The case for Tiger Woods this week is a half empty/half full argument. A price of around 3.6 for someone facing a hundred or so rivals, even if he is the best in the world, looks unappetising. Yet on the basis of his season so far you can argue it’s generous, since his winning record is evens. Then there’s his impressive achievements in this event, not least the three wins in a row around the turn of the century. Looked at another way, however, since then he has placed 22nd, fourth and third twice. Not first. And since he missed out ...

Here’s something you might like to tuck away for next year. It is a fact I spotted on one of the betting forums last week, unearthed by someone who obviously has far too much time on their hands: for the last five years at least the winner of the Colonial has finished top 40 at the preceding Masters. There’s surely something in it: by my count there were 18 Masters top 40 players (including ties) in this year’s Colonial. One was the winner Rory Sabbatini, another playoff loser Jim Furyk, five more in the top 20, and only one missed the ...

The winner of this could turn out to be the strongest swimmer. I liked the way Scott Verplank summed it up: “I didn’t have any plans for Monday, just go to the lake. Looks like the lake may be coming to me.” Things look so ominous overnight that I’m left wondering if they will even make it to 54 holes, which for many a poor punter is a very significant figure. Unless we reach that target those playing the full competition markets on Betfair, for one, are scuppered because all bets will be void - three days solid punting up the ...

If it was a surprise to see Anthony Kim on top of the leaderboard Friday morning, it’s an absolute revelation to see Tim Clark lording it over his peers a day later. Everyone wondered when Clark would win his first PGA tournament after some immaculate stroke play took him to second place in last year’s Masters. But later that year he was hit by neck trouble that has plagued him ever since. He sat out the PGA Tour this year until March and has subsequently largely struggled to stay inside the cut line. Yet here he is after a gruelling Friday ...

This is not how it was meant to be. For a start Colonial was meant to be playing a lot firmer and faster. Secondly, it certainly wasn’t written in the stars that Anthony Kim would be topping the leaderboard, even if half the first-round players have still to make it home. Kim is, let’s face it, not the most accurate of drivers - at 64% he’s hit the least number of fairways among the leaders - while the rough at the Colonial is said to be particularly punishing this year. And his amazing recent run of success looked to have well ...

For once America really does play second fiddle to Europe and doesn’t it show. You’d struggle to buy your second Rolls Royce with the money going on the awkwardly named Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Punters are pointing their bank balances at Wentworth instead. Most top flight golfers have also crossed the pond or stayed at home rather than turn up in Fort Worth. Which is a pity because this is such an unusual and intriguing PGA Tour course, where picking your way carefully around the doglegs with quality shot-making is considered far more of a plus than ripping it as ...

The person I felt sorriest for Sunday wasn’t Ryuji Imada. His “moment of madness” on the playoff hole puts him up with the best of them (cue either Phil Mickelson or Colin Montgomerie at Winged Foot). At least he now knows for sure he can mix it with the best. But Camilo Villegas had this well within his grasp until he threw it away with his own moment of madness on the tenth. It looked for all the world like he was going to trash TPC Sugarloaf as he began the easier back nine until his tee shot sailed into the ...

Looks like being quite a party at the Sugarloaf Sunday. Half of Georgia seems to want to turn up to cheer on their rival college co-leaders, playing like demons in the Augusta sunshine. Then there’s local boy Matt Kuchar to raise a few more cheers if he fires another round like his bracing 64 on Saturday that moved him 40 places up the board. This is set fair to end up a fairytale day whoever wins: you’ve got Camilo Villegas as a popular choice for his first PGA win, or the faintly surprising presence of Lee Janzen. He barely squeaked into ...

Everyone interviewed after coming off the Sugarloaf course has been singing the same tune: it’s a really tough test. Can someone give me the latest definition of tough? The place has been leaking birdies and eagles like there’s no tomorrow. What is especially different from the previous two weeks at least is the rush to the finishing post. At the Wachovia and even more so the Players, the last three holes were killers waiting to destroy the most spectacular of rounds. Here the 18th especially is a candy store - Eagle sir? Take this and here’s one for your friend. Of our ...

You won’t find many of Thursday’s leaders in the various expert picks for this competition. I’ve rarely seen such a collection of has-beens and haven’t-beens leading a tournament, at least until the fag-end of the season. I had toyed with the idea before the start of going for Tommy Armour III, based on a decent set of stats, but thought better of it. What has thrown a lot of people, it seems, is the tournament’s shift to May, which means the course is far drier and faster. Although it’s length is still a challenge, the shorter hitters are helped by the racy ...

Either Padraig Harrington has been hitting the Guinness big-time or the scribes covering the Irish Open are really desperate for a story. Suddenly we’re inundated with headlines accusing that nice PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem of cruelly snatching European golfers almost from their cradles and whisking them off to America. How is he doing it? That evil FedEx Cup and its points system that locks players into the American circuit as they reach for golf’s richest prize. And there was I thinking the FedUp Cup was dead boring. There’s only one thing that can counter this accursed American plot, says our disgruntled Irishman ...

