Tiger Woods and Thoughts on the US Masters. tiger woods mistress photo mindy lawton
The world's greatest golfer will be making his return, but is backing him to win a good idea?
The 2010 US Masters is a little different from past years and golf bettors are justified in pausing to think a moment before they let the bet fly on Tiger Woods.
Woods is now back from his media-appeasing period of self-scrutiny and he is now available at the unusually high price (for him) of +450 (9/2; extrabet) to claim major number 15.
Though many may pause to bet due to possible mental distractions as Woods will be under intense scrutiny, here's why you'd be a fool not to take advantage of this betting line on Woods...
Woods is easily the best golfer in the world...
It's very rare for the Contrarian to admit this but, for once, the odds really do tell the whole story. Despite an absence that will have lasted almost four months once the Masters gets underway, Woods is the red hot favourite. The closest contender, Phil Mickelson, +900 (9/1; SkyBet) is about twice the price and understandably too, as he hasn't won a major in four years.
Woods is the master of the Masters...
Of the four majors, its the Masters where Woods has the best record. It was the first one that he won in 1997 at the tender age of 21 and he's added three more titles since, a tally that he's only equalled at the PGA Championship. He's also secured ten top-10 finishes at Augusta, compared to eight at the PGA, while he's finished in the top six on eight of his last 10 appearances at the curtain-raising major.
His practise form has earned rave reviews...
With no recent tournaments to judge Woods on, it's instead necessary to analyse his performance in practice for the Masters, and the only available evidence is overwhelmingly encouraging. John Cook, a friend who played with him last week, was adamant that based on what he's seen, Woods was the overwhelming favourite heading into next month's event:
"From what I saw the last three days of ball striking, I don't see anybody hit the ball like he does. If he takes that game up there, I don't see anybody beating him."
...and he's supposedly calm despite the storm
Another player who joined Woods on the course, Arjun Atwal, was equally full of praise and believed that the world number one wasn't feeling any added pressure because of the media backlash against him: "He is very chilled out. When he's out with us, you can see he's more at peace right now. I think he's doing all the right things. He's also hitting it longer than before, there's no doubt. He's killing it, absolutely killing it. If he gets that putter going at all, he'll probably win."
There's no standout challenger
2009 wasn't great for Woods, even before his personal life became front page news, as for only the third time in 11 years, he failed to win a major. However, even though he struggled, the world's other top golfers weren't capable of capitalising and threatening his standing as the sports dominant force. There were four different major winners, three of them first-time champions, while the victors of the first three all failed to finish in the top 50 at the next one. Padraig Harrington, who excelled in Woods absence in 2008, claiming the Open and the PGA Championship, disappointed at the four big events last year, while just Mickelson and Lucas Glover recorded top-five finishes at more than one. That lack of consistency among the top challengers suggests that only a huge outsider can stop the four-time Masters king, as was the case with the triumphs of Zach Johnson (2007) and Trevor Immelman (2008).
Tiger Woods will want nothing more than to divert attention away from the sex scandal that has rocked his career in recent months and the best way to do that is to win the US Masters. He will have no shortage of motivation at the tournament and our recommendation is to bet Woods at +450 (9/2) with extrabet.
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