The greatest golf tournament in the world is less than a week away and not surprisingly the biggest names in the sport head the golf odds in the final days before the 2011 Masters gets underway.
The favorite in the golf betting action to win the Green Jacket this year is none other than the defending champion Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is coming off a monster victory last week where he tied the course record on Saturday; he shot the lowest Sunday round of the year on Tour and finished at -20 for the victory.
All very impressive –and very timely- but fans should also consider that the win was his first since taking the 2010 Masters title one year ago.
Still you’ve got like Lefty’s chances here. As 3-time champion at Augusta he obviously knows what it takes to win and isn’t facing the same pressure as many of the other top contenders that are still searching for their first Green Jacket.
It’s not all that surprising to see Mickelson at the top of the golf betting lines but Tiger Woods?
This is a golfer who hasn’t won a match for since destroying his car and his marriage two Thanksgivings ago and has given us very little reason at all to think that he might even finish in the Top Ten. But obviously Woods is Woods. He’s always going to attract a heap of ignorant money based on name recognition and he’s second on the golf odds right now behind Mickelson.
Woods knows how to keep himself in play on this course even if he’s not striking the ball well and don’t’ be surprised if he he’s in contention on Sunday. Even though he’s now dropped to #7 in the world, the lowest he’s ever been in his career since winning his first Major here at August over a decade ago, if there’s one course where he can finally pull himself back into the winners circle, it’s Augusta.
Dustin Johnson is among the top three on most betting sites’ list of golf odds and he generally plays well at Augusta. He’s been pretty quite so far in the 2011 PGA action but he’s definitely a sleeper worth keeping your eye on.
New world #1 Martin Kaymer has never played well at the Masters. He’s missed the cut 3 straights years. But don’t expect that type of result from the German this year. Expect Kaymer to be in the thick of things this year at Augusta and even contend for the victory.
There will no doubt be a few wildcards at the top of the leader board this year as there always is, and probably a couple of the old guys hanging at the top for the first day or two as well. But in the end you can be sure that the aforementioned players will all be in the thick of the competition come Sunday and likely topping all competitors in the golf odds.