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November 14th Golf news ... Bet PGA Tour at betpgatour.com

2010 U.S. Open Preview
2021-06-18

Ever since Tiger Woods’ legendary performance at the 1997 Masters, he has been the heavy favorite in every major in which he’s played. However, with Woods struggling to regain his customary dominant form since his November car accident and revelations of marital indiscretions, the tide has begun to turn in golf. For the 2010 U.S. Open, the title of favorite must be bestowed on his rival, Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson heads into Pebble Beach with a sense of urgency he has perhaps never felt. For him, there are numerous things on the line. First and foremost is the opportunity to win the title that has forever eluded him, often under painful circumstances. Mickelson has finished second a record five times at the U.S. Open and although he has never sealed the deal, says that he has historically played some of his best golf in his nation’s tournament. With his 40th birthday the Tuesday of U.S. Open week, he knows that his window of opportunity is closing, and golf betting is thinking the same.

A win at the U.S. Open would provide Mickelson with another career first: the number one ranking in the world. He is closer than ever to achieving this, with chances in his last three tournaments to mathematically supplant Woods, the world number one for a staggering 261 consecutive weeks.

Mickelson comes into Pebble Beach with significant momentum after his emotional win in The Masters in April, regarded by many onlookers as his finest performance ever. Although he has not won since, he has shown flashes of brilliance while striving to have his game peak for the U.S. Open. He was in position to win his first post-Masters tournament at Quail Hollow and it took the round of the year by Rory McIlroy to pass him. He made a charge in the third round at The Players Championship, showing his ability to go low at any time. His missed cut at Colonial proved to be a mere aberration as he followed it up with a solid tie for fifth place this past week at The Memorial, which would have been much better if not for some untimely missed putts. Despite the lack of wins, Mickelson provided himself with an infusion of confidence, happy with the state of his game while promising to sharpen his customary stellar putting in time for Pebble Beach.

This is a stark contrast to Woods, whose game is a great unknown right now, having only completed two tournaments since November and still showing significant rust from his lengthy layoff. In addition to the turbulence within his personal life, his swing coach recently quit, leaving only Woods himself to find the answers to a golf swing that looks nothing like the one responsible for his past dominance. Compounding problems is a neck injury that forced him to withdraw from The Players Championship last month. Although he completed all four rounds at this week’s Memorial, he stopped short of saying the neck was 100% recovered. This could prove to be problematic with the torque required to hit from the customary long rough of a U.S. Open, a place Woods may find himself frequently given his recent wayward driving. All of these factors reveal that winning a tournament of this caliber is a tall order for Woods, even after taking his pedigree into account.

Mickelson seems to have begun to thrive off Woods’ presence in tournaments. With Woods out of the game at the beginning of the year, the golf world expected Mickelson to seize control. Although he didn’t right away—in large part due to his wife’s ongoing battle with breast cancer—he asserted his presence at The Masters, Woods’ first tournament of the year. He was steady throughout and proved to be undaunted even by Woods’ furious attempts at a comeback. The intimidation factor once presented by Woods has certainly lost some of its edge on Mickelson.

There are many other factors working in Mickelson’s favor this year. He has had tremendous success at Pebble Beach, previously winning three times at the annual P.G.A. tour stop there. Already a fan favorite, he can expect to receive a significant boost from the fans as a California native himself. Many of the cheers that once would have gone to Woods will undoubtedly be directed Mickelson’s way.

One of Mickelson’s greatest golf attributes, his prodigious distance, will come in handy at Pebble Beach. Since Pebble isn’t one of the longer courses in the U.S. Open rotation, Mickelson can hit 2 iron or 3 wood off the tee and still have relatively short approach shots. He will be hitting these clubs as far as many players hit their driver while reducing the probability of hitting into the penal U.S. Open rough.

The U.S. Open always seems to come down to who can make the most putts. Mickelson made one clutch putt after another in April at The Masters and can feed off the memories and confidence from that unforgettable week. Expect to see him make a putt at the 72nd hole on Sunday to win the U.S. Open that has long eluded him.

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It is always fun to see siblings doing well in a certain sport. Tennis has Venus and Serena Williams. American football has Eli and Peyton Manning. Basketball has Cheryl and Reggie Miller. Boxing has seen its own share of two brothers who are both good at it. Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko and Juan Manuel and Rafael Marquez are two sets of brothers who are both world-class fighters. But does the boxing betting community think these two brothers are that good?

However, in some cases, the disparity between the talent of two siblings is like night and day. In the NBA, there’s Brooke and Robin Lopez. The two were drafted in the same year. Brooke already has an All-Star appearance tucked under his belt while the other is just a marginal player for a good team. Boxing also has examples of such. The most popular of course is Manny and Bobby Pacquiao. The other is the best fighter in the business while the other has a record of 29 wins, 15 losses, and five draws and has never even competed for a world title.

