Odds to Win the Masters 2011
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The year 2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the Masters. Home of one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world in Augusta National, this prestigious event is set to take place on Thursday, April 7th and last through Sunday, April 10th. Rarely will you see Tiger Woods not favored to win this tournament, but that’s the case in 2011. Phil Mickelson is favored to win the Masters at +550, while Tiger is the next-biggest favorite at +850.
Mickelson took down the 2010 Masters and with his win in Houston last weekend, odds makers clearly had to give him his due. Lefty has won this event three times and will be trying to tie Tiger with a fourth victory at Augusta this year. Woods, meanwhile, hasn’t won a major since 2008. He does have 14 majors to his credit, though, and sits just four behind Jack Nicklaus for the all-time mark. Below I will give you three of the biggest favorites to keep your eye on, as well as three underdogs that will give you more value for your money.
Three Favorites to Watch:
Phil Mickelson (+550) – Lefy now has three Masters victories to his credit after winning the green jacket in 2010, becoming only the eighth player in history to win at least a trio of them. This is easily his best course, as he has 13 top 10 finishes in 18 appearances at Augusta. Everything came together for him at the Shell Houston Open last week, and if he can keep the flat stick rolling like he did en route to victory, look out. Mickelson is not short on confidence.
Tiger Woods (+850) – Woods hasn’t won this event since 2005, but he does have four green jackets to his credit. With his talent, it’s only a matter of time before he gets back in the winner’s circle. You also can’t ignore that he has finished 6th place or better in nine of the last 11 years at Augusta, so he’s almost always right there come Sunday. Woods even finished 4th here last year in his first tournament back from his time off after the famous scandal that led to his divorce.
Lee Westwood (+1200) – No questions asked, Westwood is the best golfer out there not to win a major. It’s not like he hasn’t had his chances, and really it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through. Westwood is the world No. 2 and he has 31 victories to his name worldwide. He was the runner-up at the Masters in 2010, also finishing as the runner-up at the British Open last year as well. He had a pair of third-place finishes at the 2009 British Open and PGA Championship as well. Westwood just needs things to go right for him on Sunday one of these times because he’s usually right there with a chance.
Three Underdogs to Watch:
Ernie Els (+6000) – Winner of over 60 worldwide tournaments, including 18 PGA Tour titles, “The Big Easy” has the credentials to win his first green jacket. Elso won the 2002 British Open and he’s a two-time U.S. Open champion, so he knows what it takes to win a major. He became the only player ever to finish runner-up in three straight majors back in 2000. Els won two events on the PGA Tour in 2010 with seven top-10 finishes overall. He has finished in the top 8 at August six times in 18 appearances, which equals 33% of the time. Els has been runner-up at the Masters twice.
Zach Johnson (+10000) – Johnson is one of the biggest surprises ever to win at Augusta as he captured his only major here back in 2007. But this guy is no fluke, and he has the kind of short game it takes to score well here. His carefully divised game plan in ’07 consisted of not going for any of the par 5′s in two, relying on his incredible wedge game to score 11-under on the 16 par 5′s he faced that year. Johnson has made the cut four times in seven appearances at the Masters, and knowing he has won this event before would go a long way to helping him win it again if he is in contention on Sunday.
Mark Wilson (+15000) – The 37-year-old Wilson is a late bloomer, but it’s hard to ignore what he has done thus far to start the season. The steady Wilson won the Sony Open in Hawaii while also capturing the Phoenix Open. With his two victories and another top 10 to his credit, Wilson leads the FedExCup Standings in 2011 as he sits just ahead of Mickelson. Like Johnson, Wilson has a tremendous short game to compliment being straight off the tee and deadly with his irons. He has made the cut in eight of nine events this year.
Odds to win the 2011 Masters:
Phil Mickelson +550
Tiger Woods +850
Lee Westwood +1250
Nick Watney +1500
Martin Kaymer +1600
Luke Donald +1800
Dustin Johnson +2000
Rory McIlroy +2500
Hunter Mahan +2500
Padraig Harrington +2500
Matt Kuchar +3000
Paul Casey +3000
Justin Rose +3000
Bubba Watson +3000
Steve Stricker +3500
Graeme McDowell +3500
Anthony Kim +4000
Ian Poulter +4500
Aaron Baddeley +5000
Retief Goosen +5000
Rickie Fowler +5000
Martin Laird +5500
KJ Choi +6000
Sergio Garcia +6000
Ernie Els +6000
Jim Furyk +6000
Francesco Molinari +6000
Adam Scott +6500
Trevor Immelman +7000
Ryan Moore +8000
Charl Schwartzel +8000
Rory Sabbatini +8000
Vijay Singh +8000
Alvaro Quiros +8000
YE Yang +8000
Bill Haas +8000
Louis Oosthuizen +10000
Zach Johnson +10000
Robert Karlsson +10000
Robert Allenby +10000
Angel Cabrera +10000
David Toms +10000
Stewart Cink +10000
Steve Marino +10000
Brandt Snedeker +10000
Ben Crane +10000
Sean O’Hair +10000
Fred Couples +8000
Edoardo Molinari +10000
Tim Clark +10000
Ricky Barnes +12000
Jason Day +12000
Gary Woodland +12000
Mark Wilson +15000
Ross Fisher +12000
Camilo Villegas +15000
Henrik Stenson +15000
Jonathan Byrd +15000
Miguel Angel Jimenez +15000
Stuart Appelby +12000
Jeff Overton +12000
Lucas Glover +20000
Bo Van Pelt +20000
Peter Hanson +15000
Kevin Na +20000
Jerry Kelly +20000
Charley Hoffman +20000
Ryan Palmer +20000
Davis Love III +20000
Jhonattan Vegas +15000
Ryo Ishikawa +17500
DA Points +20000
Carl Pettersson +20000
Anders Hansen +20000
Heath Slocum +20000
Alex Cejka +30000
Gregory Harvet +30000
Kevin Streelman +25000
Jason Bohn +30000
Mike Weir +30000
Kyung Tae Kim +50000
Arjun Atwal +40000
Hiroyuki Fujita +50000
Yuta Ikeda +40000
Jose Maria Olazabal +40000
Tom Watson +40000
David Chung +60000
Mark O’Meara +60000
Nathan Smith +60000
Peter Uihlein +40000
Hideki Matsuyama +60000
Jin Jeong +75000
Larry Mize +100000
Lion Kim +100000
Sandy Lyle +100000
Ian Woosnam +100000
Craig Stadler +100000
Ben Crenshaw +100000
Got something to say?