British Open Betting Preview

The oldest and most prestigious major golf championship to those golfers around the world commences Thursday, with Tiger Woods commanding the lion’s share of attention, but not all of it. Though Mr. Woods is a decided favorite, several other top golfers are being considered for this weekend’s action, as potential champions in the third major tournament of the year.

Woods has three wins and eight top 10 finishes since returning to stroke play events in 2009, coming off knee surgery. It has been evident Tiger has not always trusted his full arsenal of shots this year, however with each tournament played; his confidence in different aspects of his game has grown.

DiamondSportsbook.com has Woods as +180 money line pick and links golf plays into his greatest strength, his mind. No professional golfer has a better imagination to develop shots and with his ability to execute; this is the reason why he is always the top choice to be champion. Don’t look to see the driver much from Woods, looking to keep the ball out of the deep rough.

Maybe it’s because Tiger hasn’t nailed down a major in 2009, but several different golfers are being given a chance to win the British Open.

One difference is just the fact it is a links course, making it more difficult to predict a winner by the ever-changing conditions one could see at Turnberry. Those who arrived early to play practice rounds have seen the weather fairly normal (sun, rain, sun and more rain), however the wind has blown from three different directions in three days.

Retief Goosen, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia are listed as +2000 choices to walk away with the Claret Jug. Goosen is always mentioned in any major, since his game is steady and he’s always at or near the top of the leaderboard. Poulter has been a little more erratic this season, with four Top 10 finishes, yet he’s finished below 50th in two of his last four starts. What can you say about Sergio? He’s only had one Top 10 finish in the States this season, as his balky putter continues to haunt him. One aspect in his favor, the greens at Turnberry are relatively flat, which should help, as he strives to finally win the “big one”.

The next group at +2500 is a cauldron of players and styles, which is as perplexing and wonderful as you will find. Padraig Harrington tried to improve his swing after winning the British Open and PGA Championship last year. To say it hasn’t worked as planned is similar is to saying former baseball star Lenny Dykstra has a few financial difficulties. Harrington recently won the Irish Open and even he wasn’t sure what this has done for his confidence, as he has two Top 20 (no Top 10’s) finishes in 13 other starts, with seven missed cuts.

Hunter Mahan is being given a chance to be solid contender, based on his last three tournaments in which he’s finished in order T6th, T4th and 2nd. The 6th place finish was at the U.S. Open and he fired a closing round 62 at the AT&T National, having the clubhouse lead until Tiger passed him with birdie late in his last event.

Rory Mcllroy gathers a great deal of attention as a young golf prodigy at 20 years old. Mcllroy has immense talent and if he can play well for first three days, he’s shown the pedigree of being able to knock down a good number on Sunday’s.

Lee Westwood has been playing consistent golf for over a year and is off two Top 10 finishes, making him a contender.

Martin Kaymer of Germany falls into the darkhorse category at +3000. Kaymer has quietly moved up to 11th in World Rankings with consecutive wins in the French Open and Barclays Scottish Open this past week. Kaymer’s short game is Top 10 material and he’s shown grace under pressure when leading.

Though 18 years older, Steve Stricker has a lot in common with Kaymer, besides the same odds to win the British Open. Sticker has four Top 3 finishes in 2009, including winning two of his last four starts. His win at the John Deere continues his career resurgence and he can roll the ball with the best of them with flat stick when confidence is at top level.

Geoff Ogilvy, Henrik Stenson, Jim Furyk and Paul Casey all deserve mention; nonetheless it all starts with El Tigre.

Tiger has won three previous British Opens, but as Mark Reason writes in the Sunday Independent, Woods’ wins have come on dry and more burned-out links courses. Turnberry has thick, lush rough and similar courses like Birkdale, Lytham, Troon, St George's and Carnoustie, have all kept him out of the winners circle.

Turnberry is in a remote part of Scotland and was used as an air-base for World War II. Now it will face the assault of the world’s best golfers, hosting the Open Championship for only the fourth time.

