Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SiouxPal who wrote (165223)	4/9/2009 4:23:45 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361222

Tiger Woods Is Masters Favorite in First Major Since Surgery By Erik Matuszewski April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods has officially played just 10 rounds of competitive golf in the past nine months, yet enters the Masters Tournament as an overwhelming favorite to claim his 15th career major title. Woods, who underwent knee surgery following the U.S. Open in June, is scheduled to tee off at 1:52 p.m. local time today as the season’s first major tournament begins at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. While he’s played in just three events since completing the rehabilitation of his reconstructed knee, Woods is listed as a 2-1 favorite to win the Masters, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on betting lines. Two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson is the second choice in the 96-player field at 8-1. “You really can’t make him any lower,” Mike Seba, a senior oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, said of Woods in a telephone interview. “As good as Tiger is, it’s impossible to have somebody that’s even money -- 2-to-1 is about as low as you can go for golf. “If Tiger wasn’t in the field, you’d probably have Mickelson as the favorite at 6-to-1 or 7-to-1,” Seba said. “Nobody else would ever even come close to that.” At 2-1 odds, a winning $100 bet on Woods would yield a $200 profit along with the initial stake. Sergio Garcia is the third favorite at 15-1, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, followed by Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els at 18-1. Harrington won last year’s final two majors - - the British Open and PGA Championship -- while Woods was sidelined. Defending Champion Defending Masters champion Trevor Immelman has 50-1 odds to become the first repeat winner since Woods in 2001-02. Woods, 33, has won 29.3 percent of the U.S. PGA Tour events he’s entered since turning professional, with 66 titles in 225 starts. Four of those victories have come at the Masters and he’s shot 66-under par for his career at Augusta National, his best career score at any of the four majors. While Woods said this week he “always” expects to win in Augusta, it’s been four years since he claimed his last green jacket as the tournament’s champion. He had runner-up finishes the past two years and tied for third in 2006. “If you just look at the landscape of the tour in ‘96 when I came out here versus here in 2009, there are a lot more guys with a chance to win each and every week,” Woods said at a news conference two days ago. “That’s going to be the case as time goes on. The fields are getting deeper. It just makes it harder to win.” Major Championships Woods said he focused on this week’s Masters during his eight-month layoff. With 14 major titles, he’s four behind Jack Nicklaus’s all-time record. Nicklaus won the Masters six times. “I can imagine every single day since the operation, that this was his No. 1 goal, to get fully prepared for Augusta,” CBS Sports golf analyst Nick Faldo said on a conference call. “He repaired (his knee) completely and rebuilt his game. I should think he feels everything is slotted into place, ready for this Masters.” Woods competed in two stroke-play events as preparation and is riding momentum from his victory two weeks ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he dropped a winning 16-foot birdie putt on the final hole. It was his first victory in 286 days, ending the longest drought of his professional career, and cemented him as the prohibitive favorite in Augusta. “If he missed the cut or didn’t play well, we probably would have raised him up to 5-2 or 3-1,” Seba of Las Vegas Sports Consultants said. “But we couldn’t lower him any more (after the win). 2-1 is just ridiculously low.”