GolfbloggerUK

April 2010 - Posts

• Live Golf Scoring / Results from the PGA Tour Quail Hollow Championship and around the World

  Live Golf Scoring from the PGA Tour Quail Hollow Championship at Quail Hollow is available on this golf website. For Live Golf Scoring from the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour, European Tour, European Senior Tour and European Challenge Tour, please http://www.golfblogger.co.uk/leaderboards Posted Apr 29 2010, 02:16 PM by GolfbloggerUK with 2 comment(s) Filed under: GolfbloggerUK, PGA Tour, Live Scoring

• Golf on T.V - The 2010 U.S. Open Golf Championship to be broadcast in prime time as part of 30 hours coverage

  Tuesday, 20 April 2010 The 2010 U.S. Open Golf Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links will be broadcast in prime time T.V on NBC and ESPN to the Eastern and Central time zones as part of more than 30 hours of live television coverage between 17-20 June 2010. ESPN will begin coverage on the first two days of championship playfrom 17-18  June 2010 with air times of 1-3 p.m. EDT each day. NBC Sports’ coverage of the first two rounds will air from 3-5 p.m. EDT, followed by coverage from 5-10 p.m. EDT on ESPN. NBC Sports will broadcast the third round (June 19) from 4:30-11 p.m. EDT and the fourth round (June 20) from 3-9 p.m. EDT.  NBC Sports will provide more than 16 hours of high-definition U.S. Open coverage – the most extensive HD coverage ever provided for a golf event. ESPN’s coverage will span 14 hours over the first two days of competition. If necessary, a play-off will be contested starting at noon EDT on Monday, 21 June 2010. ESPN will cover the first two hours and NBC will then provide coverage until completion. Posted Apr 22 2010, 11:01 by GolfbloggerUK with 6 comment(s) Filed under: GolfbloggerUK, U.S. Open Golf Championship

• Tiger Woods has entered to play in the PGA Tour 2010 Quail Hollow Championship

  World Number 1 Golfer Tiger Woods, has entered to play in the PGA Tour Quail Hollow Championship, scheduled for 29 April 29- 2 May 2010. Woods, who won this tour event in 2007, will be making his fifth appearance in the Quail Hollow Championship. In 2009, Woods finished in fourth place after missing the 2008 event due to knee surgery. Woods finished T3 in 2004 and T11 in 2005. This will be Woods' first appearance on the US PGA Tour since he finished tied for fourth at the Masters Tournament last week. Woods' participation means three of the top-six ranked players in the world are scheduled to compete, with Lee Westwood (No. 4) and Jim Furyk (No. 6), scheduled to take part. Posted Apr 19 2010, 03:40 PM by GolfbloggerUK with no comments Filed under: Tiger Woods, GolfbloggerUK, Quail Hollow Championship

• South African Ernie Els leads The PGA Tour Money Earnings Standings after the 2010 U.S Masters