The 2009 U.S. Open Preview

The favorite for this year’s United States Open championship is – surprise, Tiger Woods at +125. El Tigre showed the world he is pretty all the way back with his brilliant come from behind win at the Memorial. After not trusting his surgically repaired knee, Woods showed himself and everyone else he’s back, as his previously erratic driver nailed 49 of 56 fairways at Jack Nicklaus’ tournament.

The Open returns to Bethpage Black, after being highly successful there in 2002. This is a public golf course that people arrive at 4 AM in the morning to secure an open tee time. Make no mistakes, this is a great track and it will play 200 yards longer then it did seven years ago, meaning you have to get off the tee or be incredibility accurate with long irons, hybrids and fairway woods.

Is Tiger a shoo-in to win his 15th major?

Though Woods has had great success on public golf courses like Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach, he’s not a lock, despite playing well. This week’s wild card in hardly a longshot, (second betting choice at +1000) but Phil Mickelson has many hats to wear this week. Lefty was a tremendous crowd favorite here in 2002 and that doesn’t figure to change this year, especially with what has gone on with his wife Amy’s breast cancer diagnosis.

Though many golf pros don’t like Phil’s act, New Yorker’s embraced him immediately, consider it like a Mets and Yankees thing. Woods is like the Yankees, big and powerful and always lets you know who is in charge. Mickelson plays to the crowd and though the second best player in the world, he’ll always be in Tiger’s shadow, making him the classic underdog.

Will Mickelson have the patience to play 72 holes of golf under control, with what is swirling around in his head? The crowd will help, but it seems unlikely.

Padraig Harrington (+4000) won the last two major titles of 2008 and has worked to get better; however his swing adjustments have not panned out to date. Angel Cabrera (+7500) won The Masters in overtime in April and is wholly capable of putting up black numbers or shooting 79 twice to start The Open. Sergio Garcia (+4000) is playing with broken heart, having split up with Greg Norman’s daughter. Just wait till he gets within earshot of a New Yorker with a few Bud Light’s in his belly. As Mr. T once said, “I pity the fool.”

Players with the right game or playing well have to be strongly considered. Jim Furyk (+1500) is always a threat and tends to hang around the leaderboard at most majors with is steady play and is solid head to head wager. Geoff Ogilvy (+2000) and Sean O’Hair (+4000) have the length needed and are stable personality-wise to go through the grind that is the U.S. Open. One player that sticks out is Paul Casey (+2500), three wins (two in Europe) this year and a batch of other top finishes. Steve Stricker has played as consistently well as anyone on tour the last 18 months and the same no-name feel another Madison, WI. golfer by the name of Andy North had, being a two-time Open champion. (Ironically, North’s only two wins on the PGA Tour)

In looking over the head-to-head matchups, found a few that will be on my list of wagers at DiamondSportsbook.com.

Steve Stricker -220 over Adam Scott
Retief Goosen -105 over Sergio Garcia
Paul Casey -130 over Angel Cabrera
Vijay Singh -115 over Ernie Els

The U. S. Open is the sternest test in golf. If you like a player who is capable of being a “birdie machine”, save your money. This major is won by players who have the mental capacity to grind through 18 holes, four consecutive days. The course is set up to ensure par is a good score on every hole. The rough was believed to be a little too long right off the fairway seven years ago and Mike Davis of the USGA, the person who sets up the Open courses, went to graduated levels of rough, too truly punish the player who hits it wide.

The greens will be lightning fast, though relatively flat. Professional players are used to seeing breaks and will sometimes “over-read” these greens, believing there is more break than it looks.
Since Davis has taken over course management, the U.S. Open has become watchful again and the theatre spectacular. Expect more of the same in New York starting Thursday.

The 2009 Masters Preview

The premier golf event on the calendar arrives this week, with its emerald green fairways, blooming azaleas and its other colorful array of flowers and shrubs. The golf course that is The Masters at Augusta National is like no place on earth. On windier days, you can hear the whistling of the dogwoods and pines trees and if you watched any college basketball the last three weeks, the promos read on ESPN or CBS had announcers going from excitable voices from the games to hushed monotone deliveries in promoting this year’s event.

