Online Betting News

With Europe’s Major drought finally over, Hills offer 7/4 that a European wins the final Major of the year. Hills have also priced up the Major-winning first day 3-ball and are unable to split Harrington and Cabrera who are 13/8 with Augusta winner Zach Johnson the outsider at 15/8.

Tiger is the 3/1 favourite to win his first Major of the year with his arch rival Phil Mickelson offered at 14/1.

“Harrington’s victory at The Open was by no means the worst result we could have had but unsurprisingly we will be hoping for a rank outsider in the final Major of the year”, said Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams.

Odds to win the pga championship:

3/1 Tiger Woods,
14/1 Phil Mickelson,
16/1 Jim Furyk,
16/1 Ernie Els,
20/1 Padraig Harrington,
25/1 Vijay Singh,
25/1 Sergio Garcia,
33/1 Retief Goosen,
40/1 Adam Scott,
40/1 Luke Donald,
40/1 Choi Kyung-Ju,
40/1 Justin Rose,
50/1 Henrik Stenson,
50/1 Geoff Ogilvy,
50/1 Angel Cabrera,
50 Paul Casey,
50/1 Stewart Cink,
50/1 David Toms,
50/1 Scott Verplank,
66/1 Steve Stricker,
66/1 Zach Johnson,
66/1 Rory Sabbatini,
66/1 Tim Clark,
66/1 Lee Westwood,
80/1 Trevor Immelman,
80/1 Stuart Appleby,
80/1 Robert Allenby,
80/1 Colin Montgomerie,
80/1 Mike Weir,
80/1 Andreas Romero,
100/1 Niclas Fasth,
100/1 Nick O’Hern,
100/1 Aaron Baddeley,
100/1 Ian Poulter,
100/1 Rod Pampling,
100/1 Jose Olazabal,
100/1 Stephen Ames,
100/1 Boo Weekley,
100/1 Sean O’Hair,
100/1 Miguel Jiminez,
125/1 Chalres Howell-III,
125/1 Richard Green,
125/1 Richard Sterne,
125/1 Brett Wetterich,
125/1 Robert Karlsson,
125/1 David Love-III,
125/1 Arron Oberholser,
125/1 Carl Pettersson,
125/1 Hansen Anders,
125/1 John Rollins,
125/1 Jerry Kelly,
125/1 Shingo Katayama,
125/1 David Howell,
125/1 Darren Clarke,
125/1 Lucas Glover.

A huge surge of patriotic betting support for Colin Montgomerie has left bookmakers William Hill fearing a seven figure loss should the popular Scot manage to break his Major duck in the Open Championship in which Hills are predicting a betting turnover of over £25million for the first time.

‘Despite his failure to make the cut in the Scottish Open last week Monty is the man the punters want to back for the Open and his have odds tumbled to 25/1 joint sixth favourite in the face of sustained support - every other bet seems to have his name on at the moment, and we will certainly be handing over a hefty seven figure sum to punters should Monty manage to win’ said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.

‘However, this is sure to be the biggest betting Open ever with over £25million being staked before the final putt is holed.’

The second worst potential result for Hills would be a Luke Donald victory, with Tiger Woods and Ernie Els just behind - but Phil Mickelson has so far proved friendless in the market.

The last European to win a Major, Paul Lawrie, has been ignored by punters and Hills quote him at 200/1 having taken no bigger bets than £25 for him to win.

Hills offer Even money that a European golfer will win, 5/2 that a Brit will win and 14/1 that an Irishman will win.

Latest Open Golf prices;
3/1 Woods;
12/1 Els;
14/1 Mickelson;
20/1 Furyk; Harrington;
25/1 Donald; Montgomerie; Singh;
33 Fasth; Garcia; Ogilvy;
40 Cabrera; Casey; Goosen; Poulter; Scott; Stenson;
50 Choi;
66 Toms; Verplank;
80 Westwood; Sterne.

Latest Open Golf to make or miss the cut odds:

Woods 1/12 make; 6/1 miss;
Els 1/9- 5/1;
Mickelson 1/7 - 4/1;
Singh; 1/5- 0/3;
Donald 2/9 - 3/1;
Harrington - 2/9 - 3/1;
Monty 4/11 - 2/1;
Rose 2/7 - 5/2;
Garcia 1/3 - 9/4;
Westwood 8/15 - 11/8;
Lawrie 5/6 - 5/6.