Another example is Ricky and Matthew Hatton. Ricky reached pretty good heights in his career. He was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in his prime and he dominated the light welterweight division for a long period of time before getting knocked out cold by Manny Pacquiao. Matthew on the other hand is an okay welterweight fighter. He has compiled a record of 39 wins, four losses (only one by knockout), and a draw. He has always been in the background because his brother was a very good fighter. But now that Ricky’s career seems to be over, it may just be Matthew’s time to step into the spotlight, and the boxing betting world is watching.

Matthew Hatton will be fighting Yuri Nuzhnenko on July 10 at the Bolton Arena, in Bolton, Lancashire, United Kingdom for the European welterweight title. Hatton is coming of two wins, including the best win of his life which was a unanimous decision win over Gianluca Branco for the vacant European welterweight title. The other win was against Mikheil Khutsishvili whom he defeated via technical knockout. Before those two wins, Hatton had a draw against the highly-ranked Lovemore N’Dou, which was for the IBO welterweight title.

Nuzhnenko is largely unknown in the world boxing scene. Browsing through the names of the guys he has fought, one would find it hard to find a single one that would ring a bell. Most people would also find it hard to pronounce 80% of the names in his record as Nuzhnenko has fought most of his fights in Poland and Ukraine against fighters of Russian origin. Nuzhnenko has a record 30 wins, with a loss and a draw, 14 of his wins were by knockout. His record is definitely not bad but the quality of the opposition that he has faced is highly questionable.

Nuzhnenko’s biggest win came when he won the interim WBA welterweight title against Frederick Klose. Other than Klose, the only other familiar name in his résumé is Vyacheslav Senchenko who is currently the WBA welterweight champion. Nuzhnenko lost to Senchenko on April 10, 2009. Senchenko went on to be declared the welterweight champion of the WBA when the organization stripped Shane Mosley of the title he held due to his horrible loss at the hands of Floyd Mayweather.

Although Hatton is more well-known compared to Nuzhnenko, the Ukrainian has a real shot at winning the European welterweight title because he is the far better athlete among the two. A win is important for both guys because the European title could be their bargaining chip for a shot at a world title someday.

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Over the years, the U.S. Open has shown us that for every Tiger Woods victory, there is an under-the-radar player capable of winning America’s championship. Players like Steve Jones, Michael Campbell, and even last year’s winner Lucas Glover have revealed that picking a winner is far from an exact science. With that in mind, here are some players who might surprise at this year’s edition and make some people in golf betting very happy.

• Jim Furyk- It’s very rare for the fifth-ranked player in the world to go relatively unnoticed, but such is the case for Furyk at 28/1 odds. He is not flashy like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson but has already won two PGA Tour events this year and has the ability to catch people by surprise. He is the consummate U.S. Open player: very accurate, an excellent putter, and perhaps most importantly, is a very gritty player who has an excellent mental outlook and won’t be deterred by the inevitable U.S. Open mistakes. He has a proven pedigree in this event and seems to always be in contention. His victory in the 2003 Open shows that he knows how to win on golf’s grandest stage. He has plenty of motivation after losing this event by a single stroke in both 2006 and 2007. Another major championship would also likely place him in the Hall of Fame.


• Luke Donald- Donald is a player that has been tantalizing the golf world for a long time with his amazing talent. He has not won as often as expected but has the makeup of a potential major champion. Like Furyk, his skills fit the mold of a U.S. Open player: a very straight hitter with an excellent short game. When his putter gets hot, he is very dangerous. He has contended in majors before and likely won’t be daunted by the pressure. Perhaps most importantly, he is entering the tournament with significant momentum, having just won the highly acclaimed Madrid Masters of the European Tour. In a year where the emergence of English golfers has been a big topic in golf, Donald has largely been left out of the discussion, an omission that has likely provided motivation. A major championship would surely put him squarely in the center of the conversation. And have the golf betting community excited.


• Zach Johnson- The surprise 2007 Masters winner has backed up that victory with very solid play, winning five times in the last three years and showing an ability to close the deal when in contention. Following Johnson’s breakthrough win, many predicted that his best chance for future success in major championships would come at the U.S. Open, especially considering that his Green Jacket came in very difficult scoring conditions that more closely resembled a U.S. Open. Although a rather short hitter, he is usually able to stay in the fairway and is an outstanding putter. He is very stoic as well, a favorable trait in the roller coaster that is the U.S. Open. Johnson, too, comes into Pebble Beach in good form. After a slow start to his 2010 season, he made one clutch putt after another two weeks ago at Colonial to seize control and win. If Johnson is in contention come Sunday, watch out.