“Butch, the 1st of many. Phil Mickelson.” That message, on the 18th green flag Mickelson gave to Butch Harmon Sunday, summed up the size of Lefty’s continuing ambition. It also neatly encapsulated Harmon’s ambition as well. If anyone failed to get the message, Mickelson’s new coach put himself about to make sure we all got it clear as the daylight that finally emerged between his star pupil and the rest of the field Sunday. “I’ve got a nice spot right next to Tiger’s major championship flags, so hopefully we can start another row,” Harmon declared. The scurrilous thought immediately flashed through my mind ...

It’s plays like Phil Mickelson’s on the 10th Saturday that sum up the joys and horrors of a punter’s life following Lefty. His big gamble in cutting his fairway bunker shot through the palm trees with a 7-iron, rather than taking the safe route around the dogleg, sums him up to a ‘T’. It was so risky he didn’t dare tell his caddy what he was planning. It worked wonderfully, keeping him in the hunt until a superb last three holes left him just a shot off the lead. But this is Mickelson the gambler playing with other gamblers’ money: when ...

Phil Mickelson knows he’s got to buck his ideas up Saturday. His short game, notably his putter, is what is keeping him alive. Those who spend their lives glued to Shotlink tell us he has yet to miss a putt from less than 8ft. Lefty apparently can’t make up his mind if his glass is half full or empty. Let me help. He threw away a golden opportunity to break clear of the field Friday. Instead he needed a late eagle and some good fortune at the last to keep his head above water. He was playing in the more difficult ...

Rory Sabbatini has a rather pugilistic appearance, though I’d better watch what I say in case it earns me a “Glasgow kiss”. He certainly doesn’t pull his verbal punches, sending the golfing world into a lather over Thursday’s “where are you” jibe at Tiger Woods. Why is everyone so upset? Isn’t it all part of the healthy cut and thrust of competitive sport? I forgot, we’re all meant to bow down at the Tiger shrine. How silly of me. The only thing that upsets me is Sabbatini’s record of failing to put his money where his mouth is. Look what happened last ...

You’re the boss of an important American organisation putting in a bit of Sunday overtime at the office, as all good bosses do, when in walks this guy and, without so much as a by your leave, dumps a load of dirt on your desk. Do you: A. call the cops and have him thrown out of the building and, hopefully, into jail; B. retaliate by dumping a truckload of muck in the lobby of his office; C. say thank you very much and decline his subsequent offer to clean the mess up because you want to show it off ...

I’ve been wondering why I’m feeling so frustrated about Sunday at the Wachovia. Hey, Tiger Woods won another tournament despite himself. What’s to worry? Let out a yawn and move on. Can’t do that. I like to enjoy my sport whether I’m punting or not, and sport to me apparently has an entirely different meaning from all those millions of TV viewers who simply want to see Tiger cream the opposition. To me it is competition, a gritty duel to the finish between top practitioners. For three and a half days at the Wachovia I felt I was getting my ...

Hang onto your hats. It’s gonna blow Sunday and that could throw everything up in the air. Saturday’s gripping round is a hard act to follow. With winds possible gusting in the 30mph range it’s likely to be more of an error fest than the birdie and eagle fest it was in round three. Golfing snobs complain about competitions that produce “too many birdies", yet you only had to listen to the hollering round the course to understand how exciting Saturday was after the rain had softened it up. What makes Quail Hollow so good is those last three holes waiting to ...

The fact that we’ve got three joint leaders on six under sums it all up - this is the devil of a competition to read at the half way stage. The obvious temptation is to say Tiger Woods will run away with it. But a price of more than evens suggests I’m far from alone in harbouring doubts. Tiger was none too convincing Friday, spraying the ball every which way off the tee to put himself in some hellish situations. He was lucky to get away with just one bogey on the round, although his putting was much better. Quite how ...

Padraig Harrington should be careful what he wishes for, even in jest. He claimed the “revolutionary” shaft on his new putter - so new he doesn’t even know its name - is so good the PGA authorities should ban it. What’s so revolutionary about it? He says the shaft has got two lead weights right under the grip that “change the dynamics of the putter substantially". They might just ban it if that’s true. Mind you, Paddy’s probably got quite a few tournaments to prosper with it before they do. It’s taking them so long to decide what to do with ...

Never mind the Wachovia. Hold the front page, the back page, hold all the pages in between, especially sports. Heck throw in the personal finance and the lifestyle pages. Gardening? Yup, those too. Michelle Wie has seen the light. Or perhaps more important, her parents have seen the light. We are assured by her coach David Leadbetter that she has given up her manic quest to bash herself against brick walls in men’s events. “Temporarily,” of course. You have to include words like that in the not quite real world this family appears to inhabit. Suffice to say “she hasn’t got ...