Tiger Woods is Bookies’ Favourite to Make a Winning Comeback

He may have been out for eight months after undergoing knee surgery, but Tiger Woods has been installed as is the 9/2 favourite by bookmaker William Hill to win his first tournament back – the Accenture World Matchplay. Hills rate Tiger at 1/4 to win his first round against Australian Brenden Jones, who can be backed to cause an upset at 14/5.

“We see Tigers return as a mixed blessing, tournament turnover with Tiger is at least double but we are constantly facing huge liabilities. If any other top ten player had been out with a similar injury we would be 33/1 for them to win, Tiger is 9/2, which tells the story,” said Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams.

William Hill have also priced up odds on when Tiger may be eliminated from the tournament should he progress past the first round. Punters can back Tiger to be packing his bags at 5/2 for a second round exit; 4/1 for a third round departure; 13/2 for a Quarter Final exit and 10/1 to lose in the semi-final. Additionally, Tiger can be backed at 14/1 about finishing as runner-up, with 9/2 available for him to win the tournament outright.

Punters who fancy Tiger to win any of the Majors can also bet on which Major tournament he will capture first this season, as well as the total number of Majors he will win.

Hills’s odds for betting on the number of Major tournament wins by Tiger Woods in the next year:
• 11/10 No Major wins
• 2/1 One Major win
• 11/4 Two Major wins
• 14/1 Three Major wins
• 33/1 Four Major wins

Hills odds for betting on Tiger Woods’ next Major tournament victory:

• 9/4 US Masters 2009,
• 4/1 US Open 2009,
• 11/2 Open 2009,
• 13/2 PGA 2009,
• 7/1 US Masters 2010,
• 10/1 US Open 2010,
• 8/1 Open 2010,
• 20/1 USPGA 2010

William Hill also offers odds of 11/2 against Tiger winning any Major championships in the next two years.

McIlroy Bags Golfer of the Month Accolade

Rory McIlory’s recent exploits have seen the Northern Ireland teenager rise rapidly through the golfing ranks and into the world’s top 20; the accolades keep coming however, and the player has been awarded The Race to Dubai European Golfer of the Month award after claiming his maiden Tour success in the Dubai Desert Classic earlier in the month.

McIlroy beat off competition from other tour winning contenders, including Anders Hansen (Johannesburg Open), Paul Casey (Abu Dhabi Golf Championship) and Alvaro Quiros (Qatar Masters) to land a unanimous decision for the award.

“It was a huge thrill to win my first European Tour title against such a high quality field and in the place where The Race to Dubai will be decided in 10 months’ time,” McIlroy said.

Currently lying in second place in the Race to Dubai, McIlroy has set his sights on dislodging Spain’s Sergio Garcia at the head of the pack and his success in Dubai, where he edged out Englishman Justin Rose by a single stroke, guarantees the youngster appearances in each of the four majors this year, as well as an invite to compete in the WGC-Accenture World Matchplay at Dove Mountain, USA, in two weeks time.

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LPGA Tour: Stanford holds nerve to see off Wie in SBS Open

Michelle Wie failed in her bid to land her first LPGA title as a full tour member. Wie, playing in the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, Hawaii had gone into the final round locked together in joint first-place with fellow American, Angela Standford but quickly asserted to go three strokes clear before a double-bogey at the eleventh hole halted her progress and allowed Stanford the opening she needed. Stanford went on a birdie blitz, carding three in succession from the thirteenth before making par over the last three for a two under par score of 70 and a total of 206, with Wie carding a 73 to finish in second place, three shots behind.

The win gave Stanford her fourth LPGA tour victory after having finished no worse that tied for sixth place in her previous six events on the tour. Stanford was first to edge ahead in what effectively became a final-round duel between the two with an up-and-down for birdie on the third hole, before Wie birdied the next to bring the scores level. It was neck-and-until the par-three eighth where Stanford missed a three-foot putt to make bogey – her first of the week – before Wie birdied the ninth for a two stroke advantage going into the turn. Another bogey on the tenth cost Standford more ground on the teenager before Wie’s own double-bogey allowed her opponent back in and Stanford was took advantage with those three consecutive birdies before making par on the closing stretch. Wie’s challenge was effectively ended when her birdie putt on sixteen lipped out, followed by another bogey on seventeen.