• Ricky Barnes- Barnes has shown a penchant for delivering clutch performances in the biggest tournaments. He led for much of last year’s U.S. Open and eventually finished tied for second, despite having never posted a top ten finish before. Those who thought he would be a flash in the pan have been proven wrong with his play so far this year. He backed up his performance at last year’s Open with a tie for tenth at The Masters and is tied for the PGA Tour lead with five top ten finishes, including a tie for third at last week’s prestigious Memorial Tournament. Don’t be surprised to see his torrid play continue.


• Ben Crane- If there were a most improved player award for the 2010 PGA Tour season to date, Crane would be the runaway winner. Already enjoying a solid career, he has emerged this year as one of the world’s top players, winning once and coming close on multiple other occasions. It’s important to note that his victory this January came at Torrey Pines, the U.S. Open venue a mere two years ago. He has clearly become a new player and should begin to contend in the biggest events. An accurate driver and deadly putter, the logical start would be at a U.S. Open.

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As the U.S. Open draws near, just about a month away now, many golf fans are wondering who will rein victorious at the end of the grueling four-day tournament. In the past few years, Tiger Woods has maintained a lock on the “favorite” position, but these days, nothing is certain. There are, however, a handful of players who could very easily take home the coveted title in this year’s U.S. Open. And for many of them, an Open win is long overdue and deserved, and PGA golf bettors are keeping their eyes on the entire top of the field.

At the top of the list of favorites sits Phil Mickelson. This southpaw has the best short game in golf. His abilities were put on full display at this year’s Masters, which he walked away from with a commanding victory. He made every putt that mattered and this was the difference between walking away the victor and just walking away with another bloated paycheck. However, Mickelson has yet to win U.S. Open and will ride into Pebble Beach this year on a wave of confidence. In 2000, Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open with a record 15-stroke margin of victory which has made him the default favorite ever since – especially considering the Open was played at Pebble Beach that year, as it will be this year; however, Mickelson has shown that Pebble Beach won’t get the better of him with three victories at the AT&T Pebble Beach National ProAm, so he is definitely the guy to watch this year.

Though Tiger seems to have lost a certain something since focus moved from his golf game to his personal life, he should never be counted out. With a record victory at the Open hosted by Pebble Beach in 2000, Woods has already proven that he can come out on top and in a big way. But as he puts the pieces of his personal life back together, it’s hard to know if he’ll come into the Open with that single-minded focus and determination he is known for. He isn’t the same player he used to be, both for better and worse, but his competitive hunger still seems to be in tact. So, for now, Tiger remains a wild card – which is quite the change from years past where he was the assumed victor. The moment we count him down and out, however, is the moment he will come stampeding back and prove us all wrong. All eyes will definitely be on him to see how he approaches this tournament, and PGA Golf bettors are also watching him closely.

After Mickelson and Tiger, there are a handful of other guys who warrant careful watching at this year’s Open. Lee Westwood has proven to be a solid player who continuously finishes in the top three, but he seems to lack the short game to put him over the top. Perhaps he has reached his climax, or perhaps he is just waiting for his big break. And perhaps that break will come at this year’s Open. Steve Stricker is another one to watch. One of golf’s veterans and most beloved players, Stricker is still waiting to see a top tournament finish. Stricker has spent the last year plus in the top three of the World Rankings despite having won a major tournament. This is due to an extremely accurate long game and one of the purest putting strokes in golf. However, he seems to lack the toughness to grind through a tournament and close it out. At 43-years old, time is not on Stricker’s side. Perhaps that proverbial egg timer in his head will give him the determination needed to come out on top this year.

Past favorites, such as Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk, are not hot topics of conversation this year, though they are solid players with years and years of experience. Unfortunately for these guys, the years of wear and tear seem to have frayed their nerves and unsteadied their hands. Putting strokes have become shaky and this is a death sentence when you’re up against talent like Mickelson, Woods, Westwood and so on. Ian Poulter, however, is a relatively new name, but has caused quite a bit of buzz lately, so also look to him for an exciting four rounds of golf.

As they say, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over, and that’s very true when it comes to a tournament like the U.S. Open. With a premium put on driving, pinched fairways and hilly greens, it’s a matter of whose clubs are working with them at the right time. And who has the drive, focus and determination to grit their teeth and finish on top. These are just a few guys, from a field of 156, who have a strong chance to emerge victorious this year. But like in 2008, there are always a few surprises thrown in there. Chances are, Rocco Mediate’s name wasn’t being thrown around two years ago and he gave Tiger a run for his money. So, take this for what it is, an estimated guess based on past years’ and tournaments’ turnouts. But to really know what will happen, you have to watch. You are assured an exciting and thrilling four days of golf. Are you ready to bet on the US Open this year? Head over to www.here the king of Golf Betting.