

Having read Mickelson's interviews down the years, it's remarkable how often he identifies a problem, works on it (sometimes for only a week) and then comes out and wins having applied the fix.

For example, after missing the cut in defence of his Pebble Beach crown this year, Mickelson said of his putting: "I need to work on my speed, I need to work on my reads, and I'll spend the next couple of days doing that back home."

Lo and behold, seven days later he came out and won the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, finishing eighth in putting.

Mickelson will be looking to defend the Players' Championship next week but he's won the tournament before the US Masters on three separate occasions so there should be no worries that he's trying to peak for the even bigger task ahead. He's ready to win this tournament now.

The course this week is likely to be dry and fast and Mickelson is a proven performer in such conditions and he's twice finished in the top six for putting here so he reads the greens well too.

The 10/1 in a Tigerless field is more than acceptable.

Jumping down the lists I like the look of the 125/1 about Charles Howell.

The American has again slipped back into the pack after looking like a real superstar once more when winning at Riviera last year, but we could just be at the start of another upward curve.

A missed cut at Augusta was obviously a big disappointment, but he actually made an extremly brave bid to make the final two days after his first round 78.

Howell's second round 70 was just one shot short of getting him into the weekend but rather than dwell on that setback he went out and finished 12th at Hilton Head - his best performance there.

At this venue he was seventh on debut, top 25 again in 2005 and, although last year's 52nd looks poor on paper, he actually carded two 69s.

In short, it's a course on which he can do well.

Rather like Mickelson, Howell said he hit the ball well at Augusta but his short game, due to neglect, wasn't good enough.

Therefore, it must encourage him that he was seventh for scrambling at Hilton Head and 13th in putting.

Take the two-time US Tour winner at 125/1.

DJ Trahan lives about a 90-minute drive from the course and receives plenty of support at this event.

He's twice played well here in his three visits, finishing tied ninth on debut in 2005 and tied 14th the following year.

Normally, his success or lack of it can be put down to his putting as he's a solid and reliable ball-striker.

When he won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic back in January he was ranked the number one putter but more often than not the flatstick lets him down.

So we should take note that he was eighth in putting at Hilton Head last time out when a closing 66 saw him finish tied for 17th.

Trahan, like Howell, is a two-time Tour winner so getting 150/1 about a player in good nick, with good course form, who has already tasted victory this year seems good business.

Nick Watney was cock-a-hoop after finishing 11th at the Masters and booking a return trip to Augusta in 2009.

Two middle rounds of 68 at the Byron Nelson helped him to a tied 31st place last week and he also played plenty of good golf in New Orleans and Florida recently, carding 67s at the PODS, Bay Hill and Zurich Classic to keep his bank balance ticking over nicely.

Watney hits the ball a mile and was also tied second for greens in regulation at Augusta so he has the game to do well at this venue - as his record shows.

Last year's Zurich Classic winner was 11th in 2005 and also made the top 25 in 2006 and 2007.

Also sixth on his last visit to Greensboro, Watney has a fine record in North Carolina and just needs to show a little more consistency to turn promising positions into more wins and top five finishes.

Take the 90/1.

Finally, just how good is Andres Romero?

In his last three starts he's won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and finished eighth on his US Masters debut.

That's pretty special for someone who was just supposed to be trying his luck on the US Tour after some hot form in Europe.

Of course, he was seeing those layouts for the first time - just as he is here - so he's a very, very fast learner.

This week's course, as mentioned, is a 7,442 yard par 72 so to see Romero do so well at TPC Louisiana (7,341 yard par 72) and Augusta (7,445 yard par 72) is certainly a good sign that he can thrive here too.

He plays well on fast running courses where wind is a factor and is utterly fearless.

On the one hand the 55/1 doesn't look to be giving too much away but this astonishing talent could still be ahead of the handicapper so let's snap it up and see what happens.

Preview posted at 1455BST on 28/04/2008.