  South African Ernie Els leads The PGA Tour Money Earnings Standings after the 2010 U.S Masters, with winnings of $3,143,140.80 from 9 events played. The Springbok has already won the 2010 WGC CA Championship and PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational golf events. In second place is American Anthony Kim who is up to number 10 in the world rankings after his 3rd place finish at Augusta. Kim has amassed $2,342,557.00 from seven events played thus far this season. The full standings are as follows. 2010 PGA Tour Money Earnings Standings (14 April 2010) :- 1    Ernie Els    9    $3,143,140.80 2    Anthony Kim    7    $2,342,557.00 3    Steve Stricker    8    $2,033,714.40 4    Camilo Villegas    6    $1,896,000.00 5    Phil Mickelson    8    $1,842,719.00 6    Dustin Johnson    10    $1,827,934.00 7    Ian Poulter    5    $1,700,025.00 8    Matt Kuchar    10    $1,643,212.90 9    Hunter Mahan    9    $1,516,593.00 10    Paul Casey    5    $1,470,700.00 11    Geoff Ogilvy    7    $1,372,356.10 12    Bill Haas    9    $1,366,600.00 13    Jim Furyk    7    $1,360,987.40 14    Ben Crane    9    $1,355,276.30 15    Retief Goosen    8    $1,302,333.40 16    Robert Allenby    9    $1,277,056.60 17    K.J. Choi    8    $1,261,630.00 18    J.B. Holmes    8    $1,249,583.00 19    Luke Donald    9    $1,200,670.60 20    Ryan Palmer    10    $1,162,202.00 21    Nick Watney    10    $1,059,603.80 22    Y.E. Yang    9    $1,040,522.50 23    Vaughn Taylor    8    $984,948.60 24    Kevin Na    10    $971,404.25 25    Steve Marino    9    $934,047.00 26    Rickie Fowler    10    $916,301.25 27    Bubba Watson    9    $885,092.20 28    Derek Lamely    11    $880,230.00 29    Tim Clark    9    $836,846.40 30    Charles Howell III    10    $794,476.20 31    D.J. Trahan    8    $791,809.40 32    Justin Rose    9    $776,895.00 33    Rory Sabbatini    10    $758,360.00 34    Padraig Harrington    8    $752,785.06 35    Brandt Snedeker    9    $718,608.90 36    Marc Leishman    9    $690,131.80 37    Alex Prugh    10    $673,174.25 38    Cameron Beckman    7    $659,456.00 39    Sean O'Hair    9    $647,819.70 40    Ryan Moore    9    $628,933.30 41    Bryce Molder    9    $627,424.60 42    Sergio Garcia    6    $625,171.70 43    J.P. Hayes    8    $609,395.50 44    Stewart Cink    8    $579,621.10 45    Chris Couch    8    $577,677.00 46    David Duval    8    $577,420.00 47    Kevin Stadler    8    $565,920.00 48    Jerry Kelly    9    $563,520.00 49    Stephen Ames    8    $534,046.94 50    Ricky Barnes    10    $530,703.70 51    Kevin Streelman    9    $530,081.44 52    Brian Gay    10    $529,955.75 53    Ryuji Imada    7    $527,460.00 54    Paul Goydos    10    $520,272.00 55    Michael Sim    6    $502,573.34 56    Jeff Maggert    9    $472,673.75 57    Chad Collins    9    $468,602.00 58    John Rollins    10    $463,326.47 59    Vijay Singh    8    $457,508.38 60    Graham Delaet    9    $457,069.03 61    Mike Weir    8    $455,463.00 62    Zach Johnson    8    $446,276.00 63    Lucas Glover    9    $443,591.00 64    Carl Pettersson    11    $434,107.60 65    Kris Blanks    9    $433,675.44 66    Angel Cabrera    8    $429,142.13 67    George McNeill    8    $425,666.00 68    Brendon de Jonge    11    $425,060.66 69    Martin Laird    9    $416,965.16 