The golfing calendar is now brimming with professional golf tournaments every weekend of the year, it seems. Though the four tournaments that matter above all else in men’s golf are the Majors; and it is every pro golfers dream to win one of the four most prestigious championships in the world.
The first of the Major Championships in 2012 was a classic, settled by a two-hole play-off when Bubba Watson beat South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen after an amazing approach shot found the green after a disastrous tee shot left him deep in the trees.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were the favourites going into the US Masters though I had a sneaky feeling the long fairways were going to be perfect for Lee Westwood to win his first Major Championship. Neither Tiger or Rory were contenders, and Lee Westwood left himself short with some poor putting throughout the whole tournament.
The next of the four Majors will be the 112th US Open Championship in June, followed by The British Open (known simply as ‘The Open’) in July and lastly, the PGA Championship in the United States.
While Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer continue to jostle to be ranked number 1 in the world, all eyes will be focussing on the US Open which this year will be held at The Olympic Club, Lake Course on 14-17 June.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger woods are once again favourites ahead of the US Open, with McIlroy looking to defend his title and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008) looking for a fourth victory to equal the current record held by Scotsman Willie Anderson (1901, 1903, 1904, 1905) and American legends Bobby Jones (1923, 1926, 1929, 1930), Ben Hogan (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953) and Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980).
Current golf betting has Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods at 8/1 followed by Phil Mickelson 12/1, Lee Westwood 14/1 and Luke Donald 16/1 with Hunter Mahan, Martin Kaymer, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson at 33/1.
I can’t help thinking, if only Lee Westwood could be step up with his short game, it would only be a matter of time before he wins his first Major. But equally, you never know when the Tiger is going to return; and I am confident it is when and not if.
1 comment so far
1 Lee // May 7, 2012 at 11:35 am
Great post, I personally would love Tiger to win here and join the greats like he deserves to however it seems to me to be a false dawn and his return to dominance could take a while longer than anticipated. As for everyone else in the field I have a sneaky feeling “Bubba Golf” could make another impression on this tournament which is much needed for our beloved game of golf. Whoever wins I am sure it will be another fascinating event!