Wie, who finished off with a par on the last, was understandably disappointed after the round but she can at least take heart from a good performance over the three days given her injury troubles of the past two seasons had threatened and curtailed her form. Wie’s performance could be a shot-in-the-arm for a beleagured LPGA which has seen the number of tournaments and the prize money on offer being cut due to the global economic situation.

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The Greats of Golf: Profile of Jack Nicklaus

Regarded by many as the greatest professional golfer of all time, the name of Jack Nicklaus is synonymous with golf. Also known as ‘The Golden Bear’, Nicklaus has carried the golf standard for almost fifty years since he first came to prominence as an amateur.

Nicklaus was born on January 21st, 1940 in Columbus, Ohio and first took up golf at the age of ten. He won the first of five straight Ohio State Junior titles at twelve years of age, and at sixteen he won the Ohio Open, where he competed against professional players. He also won the U.S Amateur title twice; the first in 1959 and again in 1961 while attending Ohio State University. He represented the United States twice in the Walker Cup, in 1959 and 1961.

In 1960, Nicklaus contested the U.S Open tournament as an amateur and finished second; 2 shots behind Arnold Palmer. For the tournament, Nicklaus carded a four-round total of 282 which stands today as the lowest ever score made by an amateur in the Major tournament and the magazine, Golf Digest, named Nicklaus as the top amateur player in the world three years running between 1959 and 1961.

However, as impressive as Nicklaus’ amateur record was, his achievements as a professional are what has really defined him as perhaps the best golfer of all time. Since turning professional in 1962, Nicklaus has chalked up a remarkable 103 professional wins, which includes 18 Major championship successes; the first of which coming in his debut season as a professional where he beat Arnold Palmer in a play-off to win the U.S. Open, and later that same season he also won the Seattle Open and the Portland Open.

The following year, Nicklaus won two of the four Major tournaments – the U.S Masters and the USPGA – as well as a further three tournaments, including the Tournament of Champions but endured a Major-less season in 1964, although he did finish top of the tour money list that year.

Nicklaus captured the U.S Masters again in 1965 and 1966, making him the first player to win consecutive Masters titles, and set a tournament record of 271 in 1965 which was only bested in 1997 by Tiger Woods’ four-round total of 270. Nicklaus also won the 1966 Open at Muirfield to complete his first ‘Grand Slam’ – a feat he would complete three times over. His second U.S Open win came in 1967, but this win heralded the beginning of a drought in Nicklaus’ Major career and it would be 1970 before he would taste Major success again.

That success would come in the 1970 British Open where he would defeat countryman Doug Sanders in a playoff, which by virtue only occurred thanks to a missed short-putt by Sanders on the final green. A USPGA title would follow in 1971, and two further Majors would be added to Nicklaus’ haul in 1972 – a fourth U.S Masters and third U.S Open; the latter tying Nicklaus’ major haul with that of Bobby Jones. Nicklaus failed in his bid to capture all four Majors in the same season, being foiled first by Lee Trevino in The Open and by Gary Player in the USPGA.

Nicklaus surpassed Bobby Jones’ record by taking the 1973 USPGA for his fourteenth career Major and won a further six tournaments that year, although he failed to win any of the Major championships in 1974. In 1975, Nicklaus started the season with a bang, winning the Doral-Eastern Open, Heritage Classic and U.S. Masters in consecutive starts, as well as winning a fourth USPGA title before topping the tour money list in 1976 despite playing only sixteen tournaments that year. He won two tournaments that year – neither of them Majors – and would also fail to secure a Major in 1977. The closest Nicklaus came to a Major that year was his second-place finish in the British Open at Turnberry behind Tom Watson in the famous ‘Duel in the Sun.’ Nicklaus would, however, take his number of career wins to sixty-three that same year before winning the British Open in 1978.