70    Nathan Green    9    $415,614.00 71    Joe Ogilvie    11    $401,796.00 72    Fred Couples    4    $397,406.00 73    Charl Schwartzel    5    $395,814.44 74    Jason Bohn    7    $395,320.66 75    Kenny Perry    7    $392,120.47 76    Briny Baird    9    $390,804.60 77    Heath Slocum    9    $390,721.22 78    Bo Van Pelt    10    $377,842.00 79    Adam Scott    7    $375,385.16 80    Brian Stuard    10    $375,075.72 81    Josh Teater    10    $374,724.66 82    Charlie Wi    8    $366,157.63 83    Tom Gillis    8    $364,808.00 84    Fredrik Jacobson    7    $358,010.00 85    Ben Curtis    8    $347,608.00 86    Joe Durant    4    $341,040.00 87    Matt Every    9    $340,010.20 88    Chad Campbell    9    $337,428.30 89    Andres Romero    6    $331,621.00 90    Steve Elkington    7    $331,183.34 91    Tiger Woods    1    $330,000.00 92    Jason Dufner    9    $327,772.56 93    David Toms    8    $323,696.00 94    Scott Verplank    7    $323,360.00 95    Matt Jones    9    $318,423.72 96    Davis Love III    7    $308,750.00 97    Kevin Sutherland    8    $301,595.34 98    Pat Perez    10    $300,213.53 99    Shaun Micheel    3    $295,481.13 100    Blake Adams    9    $285,267.06 101    Michael Allen    7    $284,573.53 102    John Senden    8    $280,584.25 103    Mark Wilson    10    $279,402.00 104    Webb Simpson    9    $278,449.00 105    Mathew Goggin    8    $278,170.00 106    Jonathan Byrd    9    $275,975.00 107    D.A. Points    9    $272,790.16 108    Michael Connell    6    $261,059.60 109    Richard Johnson    8    $251,402.00 110    Scott Piercy    9    $246,274.00 111    Steve Wheatcroft    8    $245,393.03 112    Justin Leonard    9    $231,981.77 113    James Nitties    9    $228,696.00 114    Chris Tidland    7    $224,994.67 115    Skip Kendall    4    $220,382.84 116    Nick O'Hern    7    $220,332.25 117    Omar Uresti    9    $218,254.44 118    Jimmy Walker    10    $209,726.73 119    Spencer Levin    8    $206,868.05 120    Alex Cejka    9    $205,012.92 121    Jeev Singh    5    $194,091.34 122    Michael Bradley    8    $193,572.50 123    Jeff Quinney    10    $180,000.72 124    Greg Chalmers    8    $177,587.55 125    Tom Lehman    3    $172,610.00 126    Trevor Immelman    5    $164,506.00 127    Ted Purdy    10    $160,664.56 128    Woody Austin    9    $160,218.33 129    Troy Merritt    9    $159,770.00 130    Jeff Klauk    9    $159,468.16 131    Rory McIlroy    5    $154,743.40 132    Bob Estes    7    $153,328.33 133    Will MacKenzie    6    $146,494.53 134    Henrik Bjornstad    8    $142,739.44 135    Bill Lunde    9    $142,222.50 136    Jeff Overton    10    $142,133.00 137    Troy Matteson    7    $140,315.72 138    Rod Pampling    6    $136,342.75 139    Tom Pernice, Jr.    4    $133,844.02 140    James Driscoll    7    $130,263.52 141    Nicholas Thompson    10    $129,428.00 142    Rich Beem    9    $128,877.00 143    John Merrick    10    $127,910.42 144    Boo Weekley    9    $123,434.97 145    Henrik Stenson    4    $121,351.43 146    Martin Flores    8    $112,725.00 147    Brian Davis    9    $111,106.60 148    Jarrod Lyle    2    $108,815.00 149    Brett Quigley    10    $105,854.81 150    J.J. Henry    8    $104,839.91 151    Michael Letzig    8    $104,045.00 152    Rich Barcelo    7    $103,739.28 153    