U.S. Open Golf
Odds, Analysis and Betting Preview
6/14/12
The 2012 U.S. Open golf Tournament gets underway on Thursday at The Olympic Club in San Francisco with a familiar name atop the odds board in Tiger Woods at 7/1. The big question is, will Woods finish the weekend atop the leaderboard? The three-time U.S. Open winner will be playing with a couple familiar names on Thursday and Friday as Phil Mickelson (15/1) and Bubba Watson (40/1) round out his group, and both have also won major Tournaments previously in their respective careers.
Watson is the reigning Masters champion and tied for fifth in his best showing at the U.S. Open. Mickelson has never won the U.S. Open but has finished second or tied for second five times. However, Woods is getting the most hype heading into the event due to his recent victory at The Memorial, where he tied Jack Nicklaus for most PGA TOur wins with 73 in his own Tournament.
Woods has won two Tournaments already this year, fueling speculation that he is finally back on top of his Game. He still has not won a major though in the past Four years, with the last one coming at the 2008 U.S. Open. Almost half of his career PGA wins have come on the same group of golf courses, and Olympic is not among them. This will be a true challenge for Woods to prove he is truly one of the top golfers in the world again, and bettors will pay a high price like they used to when he was in his prime.
There is obviously no guarantee that Woods will be making headlines this weekend for the right reasons and helping his backers make money. Some other golfers that might be worth wagering on include Lee Westwood (12/1), LUke Donald (12/1), Rory McIlroy (15/1) and Matt Kuchar (25/1).
Westwood is considered by many to be the top golfer without a major win to his name, and he won the Nordea Masters in Sweden last Saturday by five strokes. The 39-year-old Brit tied for seventh the last time the U.S. Open was played at Olympic and owns Four Top 10 finishes in 12 appearances in the event overall. McIlroy won the U.S. Open a year ago for his first career major, and the 23-year-old Irishman is still viewed as one of the best young golfers in the sport.
Donald is the world’s current No. 1 player and like Westwood also hails from England. His best career finish at the U.S. Open was tied for 12th, and he is still searching for his first major win as well. Kuchar is another intriguing choice despite failing to win a major in his career, as he tied for 14th the last time the U.S. Open was played at Olympic in 1998 when he was an amateur.