US Open / Steven Rawlings / 17 June 2009 / Leave a Comment

The Punter ignores Tiger, for now, but finds room for a few old favourites, as he hopes for the sporting story of the year.

Back in 2002, the one and only time that Bethpage has been used for the US Open, it played tough and very long, and only the winner, Tiger Woods, finished the event under par. With the advancement in equipment, a change of policy regarding the brutality of the rough and following a few tweaks to the course it's unlikely to play as hard this year, but it will still be a stern enough test.

The rightful place to start when assessing this year's protagonists is with the favourite, and last year's one-legged hero, Tiger Woods. His return to form looks very well timed and almost too good to be true, and maybe it is? When he won the Memorial two weeks ago he missed only seven fairways all week, driving better than he has for many years, but that does pose a question, why did he only win by one stroke? Maybe I'm being ultra picky and he's right on the verge of returning to his incredible 2000 form, when he trounced the field at Pebble Beech by 15 strokes, but I'm not happy about taking just [3.00] about him becoming the first player since Curtis Strange, 20 years ago, to win back-to-back.

If he starts well and wins wire-to-wire I won't be too gutted to have missed such a short price but I will be monitoring closely and may well look to jump aboard as the event progresses, as I did successfully two weeks ago, and as I did at Bay Hill back in March.

Next in the betting now is Geoff Ogilvy, winner at Winged Foot in '06, but he's a player I can never get right, he's an enigma and an enigma I don't trust in contention anyway, so he's passed over.

The deposed second favourite is Phil Mickelson, who has drifted all week long. He has a great US Open record with four second placed finishes and this is the title he wants more than any other but with wife Amy due to start treatment for breast cancer on July 1 you have to wonder how he'll fare.

Trying to gauge what effect his wife's illness will have this week is impossible. Phil himself will have no idea how he'll feel, how could he? But what price would he be without Amy's illness? He wouldn't be any bigger than [11.0], so as I'm a massive Lefty fan I've had a small interest at [22.0].

If, and it is a huge if, Lefty could lift the trophy in front of his adoring New York fans for the first time on Sunday night it would be close to the sporting story of the year and it may even eclipse Tiger's win with a broken leg!

My second pick is Paul Casey, who's been in fine form this year, climbing to number three in the world. If he's going to win a Major, I fancy it would be this one and as he's in such great form, why not this year, but I confess, I'm not totally convinced he's quite got it in him.

One player we all ready know has the wherewithal to bag a Major is Zach Johnson. Currently ahead in the Fed-ex points list, he's already won two events this year and but for an awful shank at the 2nd hole in the final round, he may also have won at Quail Hollow.

I don't really know what Zach has to do to have his talent reflected in the market but I'm not complaining. I am concerned about his lack of length though, as the last three US Open winners have all bombed it off the tee, but at [80.0] he's a fantastic price and I've backed him accordingly.

Finally, I've thrown a few pounds at three favourites of mine. Dustin Johnson and Alvaro Quiros certainly both hit it far enough but they're still a bit raw and unpredictable. While Ben Crane, is quite frankly a weakness of mine and backing him is merely a case of just in case!

Selections:

Phil Mickelson @ [22.0]
Paul Casey @ [34.0]
Zach Johnson @ [80.0]
Dustin Johnson @ [230.0]
Alvaro Quiros @ [230.0]
Ben Crane @ [330.0]

I'll post an update after each round this week as the tournament, and my book, takes shape, but in the meantime...come on Lefty!

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