Nicklaus’ form dipped after that success and he had to wait until 1980 before he won another tournament. In all, he enjoyed only three top-ten finishes in 1980 – two of which were victories; the U.S Open and the USPGA, but despite these wins, Nicklaus would win only twice more on the tour in the next five years before rolling back the years to capture the 1986 U.S Masters – his sixth in all – by posting a back nine score of 30, which featured a eagle-birdie-birdie run-in before making par at the last to become the oldest winner of a Major championship. This victory was his last on the PGA Tour, although twelve years later he tied for sixth place in the same tournament.

Nicklaus joined the Champions Tour in 1990 when he turned 50 and continued winning ways, with a further nineteen tournament wins on the tour, before bowing out of competitive play at the Bayer Advantage Classic in Kansas on June 13th, 2005 and bringing the curtain down on an illustrious career.

Nicklaus now devotes much of his time to golf course design and operates one of the largest design practices in the world. He is now in partnership with his four sons and son-in-law, with their design company, Nicklaus Designs. Nicklaus himself has designed such courses as Muirfield Village, Shoal Creek and Gleneagles’ PGA Centenary Course.

Nicklaus is also an accomplished instructional golf writer, and has had several golf instruction books published as well as an autobiography and a book on golf course design methods and philosophy. He has also produced several golf instruction videos, written columns for various golf magazines and has appeared on television as an analyst and commentator.

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The Greats of Golf: Profile of Seve Ballesteros

Severiano ‘Seve’ Ballesteros was born on April 9, 1957, in Pedrena in the Cantabria region of Spain. As a part of a gifted golfing family – Seve’s brothers and uncle have also played at professional level – Seve learned the game after one of his brothers had given him a cut down 3-iron, and Seve would practice hitting stones on the beaches near to his home while he should have been in school.

Seve turned professional in 1974, at the tender age of 16. As wayward as he was brilliant, it was only two years before he gained international recognition when in 1976 he finished joint-second with Jack Nicklaus in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, behind American Johnny Miller, where he had led the tournament entering the final day. Seve went on to win the European Tour Order of Merit in that same year, and would also win it a further five times throughout his career, including 1977 and 1978.

Seve has won at least one tournament each year between 1976 and 1995, including a stretch in 1978 where he would win on six consecutive weeks on three different continents and throughout his illustrious career, Seve won a total of 91 tournaments worldwide, including five Major tournaments.

A two-time U.S Masters champion, Seve also won The Open Championship three times; in 1979 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes and scene of his famous ‘car park recovery’ shot; 1984 at St.Andrews and again in 1988, back at Royal Lytham & St. Annes – this time without the car-park. Seve’s first Masters win came in 1980, where he became the first European player and youngest tournament winner of the prestigious Green Jacket; the latter only bested by Tiger Woods. He won the Green Jacket again in 1983 by four shots from American duo Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite.

Ballesteros was a supreme matchplay golfer, which would see him become a stalwart of the Ryder Cup teams throughout the 80s and 90s, as well as win the World Matchplay Championship five times. His Ryder Cup partnership with countryman Jose-Maria Olazabal is the most successful in Ryder Cup history with 11 wins and 2 halves from 15 matches, and from all matches he has played he has amassed 20 points out a possible 37. However, his defining moment in the team tournament came when as Captain, he guided the European side to victory in 1997 at Valderrama Golf Club in his native Spain.

Due to ongoing back problems, Seve’s appearances in competitions became increasingly fleeting, although he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, where he joined the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, in 1999. Seve was absent from competitive golf for some years before returning to the course to play in the 2005 Madrid open, and contested the 2006 Open Championship having played only the French Open beforehand, where he missed the cut.

Seve announced his retirement from competing in tournament golf in July 2007, although continues to captain the GB & Ireland team against a Continental Europe team in the bi-annual Seve Trophy; a role he has adopted since its inception in 2000. He also runs a thriving golf course design business in his native Spain.

In late 2008, Seve was admitted to Madrid’s La Paz hospital where he underwent multiple operations to remove a brain tumor, and was at one point described as ‘gravely ill.’ He has since been discharged from hospital and has undergone chemotherapy, to which he has responded well.

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