Tiger Woods as ever heads the betting at 3/1 and will be looking to repeat his win at Augusta last year. He also won back in 1997 when he won by a record breaking 12 strokes. Tiger recently came out of an early season slump with victory at the Bay Hill Invitational, although he failed to make much of an impression in the Players Championship.
A look at the various statistics shows Woods near or at the top of most the tables with the significant exception of Putting. You have to go as far down as 138th position in the putting averages to find the world number one golfer. It will take a major improvement on the greens for Woods to justify his favouritism.
Spreads players may wish to consider a special market offered by SportingIndex - “Stop at a Tiger Dropped shot.” The quote is 9-10.5 which means sellers would need Tiger to drop a shot before the 9th hole to make a profit. The reason for looking at this market is the fact that Woods has never broken 70 in the first round at Augusta.
Jose Maria Olazabal was available at around 60/1 a few weeks ago, but with six top-10 finishes from eight US starts this year, his odds have tumbled to a best price of 22/1. The two time winner at Augusta has been working hard on his driving, is arguably one of the finest mid-iron players, and is 22nd in the putting averages. These statistics demand that the Spaniard must feature somewhere on the staking plan.
Sergio Garcia is currently available at 18/1 with Sports.com, which may not be as generous as the 25/1 available at one stage, yet is sure to see plenty of takers. The Spaniard didn’t quite manage the finish he expected at The Players Championship, although listening to his interview that followed his final round, it was hard not to be impressed with his confidence for a strong showing this week.
Ernie Els has been in some of the best form of his life this season and will start the tournament brimming with confidence. His course form is good with several top 20 finishes to his name including 2nd place in 2000 and has already won a couple of times this year.
Phil Mickelson insists he won’t change his attacking style of play that brings him so much enjoyment to golf. In order to win his first Major, “Lefty” will need to keep his mistakes to a minimum. If he can do that he does have an excellent opportunity to capture that elusive first Major.
David Toms is arguably one of the most consistent players on tour. His record at Augusta is steady without being spectacular, but having won his first Major last year, he will be looking at the very least at a top ten finish instead of the top twenty finishes of recent years. At 40/1 he looks superb value for an each way bet.
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