Mickelson favourite in 2011 US Masters betting
Phil Mickelson warmed up for the defence of his US Masters crown with an emphatic victory in the Shell Houston Open on Sunday evening and is now clear favourite with all bookmakers for the seasons first major event which starts on Thursday morning.
A closing round 65, just a day after his course-record equalling 63 on Saturday saw the forty year-old not only land his first title in almost a year, but also overtake Tiger Woods in the world rankings.
Ladbrokes quote of 8.00 may not last a lot longer, so fans of 'lefty' may want to visit the Ladbrokes website sooner rather than later.
Current second-favourite Tiger Woods is proving rather weak in the market, but has a record second to none at Augusta and as stated previously could certainly prove a good back to lay investment for Betfair punters.
Lee Westwood fans would have preferred to see their man turn in a slightly more encouraging performance at Redstone GC over the weekend, where a finish of thirtieth place on six under par was a full fourteen shots behind the winner.
Steve Stricker and Aaron Baddeley (tied 4th), Matt Kuchar, Padraig Harrington and Hunter Mahan (tied 8th) and Anthony Kim (tied 13th) would all of done their respective chances of walking away with the Green Jacket no harm at all and will have their supporters this week.
For me the player who represents the best value at the time of writing is Bubba Watson. Another left-hander like Phil Mickelson, he'll be ideally suited by the way the course sets up at Augusta and is sure to do some damage on the par fives.
He's a winner already this season, has an improved short game and at odds of around 41.00 looks outstanding value to land his first major win.