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Golf Betting Odds 2007 Canadian Open Golf Betting PreviewBy Isaac York Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook The snow has melted long enough up north for the PGA to squeeze in the Canadian Open at Angus Glen's North Course. Even though this tournament takes place a week after the British Open and just two weeks before the PGA Championship, the field isn't totally lacking star power. Jim Furyk is back to defend the Canadian Open title he won last season at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Furyk shot a 14-under par last year to edge Bart Bryant by one stroke. Some other big names slated to be in attendance at Angus Glen this weekend include Vijay Singh, who won the Open in 2004 at Glen Abbey, Mark Calcavecchia, 2005 Open champion at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club and Canadian Mike Weir. Weir may be Canada's best hope to win the homeland open this weekend after finishing tied for eighth at last weekend's British Open. Weir also tied for eighth two weeks earlier at the AT&T National, marking his only Top 10 finishes this season. Another Canuck to keep your eye on this weekend is Stephen Ames. Ames has three Top 10 finishes this season and there was talk of him supplanting Weir as Canada's best golfer earlier this season. The chances of a Canadian actually winning at Angus Glen probably aren't that good, though, when you consider the last Canadian to win the event was Pat Fletcher was back in 1954. If you pull out your history books for some perspective on that, it was the same year that legendary Sam Snead was winning the third and last of his Masters titles. Aside from Furyk, Calcavecchia and Singh, other past winners from the last decade teeing off this weekend include 2003 champ Bob Tway, 2002 winner John Rollins, 1998 champ Billy Andrade and 1997 champ Steve Jones. This is the first time the Canadian Open has been played at the Angus Glen North Course. Its South Course did play host to the Open in 2002. Rollins won that year after defeating Neal Lancaster and Justin Leonard in a three-way playoff. Check out PGA Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb.com 2007 British Open PreviewBy Isaac York Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook The British Open returns to Carnoustie Golf Links this week for the first time since Jean Van de Velde's epic collapse in the 1999 Open. Van de Velde's triple bogey on the 18th hole, when all he needed was a double bogey or better to win the championship, is remembered as one of biggest chokes in golf history. It's unlikely we'll see another Van de Velde-type meltdown at Carnoustie this year, unless of course Phil Mickelson has what's deemed to be a comfortable lead with only a few holes to go. For Mickelson's sake (and his sanity) he had better hope he got the choking out of his system at last weekend's Scottish Open. The names Paul Lawrie (who won at Carnoustie in '99) and Van de Velde will likely come up a lot this weekend, but the most talked about golfer no matter how he performs will as usual be Tiger Woods. Tiger has won three British Open titles in his career, including the last two held at St. Andrews in 2005 and Royal Liverpool last year. Woods' first Open championship also came at St. Andrews in 2000, but he may be hard-pressed to add a fourth Open title to his long list of accomplishments at Carnoustie. Dubbed one of the hardest courses in the world, Carnoustie gave Woods fits back in 1999 when he finished at 10-over par, four strokes back of the leaders. The last person not named Tiger Woods to win the British Open was Todd Hamilton in 2004. Since his improbable win Hamilton hasn't won another tournament and he's failed to even crack the Top 35 in another major. In other words he has almost zero chance of repeating his 2004 magic at Carnoustie. The real challengers to Woods will likely be the usual leaderboard fodder like Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els. Those four have combined to win 10 majors, but only Els has claimed the British Open when he won at Muirfield in 2002. Back in 1999 at Carnoustie, Furyk was the best of the four when he shot an 11-over par to finish five shots back. Els finished eight strokes back at 14-over par, while both Mickelson and Singh missed the cut. Check out Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb.com! 2007 John Deere Classic Preview By Isaac York Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook It looks like most of the top golfers in the world take the week off before the British Open. That's how it looks anyway when you skim over the field for this weekend's John Deere Classic at TPC at Deere Run. The tournament held in Silvis, Illinois has never been a big draw for the big names, and this year is no exception with big names like Woods, Mickelson and Furyk all taking a pass on the John Deere. There are still a number of recognizable names scattered throughout the field, such as John Daly, Jason Gore, Notah Begay III and Billy Mayfair, but the golf tournament is practically void of any previous winners on the tour this 2007 season. One notable exception is Masters champion Zach Johnson, who could have a clear path to another tournament title this weekend if he brings his "A" game. Over the past couple of years the John Deere has drawn a lot for attention by giving Michelle