Garrett Willis    8    $103,040.57 154    Chris Riley    7    $99,378.40 155    Scott McCarron    10    $97,512.00 156    Tom Watson    1    $94,500.00 157    David Lutterus    8    $91,315.00 158    Jason Day    9    $87,590.00 159    Matt Weibring    2    $86,400.00 160    Charles Warren    2    $86,400.00 161    Roland Thatcher    8    $85,476.00 162    Greg Owen    9    $81,790.00 163    Paul Stankowski    2    $81,672.00 164    Tim Wilkinson    6    $80,782.86 165    Johnson Wagner    10    $79,240.40 166    Marco Dawson    2    $77,840.00 167    Chris DiMarco    7    $77,411.15 168    Mark Calcavecchia    8    $76,546.48 169    Stuart Appleby    10    $75,891.33 170    Vance Veazey    6    $73,320.00 171    Matt Bettencourt    10    $69,952.60 172    Chez Reavie    10    $68,997.11 173    Mark Hensby    1    $67,500.00 174    Steve Flesch    9    $66,719.00 175    Billy Mayfair    7    $64,130.00 176    Tim Herron    6    $63,911.42 177    Lee Janzen    8    $63,910.00 178    Tim Petrovic    9    $58,749.60 179    Shane Bertsch    3    $57,107.71 180    Kirk Triplett    2    $54,748.58 181    Chris Stroud    9    $54,435.00 182    Glen Day    2    $54,000.00 183    Charley Hoffman    6    $53,624.55 184    Cameron Percy    8    $53,381.00 185    Steve Lowery    9    $53,176.00 186    Roger Tambellini    9    $52,126.14 187    Kevin Johnson    9    $51,458.00 188    Craig Bowden    7    $50,489.40 189    Aaron Baddeley    6    $49,189.60 190    Jerod Turner    8    $47,801.00 191    John Daly    6    $45,941.33 192    Cameron Tringale    5    $45,800.00 193    Chris Wilson    9    $45,250.00 194    Corey Pavin    4    $43,643.30 195    Dean Wilson    3    $41,690.00 196    Parker McLachlin    7    $38,211.15 197    Jay Williamson    9    $33,667.00 198    Fran Quinn    6    $32,040.00 199    Robert Garrigus    4    $30,838.00 200    Rocco Mediate    9    $26,723.34 201    Guy Boros    2    $26,483.33 202    Daniel Chopra    8    $26,280.00 203    Brenden Pappas    8    $24,564.00 204    Chris Baryla    7    $24,254.00 205    Shigeki Maruyama    4    $22,440.00 206    Frank Lickliter II    3    $22,440.00 207    Todd Hamilton    5    $22,440.00 208    Jason Gore    5    $22,340.57 209    Harrison Frazar    8    $21,630.00 210    Craig Barlow    2    $20,006.00 211    Justin Bolli    8    $19,438.00 212    Aron Price    4    $18,900.00 213    Jim Carter    2    $18,473.00 214    John Morse    1    $16,920.00 215    Mark Brooks    4    $16,920.00 216    Jonathan Kaye    3    $16,789.11 217    Kent Jones    2    $15,400.00 218    Brett Wetterich    3    $13,166.00 219    J.L. Lewis    1    $12,960.00 220    John Mallinger    9    $12,524.00 221    Fred Funk    2    $12,150.00 222    Tommy Armour III    1    $11,130.00 223    Andrew McLardy    5    $11,130.00 224    John Huston    5    $9,990.00 225    Phil Tataurangi    2    $9,481.11 226    Michael Clark II    2    $8,948.57 227    Brad Faxon    8    $8,172.00 228    Jeff Gove    6    $8,015.00 229    Mathias Gronberg    5    $7,770.00 230    Greg Kraft    9    $7,596.00 231    Brent Delahoussaye    4    $7,105.00 232    Robin Freeman    1    $6,912.00 233    Spike McRoy    1    $6,840.00 Posted Apr 15 2010, 11:37 by GolfbloggerUK with 6 comment(s) Filed under: Ernie Els, PGA Tour, PGA Tour Money Earning

