Today is the start of The Masters, the first and most prestigious of the four ‘Major’ golf tournaments. There are a couple of things about The Masters that give it a special place in the sporting calendar. First, it’s an invitational rather than an Open. And invitations are limited and sought after because it’s a small field with a huge total purse of $7.5 million. But mainly because of the Augusta National golf course which is unquestionably the World’s most revered golf venue. It’s the Binions of Golf. The sight of Tiger Woods chipping in on the 16th in his epic battle against Chris DiMarco in 2005 was a “JFK” moment for sports fans. The Augusta National is also noted for its quirkiness. Very few tickets are sold and they heavily restrict the TV companies’ access to the action. It’s like a drug dealer withholding the supply to keep his customers on the edge. For most of the year the course is unplayable. They dig it up and rebuild it for the next Masters. Fortunately there aren’t many members to complain about this, which is odd as it probably has one of the lowest annual membership fees of any private golf club in America!

For the gambling fraternity the Masters is in the same bracket as Cheltenham, The World Cup and The Ryder Cup for thrilling action. Normally the word is to lay Tiger. But that’s always been the word since Tiger started his prolific winning steak at roughly the age of three. His record in this tournament is miraculous. Four wins since he won it in 1997, his first appearance as a pro (he played as US Amateur Champion in 1995 (a perennial invitee) and is amusingly listed in results as E Woods, and top ten every year other than three since. His record is almost as good as Warren Buffet’s.

This year the story is all about Tiger’s comeback after his lifestyle forced him into a five month leave of absence. Normally Tiger would be around 2/1 ahead of the tournament. This year you can get 11/2, which at face value looks attractive given his record at Augusta, but reflects his potential state of mind. It might be better to see what price he is after the first round.

I’ve been looking for some each way value to sweat in the tournament. Experience counts for a lot around Augusta so my picks are guys who have played here a few times and done well. The Augusta greens make Putting and Chipping the most important stats to concentrate on. My three e/w (top five) picks are:

Steve Stricker @ 6/1

Retief Goosen @ 11/2

Ross Fisher @ 15/1

I’ve laid Tiger at 2/1 to finish in the top 5 and evens to finish in the top 10. But my plan is to buy him back at a better price after a quiet first day maybe?

Good luck

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