The first US Open was played at Newport Country Club in 1895 and was won by Englishman, Horace Rawlins, so beginning a period of domination by Brits, winning every year until 1911. However, the recent record of British and European golfers in general is far removed from those auspicious beginnings. In fact, Tony Jacklin was the last European to win - way back in 1970 - a mournfully long absence of success.
Will US Open Trophy Stay in Southern Hemisphere? Though US players have monopolised the trophy for much of the event’s history, Angel Cabrera’s win in 2007 – the first for an Argentine – kept the trophy outside of the United States for a record fourth successive year. This is the first time this has happened since 1910, but disappointingly the winners have all come from the Southern Hemisphere.
At a post-match interview Cabrera said, "Well, there are some players that have psychologists, some have sportologists, I smoke." A unique approach to fending off the challenge of Jim Furyk and world number one, Tiger Woods, who he beat by a single stroke with a 5 over par score. Cabrera’s final card at Oakmont in Pennsylvania equalled that of Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy in 2006 at Winged Foot, underlining the tough reputation that the US Open courses have.The competition is staged at a variety of venues, but they invariably share the same characteristics – length, hilly greens and pinched fairways. In 2008, the event is being staged at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California, which will be familiar to those who follow the US PGA, as the venue for the Buick Invitational. It is important for bettors to note that there are two courses at Torrey Pines - North & South - with the Buick event playing 36 holes on each. The US Open will be played on the South course only. This maintains the tournament’s emphasis on length, as it is the longest course played in a regular PGA Tour event, and is 162 yards longer than Augusta, the venue of the US Masters, won by South African, Trevor Immelman in early April.
Tiger Woods Owns Torrey Pines A further critical point about Torrey Pines for punters to note - other than scenic cliff-top views over the Pacific and the odd chance of fog - is that Tiger Woods virtually owns the course. He has won the Buick Invitational a record six times, including the last four times the events has been held and holds the course record. His love of Torrey Pines is a huge factor in his position of favouritism at leading online sportsbook, PinnacleSports.com.
Woods is one of the coolest customers on course, but he made an uncharacteristic mistake away from the fairways, when he suggested that he was aggressively pursuing Golf’s Grand Slam in 2008. The media latched onto this off-the-cuff remark, which was promoted to mission-statement.
At the Masters – the season’s first major - Woods struggled all week with his putting, and was beaten into second place by Immelman. Although a second place finish for any other professional would be considered an excellent achievement, not so for the World number one. The evaporation of Tiger’s Grand Slam opportunity could however be seen in both a positive and negative light in relation to his chances in the US Open; it removes a lot pressure from Woods, but may also diminish his motivation.
Online golf betting specialists, PinnacleSports.com, have been running a market on how many majors Woods will win in 2008. Tiger was priced at just 10.88 for the clean sweep of all four majors going into the US Masters, on the back of his seven tournament winning streak at the this start of the year. With his failure at Augusta that market has changed somewhat with Woods priced 12.00* for a hat-trick, 3.660* for two major wins, 2.420* for a single win and 3.390* to draw a blank in 2008.
Will Knee Surgery Take the Edge Off Tiger? Woods remains stuck on 13 majors, chasing Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18, and he will be hoping that he can move off the unlucky number before it becomes a monkey on his back. Another important point for punters to bear in mind is that Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on April 15th, after suffering pain for a prolonged period.
This isn’t the first time Tiger’s injury has surfaced, as the same knee was operated on in 1994 to remove a benign tumour and then again in December 2002. The procedure was deemed a success, and within weeks Woods was putting again. However, he was out of competition for several weeks consequently breaking his momentum and disrupting his fitness regime.
If the problems with his knee and Grand Slam failure are enough to put you off Woods, then there are several likely under-studies that could shine in his place. Phil Mickelson is always mentioned in the breath after Tiger Woods, but Leftie has some bad memories of the US Open to banish. At Winged Foot in 2006, he led by a stroke with one to play, but double-bogeyed after some very questionable shot-selections. This collapse seemed to take Mickelson a while to get out of his system, as he missed the cut the following year.
Mickelson’s tied-fifth at Augusta was his best finish at a major since the Winged Foot disaster, and he has form at Torrey Pines. After Tiger, he has the best win record at the Buick Invitational - winning three times - with back-to-back victories in 2000 and 2001. However, there is a suggestion that his career may become defined by that double bogey in 2006.
There will be 154 other golfers all looking to make their mark and each of the last five majors has been won by a different player. Therefore a balanced approach is probably recommended when making your selections at an online bookmaker like PinnacleSports.com.
Half of the players will be exempt but a significant number will have come through qualifying (which can include any amateur with an up-to-date USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4, male or female) so this can be daunting task. Another approach is to focus on individual three ball pairings, or the match-ups available at PinnacleSports.com which are priced to around 102% giving you up to 60% better value than at traditional sportsbooks. PinnacleSports.com offers exchange like pricing on all PGA golf events but unlike exchanges, you never pay commission on winning bets and have guaranteed liquidity.
*All odds subject to change
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