THIS WEEKS GOLF< THE MASTERS.

[wakeman]

Good morning everyone.

Well after last weeks first Ladies Major the scene is set this week for the first Men’s Major of the year this of course being the US MASTERS.

All eyes of course will be on Tiger Woods and to some at a lesser extent Phil Mickelson and few would bet against one of them filling their wardrobe with another Green Jacket come Sunday evening, as they have so many maybe it would be kind if one of them could send one my way .

So what do we make of Tiger and Phil’s chance this week, well Tiger I feel was rather presented with his last victory as Sean O’Hair had what can only be described as a complete blow out which was very unfortunate, as for Phil well he had a complete mare himself last week as I did not see much of it maybe the Weather had a say in matters, so I feel it is difficuilt to know what to expect, I for one will be taking both on.

So what did last weeks Houston Open tell us, it saw a first Victory on American soil for Paul Casey and a welcome return to form for Henrik Stenson, plus several who travel on to here this week having finished in the pack feeling sort of ok with themselves as regards mounting a challenge for honours this week.

I had a starting list of Six but the gardeners have been strutting there stuff and as such I have a final list of Four.

Main Selection.

Having shown that all appears to be well again, famous last words Henrik Stenson 45/1 will be my first port of call here, up until last week he had been in the doldrums for a bit but if the excertions at Houston have signalled an upturn in fortunes then another prominent showing is hopefully in the offering.

Next Best.

Although you have to take plenty of positives from last week’s efforts there is of course the chance that it could all go tit’s up this time around but if he can build on that again then there is every hope that Paul Casey 28/1 can mount another challenge for the Green Jacket having had a couple of respectable efforts in this recently, he appears to have turned over a new leaf since tying the knot back along so hopefully that can have added positives to a bold showing this week.

I am going to include Zach Johnson 45/1 next, it was a toss up between him and Geoff Ogilvy and massive respect to Geoff but at over twice the odds plus being a previous winner here that just swayed the balance for me, Zach along with Geoff have tasted success this year so that will spur them on I feel and I for one will not begrudge Geoff Ogilvy victory should it occur but I have chosen maybe wrongly to pass Geoff over this week.

Longshot.

Plenty had a say in this but after a lot of debate my final choice will be Justin Leonard 100/1, he has not performed to badly here recently and at the odds I feel merits a small interest given he has tasted success albeit not recently at Group 1 level but is certainly more than capable of causing a ripple in proceedings at the business end if the mood is positive, here’s hoping.

For information purposes the other one that I have omitted it Martin Kaymer, but along with many on show here Race To Dubai points are there for the taking and whilst I would be somewhat miffed should he come up trumps I just feel that it might be to much for him on this occasion.

Well the Best Of Luck as always to everyone.

Cheers.

Adrian.

[SwallowCottage]

Good luck to Adrian, Crizzy and everybody else who is betting on the golf this week at The

Masters

which is one of my favourite golf tournaments of the year. It is also one of the events which I have experienced little success in with my betting and the closest I have come to picking the winner was when Ernie Els finished runner up in 2004. Last year I planned to bet on Trevor Immelman but changed my mind and decided not to and the rest is history along with the crate full of eggs destroyed when the tournament finished

Tiger Woods has returned successfully from a long lay off due to a knee injury and won the Arnold Palmer Invitational recently. He loves this course and will be difficult to beat but his odds are too short for my liking and this event has produced surprise winners in the last 2 years.
Phil Mickelson also has a good record at this course and has won twice this year. His backers will not be too worried by his missed cut last week as he is more than capable of winning after a below average performance. His tendency to hit wayward tee shots puts me off backing him at the odds available.

