Golf Events / Editor / 01 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Tiger Woods is looking forward to resuming his rivalry with Phil Mickelson at this year's Masters as he looks to regain the title he lost in 2006

The race for the highly-coveted green jacket gets underway on Thursday when the duo, who have shared success over the past three years, will again be looking to hit top gear from the off.

Mickelson, who won the tournament in 2004 and 2006, is currently trading as the second favourite at 10 in the outright winner market, with only Woods (2.52), who wrestled the green jacket from his compatriot in 2005, a shorter price.

Every year seems to be "Woods' year" at Augusta and, in the eyes of many punters with the American looking for a third Major in a row following victories at last year's British Open and PGA Championship, this year is no different.

Golfers who have 'touch and feel' around the greens tend to do well at the Georgia course and both Woods and Mickelson feel at home at the Augusta National Golf Club.

"We both feel comfortable on the golf course," Woods said. "We both have decent short games, and that golf course is one of the very few golf courses where we can utilise our imagination and creativity.

"You look at most of the guys who have gone through there and won, they have wonderful short games. You've got to bump-and-run, you've got to use different spins, high, low. I think once you understand how to play it and you can build your misses into some short-game situations, you start seeing the same guys up there at the top of the board."

Meanwhile, Betfair are giving punters looking for value bets plenty of options for the event - including the usual Top 10, Top 5 and Top European markets. While Woods and Mickelson dominate many of them in which they feature, backers will also be considering the likes of Vijay Singh and Charles Howell III.

Singh, who has two victories this year, is in the running to win his second Masters while local hero Howell III, who has seemingly pieced his game together this year, will enjoy plenty of vocal support from the galleries.