• How good was Phil Mickelson's win? If Tiger Woods was in top form, would have he won?

  have went into 'stat attack' mode to put things into perspective and the bottomline is that his sixteen under par winning score of 272 has only been beaten a mere three times - in 1997, when Tiger Woods with -18 won by 12 Shots; in 1976 when Raymond Floyd with -17 won by  8 Shots; and in 1965 when Jack Nicklaus with -17 won by  9 Shots The answer to that question is  - in my opinion, this is one of the finest wins around Augusta made even more exciting by the play of the competitors, which should have appealed to golfers at all levels - juniors through to seniors. It was great to see the likes of 16 year old Matteo Manassero becoming the youngest ever player to take part and make the cut; the trip down memory lane performances of senior golfers, Tom Watson and Fred Couples; the swashbuckling charges of Nick Watney and Anthony Kim in the final round; and full golf shots getting holed, monster putts steam-rolling in, and chip-ins by the abundance. What a start to the golf major event year and I must congratulate Phil Mickelson on an awesome overall performance which consisted of very attacking play, incredibly long driving, superb short game and that extra gear when it mattered. This course is just tailor-made for his game and it is not surprising that he collected his third green jacket. In the final analysis, it may not have mattered if Tiger Woods had been on top form as he has only beaten Mickelson's winning total on one occasion. There was a great deal of talk about how easy Augusta National Golf Course was becoming with the players hitting it so far with new technology and the current golf ball. This led to the course being greatly extended to the point whereby some of the players were saying this was "unplayable". There is nothing to support such assertions. There was no such fuss when Ray Floyd won the 1976 U.S Masters Golf Tournament by a very comfortable eight shots with a -17 aggregate score but all of the debate on how easy the course had become was when Tiger Woods won the event in 2001 with a -16 total score. The following year Woods defended his title with a -12 aggregate score. This should be set against a background where it is fairly common for tour events to be won with under par totals greater than -20. The only high scoring championship in modern times was when Zach Johnson won the event in 2007 with a +1 aggregate score. Golf scoring at Augusta has fluctuated between -7 and -12 since Woods won back to back events in 2001-2002, which supports my position that the course is playable and good scoring is available to the players if they play well. As per every other major golf championship course, poor play should be punished. Major golf championships are all about the ultimate  golf test around high quality golf courses, delivering an exciting golfing spectacle for spectators and T.V viewers from around the world. This year's event certainly delivered in that respect. The scores the past two years supports my assertion that Augusta National is "playable". I'd be interested to hear what you think about the new layout and whether you feel this is a unique but fair test for the world's best golfers. Also, whether Phil Mickelson's win will go down as one of the finest wins in history with his second shot out of the trees and over the creek to within 3-4 feet of a front pin placement as the shot of the tournament; and  perhaps one of the finest shots witnessed at Augusta National in The Masters. I must spare a 'wee' thought for Lee Westwood who played well all week and who was unlucky to come up against Phil Mickelson in top form. Lee's runner-up total was one shot better than the 2009 winning score - surely, if he sticks to his high quality ball striking game plan of fairways and greens in the majors, supported by way of a sounder short game, his time to win a major will come. In support of what I am saying, below is a list of the winners and their winning scores to enable you to make some informed decisions. U.S Masters Golf History - List of Winners with score to par and winning margin 2010     Phil Mickelson United States -16 Won by 3 Shots 2009     Ángel Cabrera      Argentina     -12     Three Man Play-off 2008     Trevor Immelman      South Africa     -8     Won by 3 Shots 2007     Zach Johnson      United States     +1     Won by 2 shots 2006     Phil Mickelson (2)      United States     -7    Won by 2 shots 2005     Tiger Woods (4)      United States     -12    Two Man Play-off 2004     Phil Mickelson      United States     -9     Won by 1 Shot 2003     Mike Weir      Canada     -7     Two Man Play-off 2002     Tiger Woods (3)      United States     -12     Won by 3 Shots 