I don’t think that Padraig Harrington will win but nothing will surprise me anymore about him.
Ernie Els seems to be past his best and Vijay Singh has not played well since having an operation.
Sergio Garcia does not have that good a record at the Masters and also seems to be struggling with his form whilst Adam Scott seems to have lost the plot completely ( but so had Immelman before he won last year ).
I suppose that Rory McIlroy could win and this long course will not scare him but odds of 33/1 looks terrible value for a 19 year old who has only won one professional event so far and is making his Masters debut. Very few debutants have won this event.
Camilo Villegas has improved but he is too erratic for my liking at this type of course and Anthony Kim has failed to live up to the hype so far this season but it is possible that he is the type of player who is only going to take the top events seriously.

The best of the Uk players is probably Paul Casey who won last weekend and has played with some credit before at the Masters whilst the best outsider could be Prayad Marksaeng ( 500/1 ) who has done very well on the asian tour and was leading at the WGC in the USA at one stage earlier this year.
One player I seriously considered betting on was Zach Johnson who is a past winner of this tournament and he has played well in recent months with a couple of victories but I decided to leave him out of my selections.

Tiger or Phil will probably win but their odds do not suit my style of betting so these are my five picks ( with odds I obtained or available ) for everybody to ignore –

Geoff Ogilvy

( 28/1 win ) has won four tournaments in the last 14 months and is currently rated as one of the best putters on tour and is especially good on fast greens which is always a plus point when selecting a player to win the Masters. He played well to finish joint 6th last weekend and has the experience of competing in big events as he has won the US Open. He is cool under pressure and he has been a very lucky player for me as I have bet on him in all of his four most recent victories so I feel I can’t leave him out this week.

Trevor Immelman

( 130/1 win – 15/1 top 5 place ) has recently shown signs of a return to form with his best effort being a 19th place at the Transitions. It is probably expecting too much for him to win the Masters again this year but he obviously likes this course and he could play a lot better than his odds suggest and a top 5 place at rewarding odds will not surprise me.

Robert Karlsson

( 65/1 win – 10/1 top 5 place) had a great season in 2008 which included an eighth place finish in this tournament. He has taken time to find his form this season and I was not going to bet on him here but decided to after his 14th place finish last weekend n Texas which is encouraging and he could be finding his game at the right moment.

Nick Watney

( 75/1 win – 10/1 top 5 place ) has improved a lot this season with a win in the Buick and a runner up in the WGC. He is one of the longest hitters on the pga circuit so the long course will not be a problem for him and he finished 11th on his Masters debut in 2008. The part of his game which has improved a lot so far this season is his putting and iron play around the greens and I was very surprised that he managed to finish 4th at the difficult course at the recent Arnold Palmer event so I think he is worth an interest this week.

Mathew Goggin

( 450/1 win – 14/1 top 10 place ) is my optimistic pick……..well, he’s my super optimistic bet really as he has not won a golf tournament this century His last win was in 1999. However he has improved during the last 8 months and nearly won on the pga tour last autumn and also in his native country at the end of last year. His best recent finish was a decent 4th at the Transitionals. He is making his debut in the Masters because he has progressed to be in the top 50 in the world golf rankings ( 49th ) and his overall game should suit this course. A win is very unlikely but a top 10 place looks possible.

Happy punting

Pete

[crizzy]

Hi Folks,

Looking forward to this Masters business….

Mickelson
Goosen
Ogilvy

Only these for me at the moment

GOOD LUCK ALL!!!

[aaronizneez]

I’ve gone for a win on Goosen and small stakes EW on DJ Trahan and Steve Stricker

[Friggo]

Hi guys,

I unearthed a wee stat that might appeal this week, it’s the putts per round table on the PGA Tour:

1. Brad Faxon 27.26
2. Mike Weir 27.32
THE REST 27.68+

That looks like a significant gap to me, and combining it with his obvious past form at Augusta and a couple of bold showings this season (seemed to have a very solid event at Bay Hill) I’ve taken some of the 80/1 e/w about Mike Weir.

[wilsonl]

I’ve backed Goosen also.

TRF kiss of death ?

Lee

[davidbrady]

I’ve put all my eggs in Oliver Wilson’s basket at fancy prices on BF and also in a few side markets at Victor Chandler’s!

[Author]

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