U.S. Open Futures - Tiger Makes a Statement

With less than two weeks left before golfer line up and tee off in the 2009 U.S. Open, the undisputed king of the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, sent a shot across the collective bows of the rest of the golfing world.

By shooting a 65 in the final round of The Memorial, Woods showed to the world, and BetUS 2009 U.S. Open will be held.

Tiger’s ready. Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Just Leonard get their chance this week.

Let’s take a look at the U.S. Open Futures.

Golf: U.S. Open Futures

1. Tiger Woods +175 - - Tiger was phenomenal at The Memorial last week. He dominated the final round by hitting 14 out of 14 fairways and shooting a 65. The man is awesome. The fact that he ended up at Bethpage on Monday to practice for the U.S. Open means that he’s serious about winning the tournament. Woods won on the Bethpage Black course in 2002 and has two other U.S. Open victories, in 2000 at Pebble Beach and last year at Torrey Pines where he kept playing with a cracked knee cap. At +175, Woods is actually an overlay in the Sportsbook.

2. Phil Mickelson +800 - - Phil was close to upsetting Tiger on the Bethpage Black Course in 2002. He could be close again after getting some of the rust off of his game this week in the St. Jude Classic. The odds on Mickelson are right where they should be. Any better looking to throw some dough on him can’t be blamed for doing so, but will Lefty be mentally prepared in two weeks to take on such a tough course?

3. Padraig Harrington +1500 – Like Mickelson, Harrington will be taking his game to Memphis for the St. Jude Classic as a warm-up to his U.S. Open try. Unlike Phil, Harrington might not need to get any rust off of his game. Yes, he hasn’t been that great in 2009 but he did win two majors last year. Harrington has a bit of a shot if Woods falters.

4. Geoff Ogilvy +1400 - - Ogilvy’s terrific 10th place finish in The Memorial this past week was overshadowed by Tiger’s absolute domination of the field. If bettors look closely, they will find that Geoff did exactly what he set out to do, that is get himself back on the good golfing track, he hadn’t hit the top ten in four straight starts, and then practice up to the U.S. Open. He’s a long shot with some facts behind him for bettors to look at.

5. Jim Furyk +2500 - - Furyk was impressive in his U.S. Open tune-up in The Memorial. He finished at -11 under, only one stroke off of Tiger, which means that he kept playing on the 18th after he knew the victory was out of reach. That’s a good sign. Furyk has been awfully close to a victory or two this year but he hasn’t quite gotten there. He could be a surprise contender at Bethpage at nice golf odds.

6. Sergio Garcia +2800 - - Garcia needs to get his head into the game mentally, and fast, because he’ll be facing two nemeses in the 2009 U.S. Open. In 2002, Garcia shot the best round of his life in a U.S. Open when he scored a 68 in the 1st round. Tiger came back and won that tournament. Last year, Garcia had a chance to win not only the British Open but the PGA Championship as well. Both times, Padraig Harrington beat Garcia. Garcia has this week’s St. Jude Classic in which to get himself prepared for another tough go around in the U.S. Open.