Willam Hills offer 9/4 that the Open will be decided via a play-off.

Millions Riding On Monty-but Will He Miss The Cut?

Despite a disappointing day at Loch Lomond punters continue to back Colin Montgomerie to win next weeks Open Championship and have now cut Monty from 33/1 to 25/1 joint sixth favourite.

Tiger Woods is the 3/1 favourite with Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els joint second favourites at 16/1. Monty is offered at 2/5 to make the cut at the Open and 7/4 to fail to do so.

“Monty will cost us in excess of a million pounds if he goes on to win the Open next week, ever Tiger will cost us less,” said Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams.

William Hill Open Championship Winner:
3/1 Woods,
16/1 Mickelson,
16/1 Els,
16/1 V Singh,
20/1 Harrington,
25/1 Rose,
25/1 Montgomerie,
25/1 Goosen,
25/1 Furyk,
25/1 Casey,
33/1 Scott,
33/1 Garcia,
33/1 Donald,
40/1 Westwood,
40/1 Stenson,
40/1 Ogilvy,
40/1 Fasth,
40/1 Choi,
40/1 Cabrera,
66/1 Verplank, Stricker, Olazabal

World Match Play Champion Geoff Ogilvy is the best backed player in the field to win the Masters, with Hills halving his price from 50/1 to 25/1 following a number of bets including a £2,000 e/w wager at 50/1 placed in a Hills shop in central London.

Tiger Woods is the well backed 11/8 favourite to win his 13th Major and Tiger is a 20/1 shot to win all four of the Major tournaments in 2007. Hill’s also offer 7/4 that he wins one, 15/8 two, 11/4 none and 6/1 three.

The European challenge is likely to be spear-headed by Stenson and Garcia who are 6/1 joint favourites to be top European finisher, with Masters specialist Jose Maria Olazabal offered at 8/1 and nearly-man Colin Montgomerie a 28/1 outsider.

“The Masters is the biggest golf betting event after the Open and so far turnover is up on last year, we would expect the industry to turn over £20 million over the tournament,� said Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams.

William Hill Top European Golfer:
6/1 Stenson,
6/1 Garcia,
13/2 Harrington,
8/1 Olazabal,
8/1 Donald,
8/1 Casey,
16/1 Rose,
20/1 Langer,
20/1 Jimenez,
20/1 Howell,
25/1 Poulter,
25/1 Fasth,
28/1 Montgomerie,
28/1 Clarke,
28/1 Bjorn,
33/1 Westwood,
33/1 Pettersson,
40/1 Karlsson,
40/1 Edfors,
50/1 Dredge,
80/1 Ferrie,
100/1 Woosnam,
100/1 Faldo,
125/1 Ramsay,
125/1 Guerrier,
150/1 Lyle,
300/1 Ballesteros.

William Hill US Masters:
11/8 Tiger Woods,
8/1 P Mickelson,
14/1 E Els,
16/1 V J Singh,
25/1 R Goosen,
25/1 G Ogilvy,
33/1 H Stenson,
33/1 J Furyk,
33/1 A Scott,
33/1 P Harrington,
33/1 S Garcia,
50/1 T Immelman,
50/1 L Donald,
50/1 P Casey,
50/1 Howell III,
66/1 J Olazabal,
125/1 J Rose,
100/1 D Clarke,
125/1 L Westwood,
125/1 C Montgomerie,
125/1 I Poulter.

2007 How Many Majors Will Tiger Woods Win?:

7/4 One,
15/8 Two,
11/4 None,
6/1 Three,
20/1 Four

A return to Oitavos holds good memories for some players - and provokes nightmares for others.Paul Broadhurst won the first of two consecutive Portuguese Open titles here in 2005 so is obviously keen to return as he seeks a third on the trot.

And despite having every reason to hide under his duvet for the week, Barry Lane is in the field as well, hoping to repel memories of the way he stood on the tee of the 72nd hole in 2005 with a one stroke advantage and contrived to take nine shots on the par four.

As wildly different as those two players experience was on the 18th hole two years ago, their identities may offer a little clue as to the likely winner this week.

Both Lane and Broadhurst have always enjoyed golf on the Iberian Peninsula, where the golf courses tend to offer dramatic ocean views, a warm but windy climate and a resort style course.

Since Oitavos is built on sand dunes the course also prompts comparisons with classic links golf in the UK.

With all of this in mind, I am extremely keen to have Argentine Andres Romero on board this week.

If you had asked many observers at the end of last season to name the next Argentinean winner of a European Tour event, most would have selected the short but big hitting man from Yerba Buena who collected four top tens including a fast finishing second at Loch Lomond.

Despite that promise the 25 year old has been beaten to his maiden tour title by not one fellow countryman, but two - Ariel Canete and last week’s winner Daniel Vancsik.

Hopefully he will be inspired by their efforts to collect a victory of his own because he would appear to have plenty in his favour.

A week after Loch Lomond, Romero finished 8th at the Open Championship, something to bear in mind as he returns to the sand dunes, albeit in Lisbon rather than Liverpool.

Just as interesting in the context of this week was his top five finish in this event at Penina last year and the creditable effort he and Angel Cabrera offered in the Barbados World Cup - on another breezy course facing the Atlantic.

Romero also knows how to win, having claimed four titles on the Tour de las Americas and one on the Challenge Tour so 66-1 (Coral, Betdirect) is too good a price to be missed.

If this week’s winner is young, Spanish-speaking, but not Argentinean, perhaps his name will be Alejandro Canizares.

Just one of a crop of extremely exciting European youngsters, the son of Ryder Cup star Jose Maria Canizares has spent three years playing American college golf.

It is a highly competitive environment and the training served him well when he burst onto the professional scene with victory in the Russian Open last August.

The week before that win he had signalled his intentions with an impressive top ten finish in the KLM Dutch Open on the links at Kennemer - a mature effort which saw him cope admirably with the odd bad bounce, something that might stand him in good stead this week.

His last outing was in Mexico on the PGA Tour and the course at Mayakoba wasn’t - in design and appearance at least - a million miles from the sort of challenge he’ll face this week so his tie for 13th is worth close consideration.

Coral have opted to go best price (40-1) and it shouldn’t be missed.

Traditionally, steady British journeymen have excelled on the Iberian Peninsula and my next two picks certainly fit the profile.

John Bickerton loves playing golf in and around Spain and Portugal. He has seven top tens in Madeira, a win in the Canaries, plus solid efforts at Penina, Pula, San Roque and Valderrama.

Before his win in the Canaries in 2005 the Redditch-born player was gaining an unwanted reputation for being a serial bottler.

But having won once it took him only 8 months to win again, winning the Open de France last summer.

His form this year is negligible but bear in mind that in the past his best efforts in Iberia have rarely needed the impetus of good form.

I think 125-1 (general) is a large price with his record in the region.

The second Iberian specialist is Scotsman Gary Orr, another solid fairways and greens man.

Like previous Oitavos winner Broadhurst, Orr is a veteran with the sort of temperament to cope with the vagaries of the wind.

Since a return to form in early 2005 he has made the top twelve five times in Mediterranean Europe and his one year score average is solid enough to rank him seventh in this field, enough to make me think the 80-1 (general) quote under-estimates his ability

Tiger Woods has been cut further to 11/10 with Blue Square to win the US Masters after his triumph at the CA World Championship.

On Sunday the world number one overcome an unusually error-ridden final round to claim the 77th win of his professional career in Miami.

In his final competitive outing before he battles it out in Augusta, Woods, four ahead overnight, had a closing 73 to clinch victory in the event for the third successive year and sixth time in eight attempts.

Woods is available at a best of 11/8 with William Hills to be sporting a brand new green jacket with a win at the Masters but most bookies have him down at 6/5.

Fellow American Brett Wetterich finished second, two shots off the pace, and he’s been slashed to 80/1 with betdirect to claim the Masters title.

Phil Mickelson has been trimmed to 8/1 second favourite with Sky Bet to win at Augusta National despite finishing 10 shots adrift of Woods in Miami while Ernie Els has drifted slightly to 12/1 third favourite.

A noteable move in the market is Sergio Garcia, whose joint-third place at the CA World Championship has seen VC Bet chop him down to 28/1 but he’s available as long as 40s elsewhere

Tottenham have drifted slightly to 9/2 third favourites with Blue Square to win the UEFA Cup after they were drawn with holders Sevilla in the quarter-finals.

Spurs comfortably beat Braga 6-4 on aggregate on Wednesday night and were available at a best of 10/3 but with a tough match up next, their chances have taken a minor knock.

If Martin Jol’s men manage to beat the Primera Liga side, they will face either Bayer Leverkusen or Osasuna in the semi-finals, therefore avoiding a showdown with favourites Werder Bremen until the final.

The Germans are slight 5/2 favourites with most bookies following their easy triumph over Celta Vigo on Wednesday while Sevilla are a best price of 4/1 with Bet Fred.

Newcastle crashed out against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night and the attacking Dutch outfit are 14/1 outsiders along with Espanol to go on and lift the trophy.

After being deprived of course form for the last two weeks on the US Tour, punters have a different puzzle to solve this time.

Despite a change of sponsor from the Chrysler Championship to the PODS Championship, the host venue remains the Copperhead course at the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Tampa Bay. So far, so good. However, the tournament has switched from its usual October slot to March which leaves us wondering how reliable past course form will be.

For example, some players perform better later in the season when they’re trying to win their cards or perhaps qualify for the Tour Championship while those same factors can cause others to crumble.

And there is also the serious question of how differently the course will play.

We’ve been given some help on that front by PGA Tour pro John Huston, who lives nearby and has probably played it more than anyone in the field.

The word is that the course has been made to look extremely green - and hence more pleasing to the eye - but such makeovers often mean softer greens and fairways, easier rough and a course there for the taking.

However, Huston told the St Petersburg Times: “They’ve been fortunate we haven’t had too much cold weather. They haven’t had to keep the water going, so it should play pretty fast. It should be fairly similar to the fall, and I think everyone will say really good things about the golf course.”

Add to that the usual Florida constants - wind and Bermuda greens - and there’s certainly no need to throw past course form out of the window despite the change in date.

So, that’s why I like the look of the man who finished runner-up here in October - Brett Wetterich.

The American closed 67-66 to tie for second and that weekend score was actually four strokes better than winner KJ Choi.

Wetterich also topped the Greens in Regulation stats for the week and strong iron play has proven the most reliable indicator to success at the par 71 Copperhead course.

A look at his past performances suggests Wetterich is one to watch carefully in Florida.

Wetterich’s last six starts there have produced a second, a sixth and an eighth - that latter result coming at last week’s Honda Classic. In fact, had Wetterich birdied the par five 18th rather than produced his only bogey of the round he would have made it into the play-off.

Still, there was much to like about his performance (he finished tied ninth for G.I.R.) and it’s worth noting that his win last year (at the Byron Nelson) also came on Bermuda greens.

Frustratingly, the 66s and 50s has gone but 40s is still worth playing.

Now the Tour has returned to Florida, Stephen Ames is another man I expect to come to the fore.

Ames’ last start there produced his stunning victory in the Players Championship at Sawgrass and, before that career performance, he was seventh at the Honda.

Top 10s at Bay Hill in 2003 and 2004 are also on his Florida CV while, at this course, he was ninth on debut in 2003.

Ames grew up on Bermuda and admits he’s more comfortable putting on such greens so his liking for Florida is easily explainable.

Ames has had a slow start to the year after implementing swing changes but there were some positive signs in the World Match Play at Tucson where he beat Robert Karlsson, Vijay Singh and Stewart Cink before losing at the final hole in the last eight.

“I take a lot of positives out of this, going into the next couple of events,” said Ames as he made his exit so hopefully his game can kick on again and he’ll be primed to make a big challenge for the title.

Take Ladbrokes’ generous 80/1.

In previous years, Lee Westwood, David Howell and Darren Clarke would expect to dominate the betting for a co-sanctioned event in the Far East.

But best prices of 18/1, 18/1 and 22/1 show that there’s uncertainty in the market and the bookies are willing to take them on.

That’s fair enough on recent performances as none of them have managed anything better than a tied 20th in 2007.

Clarke and Howell are also playing at Laguna National for the first time and this year will have to acquaint themselves with two unfamiliar courses.

The traditional Masters lay-out will be used for three of the four rounds but players will also play the Classic track on either Thursday or Friday.

Westwood does have a fifth place to his name at this venue from 2005 so if you do bet one of the front three in the market he may prove the most reliable.

However, past results suggest we have to take serious note of the Asian Tour players.

Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, last year, China’s Lian-Wei Zhang in 2003 and India’s Arjun Atwal in 2002 have all seen off the European raiders and the grainy greens and humid conditions definitely level the playing field.

And it means this could be a great chance for China’s new number one - Wen-Chong Liang - to get his first win at this level.

Liang was tied fifth in this event two years ago and again showed his liking for the country when finishing fourth in the Singapore Open in October.

A top ten in a high-class field in the Qatar Masters confirmed his potential and he also produced solid efforts in the Malaysian Open and Johnnie Walker Classic - the two most recent co-sanctioned events.

Prior to that he was also third in the Philippine Open - another Asian Tour event - so his confidence his high.

That top ten at Doha and past success at Laguna suggests he goes well on tight tracks where wind is often a factor and I like this diary entry he wrote after a third round 67 at the Johnnie Walker… “I drove it well today, only missed one fairway.”

Liang is 66/1 to make the big breakthrough and we’ll back him each-way.

Thongchai Jaidee and Jeev-Milkha Singh both have terrible course records so are passed by in favour of 50/1 Jyoti Randhawa.

The Indian, who won his home Open back in October, has missed four of his last five cuts but the one time he did make it to the weekend he took seventh place in the Dubai Desert Classic.

But it’s his past exploits at Laguna that get him into the staking plan.

Randhawa finished third in 2004, shooting a 64 in round two and a 66 to finish and also took seventh place last year. For good measure, he was eighth in the Singapore Open on his last visit to the country.

He was tied second going into the final round in Dubai so if he can recapture the form he showed over the first 54 holes he could be a live contender.

Of the overseas challengers, I simply can’t resist the 28/1 about Nick Dougherty.

The Liverpudlian has finished first and second on his last two visits to Laguna and should really have won both.

Clearly there is something about this place which fits his eye and we should perhaps trust that course form more than the bizarre rounds he still throws in elsewhere i.e. the 81 he shot at the Johnnie Walker to follow his opening 68.

Before that missed cut, Dougherty has been in pretty good form, finishing 11th in Abu Dhabi, 16th in Qatar and 34th in Dubai.

“Fans from the region will be looking out for the boyish looking Dougherty,” says the official website which describes him as one of the “hot favourites”.

Well, 28/1 isn’t bad for somewhat with that billing and, on a course which some take to while others clearly do not, I think Dougherty is a must bet.

On the same basis, the 66/1 about fellow Englishman Ross Fisher takes the eye.

Fisher shot 71-68-68-71 to finish third on his tournament debut last year and was ranked the top putter on the difficult greens which has to bode well for his return.

A fourth in the Alfred Dunhill Championship followed by a 15th in the South African Open kept him ticking over nicely just before Christmas and he produced a stunning opening 36 holes in Dubai last month, firing a pair of 65s to take the halfway lead.

Fisher couldn’t keep that hot pace going but closing 71-71 was hardly a disgrace - especially as he was paired with Tiger Woods in the final round.

Fisher said afterwards: “I think my caddie, Adam, probably summed it up when he said, you’ve only just got to look at the leaderboard: Stenson, Els, Woods, Fasth, Fisher. You’re playing with the world’s best players, you’re playing with the world number one, and I think you can walk away from here with your head held high.”

Although he played poorly in the Johnnie Walker last week, a return to Laguna could well get him going again and clearly the young Englishman - a product of Wentworth’s scholarship system - is a big, big talent.

The 66/1 looks definite value.

Mark Wilson is now the unlikely 10/3 favourite to win the Honda Classic after taking a one shot lead after round three.

Wilson, ranked 265th in the world and yet to record a career win in 110 tournaments, carded a second consecutive four-under-par 66 to head the field at six-under.

He now tops an unfamiliar leaderboard which shows Boo Weekley in second place at -5 and Sweden’s Daniel Chopra at -4.

Charlie Wi is three shots back alongside Steve Stricker while Robert Allenby, who held the halfway lead with Wi, is now four strokes in arrears after a disappointing 73.

Wilson is 10/3 favourite at Sky Bet to claim victory while VC bet make Weekley and Chopra joint second best at 5/1.

Stricker is 7/1 at Paddy Power and totesport while Allenby, the clear halfway favourite at 2/1, has been pushed all the way out to 11/1 by bet365. He’s a general 8/1 shot elsewhere however.

Wi is quoted at 14/1 by most layers, while Sporting Odds quote Padraig Harrington at the same price. The Irishman will start Sunday five shots back.