2001     Tiger Woods (2)      United States     -16    Won by  2 Shots 2000     Vijay Singh      Fiji     -10     won by 3 Shots 1999     José María Olazábal (2)      Spain     -8    Won by 2 Shots 1998     Mark O'Meara      United States     -9     Won by 1 Shot 1997     Tiger Woods      United States     -18     Won by 12 Shots 1996     Nick Faldo (3)      England     -12     Won by 5 Shots 1995     Ben Crenshaw (2)      United States     -14     Won by 1 Shot 1994     José María Olazábal      Spain     -9     Won by 2 Shots 1993     Bernhard Langer (2)      Germany     -11    Won by  4 Shots 1992     Fred Couples      United States     -13    Won by 2 Shots 1991     Ian Woosnam      Wales     -11     Won by 1 Shot 1990     Nick Faldo (2)      England     -10     Two Man Play-off 1989     Nick Faldo      England     -5     Two Man Play-off 1988     Sandy Lyle      Scotland     -7    Won by 1 Shot 1987     Larry Mize      United States     -3     Three Man Play-off 1986     Jack Nicklaus (6)      United States     -9    Won by 1 Shot 1985     Bernhard Langer      West Germany     -6   Won by  2 Shots 1984     Ben Crenshaw      United States     -11    Won by  2 Shots 1983     Seve Ballesteros (2)      Spain     -8    Won by  4 Shots 1982     Craig Stadler      United States     -4     Two Man Play-off 1981     Tom Watson (2)      United States     -8    Won by  2 Shots 1980     Seve Ballesteros      Spain     -13    Won by  4 Shots 1979     Fuzzy Zoeller      United States     -8     Three Man Play-off 1978     Gary Player (3)      South Africa     -11     Won by  1 Shot 1977     Tom Watson      United States     -12    Won by  2 Shots 1976     Raymond Floyd      United States     -17    Won by  8 Shots 1975     Jack Nicklaus (5)      United States     -12   Won by  1 Shot 1974     Gary Player (2)      South Africa     -10     Won by  2 Shots 1973     Tommy Aaron      United States     -5     Won by  1 Shot 1972     Jack Nicklaus (4)      United States     -2    Won by 3 Shots 1971     Charles Coody      United States     -9     Won by  2 Shots 1970     Billy Casper      United States     -9     Two Man Play-off 1969     George Archer      United States     -7     Won by 1 Shot 1968     Bob Goalby      United States     -11     Won by 1 Shot 1967     Gay Brewer      United States     -8     Won by 1 Shot 1966     Jack Nicklaus (3)      United States     E   Three Man Play-off 1965     Jack Nicklaus (2)      United States     -17    Won by  9 Shots 1964     Arnold Palmer (4)      United States     -12   Won by  6 Shots 1963     Jack Nicklaus      United States     -2     Won by 1 Shot 1962     Arnold Palmer (3)      United States     -8    Three Man Play-off 1961     Gary Player      South Africa     -8     Won by 1 Shot 1960     Arnold Palmer (2)      United States     -6   Won by 1 Shot 1959     Art Wall, Jr.      United States     -4     Won by 1 Shot 1958     Arnold Palmer      United States     -4    Won by 1 Shot 1957     Doug Ford      United States     -5     Won by 3 Shots 1956     Jack Burke, Jr.      United States     +1   Won by 1 Shot 1955     Cary Middlecoff      United States     -9   Won by  7 Shots 1954     Sam Snead (3)      United States     +1     Two Man Play-off 1953     Ben Hogan (2)      United States     -14    Won by 5 Shots 1952     Sam Snead (2)      United States     -2     Won by  4 Shots 1951     Ben Hogan      United States     -8     Won by  2 Shots 1950     Jimmy Demaret (3)      United States     -5     Won by  2 Shots 1949     Sam Snead      United States     -6     Won by  3 Shots 1948     Claude Harmon      United States     -9    Won by  5 Shots 1947     Jimmy Demaret (2)      United States     -7   Won by  2 Shots 1946     Herman Keiser      United States     -6     Won by 1 Shot 1943-45: Cancelled due to World War II 1942     Byron Nelson (2)      United States     -8    Two Man Play-off 1941     Craig Wood      United States     -8    Won by  3 Shots 1940     Jimmy Demaret      United States     -8    Won by 4 Shots 1939     Ralph Guldahl      United States     -9     Won by  1 Shot 1938     Henry Picard      United States     -3    Won by  2 Shots 1937     Byron Nelson      United States     -5     Won by  2 Shots 1936     Horton Smith (2)      United States     -3   Won by 1 Shot 1935     Gene Sarazen      United States     -6     Two Man Play-off 1934     Horton Smith      United States     -4     Won by 1 Shot * I am already looking forward to the next golf major - The 150th Open Golf Championship at St Andrews, the Home of Golf, from the 15th - 18th July, 2010. The Ed., GolfbloggerUK Posted Apr 12 2010, 10:12 by GolfbloggerUK with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Tiger Woods, GolfbloggerUK, Masters, Phil Mickelson

• Can Fred Couples do the unthinkable and win the 2010 Masters Golf Championship at Augusta?

  Can Fred Couples do the unthinkable and win the 2010 Masters Golf Championship at Augusta? My immediate response would be "No!", but when you look at Fred's form in winning three Champions Tour event in his rookie year on the Seniors Tour and the scores he has posted, never say "never!" Nowadays, senior golfers are hitting the ball as far , if not further, than in their hey day as opposed to less when you become less flexible through age. This was something 5-times Open Golf Champion Tom Watson commented upon after coming so close to winning the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, being beaten in a sudden death play-off by Stewart Cink. If you analysis this further, Greg Norman, who is also a senior golfer came close to winning The Open Championship the year previous at Royal Birkdale, finishing runner-up to Padraig Harrington of Ireland. Also, last year Kenny Perry at the age of 49 (one year younger than Fred Couples) was beaten in a three-man play-off for the 2009 U.S Masters. Although highly unlikely, yes, Fred Couples knows the host venue really well, has won the Masters Golf Tournament before and on a good week could win this! The Ed., GolfbloggerUK Posted Apr 06 2010, 03:08 PM by GolfbloggerUK with no comments Filed under: GolfbloggerUK, Fred Couples, Masters

• Augusta Masters - Today's Golfer of the moment is Ernie Els who must start as one of the favourites for victory

  Today's Golfer of the moment is Ernie Els, who has won consecutive events at the WGC CA Championship and PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational events - he must start as one of the favourites for victory at the 2010 U.S Masters Golf Championship in Georgia, USA and will be worth a flutter. The Springbok started the year in 17th place in the Official World Golf Ranking  (OWGR) and must have taken great confidence from climbing ten spots to 7th place in the latest OWGR.  There is no one more dangerous at a major golf event than a player coming into the championship on the back of a long run of consistent form, which includes back-to-back victories because they must feel invinsible. Proving that his win at Doral two weeks earlier at the WGC CA Championship was certainly no fluke. Callaway Golf Staff Professional nicknamed 'The Big Easy'  won his second consecutive event, capturing the Arnold Palmer Invitational by two shots on Monday for his 18th PGA title of his career and served notice that he will indeed be a man to contend with at the Masters. Els put a new Callaway Golf Driver in play two weeks ago at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral and the results have been immediate. He has also credited the Tour i(s) Ball for his improved short-game in 2010. This season, Els is also No.1 in scoring average, at 68.88. In 2009, his scoring average was 70.21, 28th on Tour, which highlights the significant improvement in form. Okay, he's in great form, but what Betting Odds will you get? Most bookmakers have drastically reduced the odds on the Springbok and you would probably get around 12/1 which may be worth a flutter. Tiger Woods is still odds on favourite at about 9/2 to win, coming into the event with no competitive play for several months due to taking time out to deal with personal problems. Very seldom will you see such high odds for Woods and this perhaps reflects the 'unknown' recent form. A lot of golfers placing bets will be looking at his trackrecord of 15 major golf events as being enough evidence to take a risk on Woods. Former Champion Phil Mickelson has been improving every week and knows how to win around Augusta National. Winning a major golf event is all about peaking at the right time. Very seldom will you see the winner of say the PGA Houston Open, which is held the week before the US Masters, going on to win The Masters. The Lefty has still to win this year and I have a 'gut feel' he will do well at this year's event. His powerful long game, ball flight and array of long and short golf shots is tailor-made for Augusta and I feel you will always get a run for your money from the world golf ranked #3 at this event. At approximately 10/1 - 12/2, he is a great bet. This is GolfbloggerUK's Tip to win the 2010 US Masters. Another player in a very fine run of form, but still to produce a victory, is Retief Goosen of South Africa. He must a great each way bet at odds of between 22/1 - 30/1. Three-times golf major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland has also been in great form, and like Goosen, has still to deliver a win. The Irishman is currently priced at between 16/1 to 22/1. A lot of punters will be considering the following players, World #2 Steve Stricker (approx. 18/1), Irishman Rory McIlroy (30/1), England's Paul Casey (approx. 25/1) & Ian Poulter (33/1) and American Jim Furyk (approx. 30/1), who recently won on the PGA Tour. GolfbloggerUK's long-shot bet is big-hitting American Dustin Johnson, who knows how to play well around difficult layouts, having already won back-to-back Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Johnson, is only aged 25 and has won already three times on the PGA Tour. On his debut at last year's Masters he finished 30th and must be a great each way bet at odds of between 40/1 to 50/1. The above are spot-check prices I obtained at 1000 hours, Wednesday, 31st March 2010 and betting odds will fluctuate. It is always best to check betting odds with a reputable bookmaker (s) before placing your bet.  Who do you fancy to win the 2010 US Masters? Whoever your backing, good luck.   Posted Apr 01 2010, 03:23 PM by GolfbloggerUK with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Rory McIlroy, Augusta Masters, Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, 2010, Ian Poulter, Jim Furyk, GolfbloggerUK