The Masters this year has a different feel and anticipation from the last several for reasons outside of the tournament. The defending champion Trevor Immelman is trying to become just the fourth back-to-back champion. Rest assured he will draw little if any wagering action at Bookmaker.com and other wagering locations at +10000, since he all but disappeared after winning at Augusta. He tied for second in Memphis, but didn't have another top-10 finish until the Tour Championship, where he was 10th in a 30-man field. His best showing was 19th at the Transitions Championship this season, not exactly the description of a hot golfer.

One story almost nobody is talking about is Padraig Harrington. He has won three of the last six majors, including two in a row and is halfway to the Paddy-Slam. Why Harrington isn’t receiving his just due is because a certain Mr. Woods was recuperating from knee surgery having won the previous major, the U.S. Open, before being forced to shut it down. In some circles, though it is ludicrous, Harrington being the reigning British Open and PGA champion, is viewed like the Houston Rockets winning back to back championships when Hall of Famer to be Michael Jordan was finding out he couldn’t hit the curveball during a two year hiatus. Harrington is +1500 wager to snare a third consecutive major.

A couple of oldies but goodies will be playing at The Masters, with one such golfer making first appearance in some time. Fred Couples is almost eligible for the senior tour, (fine, Champions Tour) and was in the hunt at the Houston Open last week until he played the last three holes, three over. Maybe its wedded bliss, tired of being successful at everything he touches or just has a bit of the golf bug back, but Greg Norman returns to Augusta for the first time in seven years. Neither player is expected to be in contention; nevertheless, seeing them even at advanced ages is like watching your favorite rock band from 12-20 years ago. Older yes, but still fun.

While nostalgia has its place, eventually everybody is replaced by a younger more skilled competitor. Two that fit this mold are Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy. Kim (+3000) was the best player last fall and has been globe-trotting a little too much to likely be a factor. McIlroy (+2500) is 19 and has serious game, as he proved at WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Everybody wants to find that long-shot which could come in, yet still is considered a very good player that offers value. Sergio Garcia (+2500), Camilo Villegas (+4000) and Ernie Els (+3000) are ranked in the top 20 of the World Golf Rankings and would be the type of players that would make sensible wager. One problem, this trio has failed to make the cut each of the last two years in Georgia.

There are a number of other players with golf skills that have to be considered like Retief Gossen and Paul Casey at +2500. Jim Furyk (+3000) always gets a look as a grinder and Luke Donald and Lee Westwood are renowned players and are part of a group at +5000.

The second choice is Phil Mickelson at +800 and he expects to be in the hunt for third green jacket since 2004. Mickelson appreciates the history and has learned to build himself towards this invitational. Lefty has been hitting irons brilliantly all year, including adding a draw from distance since the off-season. His driving has been more erratic (even for Phil), but that has to do with mindset. Like the Nike commercial from a few years ago, “Chicks dig the long ball”, Mickelson has always been obsessed with distance and it costs him often. With the length of Augusta National today, you have to get off the tee, nonetheless a playable second shot is as important. If the driver is working, definite threat.

Lastly is Tiger Woods at +220 to win a fifth green jacket. Woods added to his ever growing legend at Bay Hill with long birdie putt to win, which pronounced him as back. Tiger is a rare athlete, always able to find the slightest motivation to create burning desire and though some way work as hard today, nobody works harder in golf to be their best.

After Woods won in 2005, those in charge of the course made more adjustments to “Tiger-proof” the course. They effectively changed the best theatre in golf to the U.S. Open. The Masters has never been about surviving, it was been grabbing history by the throat and claiming it. Sometimes this has led to colossal failure, like Greg Norman and Curtis Strange felt. But to legislate players from making stirring comebacks by posting a 32 or 33 on the backside on Sunday, because few were given too much power thinking this tournament could turn into the Bob Hope, well that is preposterous.

Trevor Immelman deserved to win last year’s Masters, but his final round 75 marked the first time in 26 years the champion shot over par in the final round and it was the highest final round by a winner since Arnold Palmer had the same score way back in 1962, which he later won in playoff.

It’s no fun to pick Tiger Woods or even Phil Mickelson, but on golf’s grandest stage, it is the safest bet.