Golf Events / Paul Krishnamurty / 04 August 2009 /

Tiger's form on this course and at this time of year mean he should be odds-on, says Paul Krishnamurty.

If there was a lesson to be learnt from last weekend's Buick Open, it was surely a reminder to never write off a wounded Tiger. Having missed the cut at the Open, when Woods opened up with a distinctly moderate 71 to sit eight shots off the pace, layers who'd reckoned on another struggle were licking their lips. Even after his odds drifted to [5.5] from an opening [3.0], it would have taken a brave man to speculate that his 'A Game' would suddenly re-emerge in round two.

Characteristically, it did, with a brilliant nine under par round transforming the tournament and setting up an eventual three shot victory. Despite what remains a slightly flawed performance by his exceptional standards, it's clear that Woods is close to his best again as we enter the lucrative golfing month of August and if recent history tells us anything, that spells bad news for the opposition.

With the Buick in the bag, Tiger will fancy his chances of completing a hat-trick by winning the two elite events over the next fortnight.

Starting on Thursday, we have the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, followed by the final major of the season, the USPGA Championship. Tiger absolutely loves this time of the year. He missed August 2008 due to injury, but in the previous three seasons he won six out of seven events played during this month.

Winning three weeks consecutively at this level is beyond almost any other player's wildest dreams, but to Tiger it's fairly normal. Indeed, he completed this same hat-trick three years ago, in the middle of an incredible run of seven consecutive titles. He also completed a similar hat-trick back in 2000, though then the NEC Invitational, (this week's predecessor tournament), and PGA were the first two legs.

Next week's final leg will be far from straightforward, and any conclusions about Tiger's chances in the PGA should really be left until Sunday night. In the meantime though, he looks an overwhelmingly strong favourite to win his fourth consecutive title at Firestone, which would make it seven from his last nine visits to this Akron venue.

As that impeccable record suggests, Firestone is one of those courses where his dominance over the rest is accentuated. At over 7,400 yards, this is a long par-70 with penal rough and small, extremely fast greens. As the fairways are relatively wide, big-hitters enjoy an obvious advantage on the numerous long par-4s, but the real key to success is high-class long iron play to hold those greens. In other words, the perfect recipe for a Woods success, and a not dissimilar test to Torrey Pines, another course where Tiger wins almost every year.

If all that isn't enough to justify his [2.86] odds, consider the fact that all of his main rivals have questions to answer about either their 'match-fitness', course form or even their ability to take winning chances.

Phil Mickelson's preparedness must be taken on trust after several weeks out, while his most in-form opponents Retief Goosen and Lee Westwood are fast developing reputations as 'bottlers'. Other regular leading candidates such as Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Geoff Ogilvy will have to improve dramatically on poor Firestone records. In short, Tiger should be odds-on.

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