US Open / The Betfair Contrarian / 15 June 2010 / Leave a Comment

Robert Green has one admirer left in England after his blunder kept The Contrarian's winning streak alive. Laying the Three Lions against the USA provided a fourth win in three weeks, a tally the Boston Celtics should soon add to. This week the Contrarian's backing Tiger Woods to win the US Open at the unusually tasty price of [9.0].

Woods has a great US Open record

Not only was the US Open the last major that Woods won, when he beat everyone on one leg in 2008 (he had an anterior cruciate ligament injury that would prevent him from playing again that season), it's also a competition that he's won three times, and he's finished in the top three six times in his last 11 appearances.

Mickelson is set for a fall

Joint-favourite Phil Mickelson has never won the US Open, and though he's finished second on five separate occasions, including last year, his previous four silver medal performances were all followed 12 months later by hideous results: he tied for 16th in 2000, came joint-55th in 2003, was level in 33rd in 2005 and failed to even make the cut in 2007. The 39-year-old has never won two majors in one season either, so don't expect him to build on his Masters triumph.

The competition isn't up to much

Woods was nowhere near his unbeatable best when he returned from his hiatus at the Masters but without excelling was still able to tie for fourth, finishing just five behind Mickelson. He hit into the trees, missed putts and struck a pine, and analysed his performance by saying: "As the week wore on, I kept hitting the ball worse. I only enter events to win and I didn't get it done. I didn't hit the ball good enough and I made too many mistakes around the greens." If he can finish fourth without even playing well, then nobody else stands a chance if he performs at anywhere close to his best.

Woods is approaching top form

The world number one is heading into the US Open in greater nick than he did the Masters, judging by the comments of his practice partner Arjun Atwal. He said: "His practices have been really good the last couple of weeks at home. Every day it has got better. In fact, yesterday was a lot better, and then today got a lot better than yesterday. It's amazing the improvement." Cynics will point out that his friend is bound to talk him up, but Atwal claims that Woods established above as his own worst critic is delighted with his form: "He feels he is very close (to his top form). It is just a matter of when the bell goes off if he can do it then. I think he will.

He loves playing at Pebble Beach

Back in January, when it was still hard to pick up a newspaper or tune into a news report without hearing a new piece of gossip about Woods extra-curricular activities, The Contrarian argued that he would definitely win a major in 2010, and the reason he was so assured was that this year's US Open takes place at Pebble Beach, the ultimate happy hunting ground for the 14-time major winner. The last time the US Open was held on the California course was in 2000 and Woods romped home by a 15-stroke margin, his finest ever in a major. As mentioned earlier, Mickelson tied for 16th that year.

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