This year’s Masters promises to be an absolute cracker, with Woods returning to form and so many of the top ten showing signs of form in recent weeks.  My only regret writing this is that I have been on holidays and had every intention of talking up Paul Casey’s chance before he won last week, but with his price now demolished and the chances of back-to-back wins so small I am going to overlook Casey as I try and repeat last year’s winning selection of Trevor Immelman.

Obviously Woods is the first name that jumps out at you but I still find it hard to ‘tip’ a golfer that is such a strong favourite (even if he does win).  Other obvious picks are Phil Mickelson, who has a great record at Augusta, and Padraig Harrington who is looking for his third major in a row and showed good form last week.  However, it is these three that top the market and for this reason I am going to look elsewhere.

On the back of a good week last time out in Houston, world number 13, Lee Westwood at 50/1 shall be my bet of the week.  Tied 11th here last time along with this tied third in the US Open last year, Westwood has shown that he has the mental capability to perform at a high level in major competitions.  If any further proof is needed then a look at his Ryder Cup record will show that he can beat the best.  His stroke average for 2009 so far is 70.04, the lowest of his career so far, and although the year is only 4 months old, a repeat of this average should see him sneak into a place (especially here as we are going 6 places) and a repeat of last week’s form (excluding his final round) should see him battling for the top spot, even if Tiger is on form.  For a small e/w bet I am also going to have a look at Louis Oosthuizen, whose form this season has been incredible and simply cannot be overlooked, especially at a whopping 150/1.

As always in the majors, there are plenty of extra markets to get the juices flowing and they have often come as a saviour to many a discerned punter.  For those who can’t see past a Woods victory but still fancy a winner at a big price, there is the W/O Woods market to have a look at.  The market that jumps out at me is Top Us player W/O Woods, with Mickelson heading the market at 2/1.  Although he is clearly a valid favourite on his course form, recent efforts have not been so great and with the market offering 4 places, there is still hope in making some profit even if he does show up.  One player who jumps out at me in this market is Pat Perez.  Currently  8th in the FedEx Cup standings, Perez is a player at the top of his game and when you look at some of the names ahead of him in the market (Couples and Perry spring to mind), in my opinion he is far too big a price and I would be truely surprised if he did not give you a decent run for your money.  With 1/4 the odds for the first four places, Perez at 40/1 represents a great opportunity to pick up some profit for the week.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Golf, Hacketts bet tips, Sports Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.