Wie a sponsors' exemption into the tournament. After missing the cut in 2005 and dropping out with heat exhaustion in the second round last year, Wie won't be returning to Deere Run this weekend. One golfer who will be returning is last year's John Deere winner John Senden. At last year's event Senden shot 19 under par to edge J.P. Hayes by one stroke. If bettors want to rely on history when making their pick this weekend, they may want to lay some cash on Hayes instead of Senden. Not only did Hayes finish as runner-up in this event last season, but he also won it back in 2002. Most other former John Deere champions won't be making the trip back to Deere Run this weekend, as only Steve Jones who won in 1998, and Blaine McCallister who won way back in 1988, are listed among this weekend's field. Check out the Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb.com 2007 Buick Open Preview
2007 Travelers Championship Preview By Dave Johnson You would expect the PGA tournament directly following the U.S. Open to be missing most of the top golfers in the world. But that won't be the case at this weekend's Travelers Championship. The field might not include new daddy Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk or surprise U.S. Open champ Angel Cabrera, but it will still have Vijay Singh and Masters champ Zach Johnson. The Travelers Championship (formerly the Buick Championship) is played at the TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. The course boasts some difficult holes, but it will be nothing compared to the adventures some golfers had last weekend at Oakmont. The defending champion of this event is J.J. Henry. He finished 14-under par at River Highlands last year to give him a three-stroke win over Hunter Mahan and Ryan Moore, who tied for second at -11. Henry will be back to defend his title this year, and a number of other former winners at River Highlands will also be back in the hunt for another title. The last 10 winners at River Highlands are all scheduled to play this weekend, except for 2003 champion Peter Jacobsen and Phil Mickelson, who won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002. Mickelson had been scheduled to participate but was ordered to the sidelines on Monday by doctors who have recommended he rest his sore left wrist for two weeks after missing the cut at the U.S. Open. Recent winners at River Highlands include Brad Faxon in 2005 and Woody Austin in 2004. One golfer that bettors may want to keep an eye on is David Toms. The Louisiana native has been one of the hottest golfers on tour in recent weeks after he tied for fifth place at the U.S. Open, and came third in the Stanford St. Jude Championship a week earlier. Toms has been building toward a win all season long, and he may finally capture it this weekend at River Highlands. Check out the Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook 2007 U.S. Open Preview by Dave Johnson The real 2007 golf season begins again for bettors this week, as all the best golfers try to find their game for the prestigious U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. Heading into most majors, the names on the tip of everyone's tongue are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods as always is the favorite at +200, followed by Mickelson at +800. Both former major winners would probably like to forget what happened at last year?s U.S. Open held at Winged Foot. Mickelson looked primed for his first U.S. Open title before completely falling apart on the 72nd hole and handing the tournament to Geoff Ogilvy. Woods never had a chance to make one of his late charges or final-round stands after failing to miss the cut in a major for the first time in his career. Mickelson could be battling more than his bad memories of Winged Foot this weekend, thanks to a wrist injury he suffered two weeks ago. While practicing his chips before the first round of the Memorial Tournament, Mickelson injured his wrist and was forced to skip the U.S. Open warmup. According to reports Mickelson should be ready to go this weekend, but when it comes to wrists and golf you can never be too sure. This is the eighth time that the U.S. Open will be played at Oakmont. It?s been more than a decade since the last time the Open was played there in 1994. That year Ernie Els defeated Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie in a Monday playoff to win his first major championship. Els is a definite contender to repeat at Oakmont, but there will be plenty of competition aside from Tiger and Mickelson. Vijay Singh has never won the U.S. Open, but with two tournament wins already this season there is no reason he can?t climb back to the top of the leaderboard this weekend. Masters champion Zach Johnson was also forced to withdraw from the Memorial a few weeks ago due to a nasty bout of strep throat, but he should be back in top form by this weekend and in search of his second major win this season. Even though the winner of the tournament that precedes the 2007 U.S. Open has never gone on to win the major, don't count out Woody Austin who won the St. Jude Championship last weekend. Austin put together a masterful final round last Sunday, shooting a remarkable 62, and if he can match that level of play at Oakmont he could make history at Oakmont. Check out the Golf Betting Odds at WagerWeb.com
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