Tiger Woods is 2/1 to retain the US Open at Bethpage

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Usually we’re the first to jump in and point out the ludicrousness of Tiger Woods starting every major as a ridiculously short-priced favourite despite having only won two of the last nine he has contested. However, after winning last year’s US Open with a torn ligament, it’s hard to argue with him starting at 2/1 on Betfair. Here are all the important stats:

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» If Tiger Woods retains he will become the first player to do so since Curtis Strange twenty years ago and only the third since World War Two.

» Last year Woods became the first American winner in five years. Prior to that the locals had dominated the tournament, with 52 wins in 58 years.

» This is the second time that the US Open has been held at Bethpage State Park on the Black Course. The first was in 2002 and on that occasion Woods won by three shots.

Posted: June 17th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Reigning champion 129/1, constant underachiever 2/1

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The unpredictability of the US Masters is highlighted by the fact last year’s winner Trevor Immelman is 129/1 on Betfair whereas Tiger Woods, who is returning from a serious injury and hasn’t won at Augusta since 2005, is as short as 2/1 with Paddy Power.

» The last two winners - Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman - were both available at 100/1 or bigger prior to the event.

» There hasn’t been a European winner since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999 while the last British winner was Nick Faldo in 1996.

» 55 of the last 72 winners have been American but on three of the last four occasions where the crown has been wrestled away from them, as happened with Immelman last year, they have failed to retain it the following year.

Posted: April 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Five reasons why Garcia will flop at the Ryder Cup

Why the matchplay golf legend will have a bad weekend

Sergio Garcia is a Ryder Cup legend: the Spaniard was the youngest ever European when he debuted in 1999 as a 19-year-old and his 75% win percentage is the best of anyone who has played 15 or more matches. So it would be blasphemy to suggest that Sergio Garcia could flop this year, but that’s exactly what we’re going to do:

He’s a nearly man
Garcia has finished in the top ten at 14 different majors without ever winning. The worst of those near misses came at last year’s Open Championship when he led throughout the first three days only to allow Padraig Harrington to draw level on the final day and defeat him in a play-off.

That argument translates to the Ryder Cup
In 2006, the Spaniard had the chance to seal Ryder Cup immortality by becoming the first player to complete a clean sweep of five points from five matches but blew it at the final hurdle by losing his singles match to Stewart Cink, who hadn’t won any of his four matches outright.

Posted: September 17th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment