Betting Update; Bridgestone Invitational with the bookmakers making Woods their 11/4 favourite

Aug. 2, 2007 - PRLog -- Add to that list Tiger Woods who won the first running of the Bridgestone Invitational, which starts on Thursday, back in 1999 and will be hoping to land the title for the third year in a row and the sixth time overall. It’s no wonder Woods never tires of returning to the city.

The South course at the Firestone Golf Club must be one that the world’s No.1 golfer would love to take home in his pocket as he has never finished worse than fourth place in seven starts there (he was also fourth when the contest was played at Sahalee in 2002).

The long par 70 track with seven of its 12 par fours over 450yds is ideal for his big-hitting game and as the fairways are fairly generous he can afford to be wayward off the tee sometimes. His solid iron play also helps to set up birdie chances on the bentgrass putting surfaces.

Woods Wonder
However, Woods did post four consecutive bogeys in the third round of last year’s event, which was the first time he had done that as a professional since the second round of the 1996 Tour Championship. Nevertheless, he still came away with the title when obviously not at his best after beating Stewart Cink at the fourth play-off hole. So no prize for originality but Woods is a hard man to leave out of any betting plan this week, despite the likelihood that his price will not be attractive.

Cink is another who has relished the challenge presented by Firestone and landed the title three years ago. He birdied the 16th and 17th in 2006 to catch Woods, who had a three shot lead, but at the third extra hole he had the chance to win but missed a putt of around eight feet and lost out at the next.

Cink was the joint top US player at Carnoustie when tying for sixth with Hunter Mahan and he’d been in pretty good form prior to that, so a return to winning ways would not be beyond the realms of possibility.

Toms time
It wasn’t such a great Open for Davis Love or David Toms who both missed the cut in Scotland but like Cink and Woods they seem to enjoy their trips to Akron.
Love was rarely out of the top four in this tournament 12 months ago as he posted his fourth top five in the last six years. The downside to backing him is that he has struggled for much of 2007 and a couple of fourth places at the start of the year are all there is to recommend him.

When finishing tied for eighth last year Toms was posting his third consecutive top-10 at Firestone. But he could have been a lot closer if he hadn’t found the water when double-bogeying at the 16th in the second round. There’s a good chance he could have been inside the top five but for that mishap.

Still, Toms rates a fair each-way shot this week as, like Cink, prior to Carnoustie he had posted five top-10 finishes, including a fifth in the US Open and a ninth in the Masters at Augusta.

Better for Mickelson
What a difference a year makes. In 2006 Phil Mickelson won the US Masters, tied for second in the US Open and posted a respectable 22nd place finish in the Open at Hoylake. This season he has missed the cut in both of the latter competitions. His record in this tournament is not that great with a ninth in 2002 being the best he has achieved and that was when it was played at Sahalee. However, now that the Bridgestone comes the week before the USPGA it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see Mickelson in serious contention.

Up until last year it had been a similar tale of woe for Adam Scott as the South course seemingly proved too tough for the Aussie to fathom out. But in 2006 he blasted out of the traps with a brilliant 63 in the opening round. Unfortunately, he was unable to sustain that as his putting proved his downfall but his tie for 10th was the best result he has achieved in the contest so far and his iron play stood up to the test as he was first for greens in regulation (GIR).

Scott fired up
Scott was never really in contention in the Open but he had been in good form prior to that with a fifth in the Memorial, sixth in the Players and a victory in the Houston Open to his name. A repeat of any of those performances will surely see him go close. The Bridgestone Invitational cannot be high on Ernie Els’s list of must do events as the South African golfer has not posted a top-14 finish in his last four starts in the competition. So despite appearing in good form of late (fourth in the Open and third in the Scottish Open) he may not be one to rely on too heavily.

Having started with Woods why not end with him as well. The world No.1 has opened with a round in the 60s every year so far, so if there’s a bookie offering a market and there’s a decent price on offer, bite his arm off for it.

Firestone Favourites: Stewart Cink & Tiger Woods
Akron Aces: Adam Scott & David Toms

•   All prices correct at time of writing.

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ABOUT EASYODDS.COM

easyodds.com is a comprehensive sport betting service that helps you find the BEST ODDS on offer from leading bookmakers, betting exchanges and spread betting firms and then helps you place your bet at the BestPrice.

FREE to register!
www.easyodds.com

Andrew Newton
Managing Editor
020 7691 0660

Website: www.easyodds.com?=PR