Tiger at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – Good Golf Betting?

Frank Doyle previews the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando and wonders: if Tiger can’t turn it at Orlando, where can he turn it on?

We’re two weeks from the Masters, and Tiger Woods is the clear favorite for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Orlando, Florida.

Woods is 8/1 on the golf betting morning line, with the next contender, Dustin Johnson, available at twice the price. This has to do with Woods’ outstanding record at Bay Hill – he’s won six times over eleven years, and that’s a record that has to be respected.

Whether Tiger can ever return to what he was is the bigger question for golf bettors. Because he’s so important to the industry, any time Woods shoots a half-decent round there’s a story somewhere wondering: is Tiger back? And the answer is invariably: no, he’s not. He can’t put rounds together like he used to, and the rest of the tour just isn’t frightened of him any more.

The field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational is peppered with Tiger’s great rivals over the past ten years. Ernie Els, winner of three majors and the reigning champion at Bay Hill. Phil Mickelson, a winner here in the ‘nineties and a man who needs a run of form just as badly as Tiger himself as Augusta looms. And perhaps most intriguingly of all, Sergio Garcia.

Garcia looked like being Woods’ great rival at the start of both their careers but while Woods went stratospheric in the 2000s, Garcia stayed firmly rooted to Earth. He had a good Thursday and Friday at Copperhead but he’s not a good value bet at Bay Hill because he can’t putt for nuts. And you won’t win much when the putts aren’t dropping.

This year’s golf has been all about big priced winners, so we have to look hard for value – not just in the outrights, but in the host of other golf bets you can make with Sports Interaction – group betting, big guns, head to heads, winning region and more. But for the outright, here’s Sports Interaction’s

Fore! to Follow

Brandt Snedeker (+5500). The Tennessean finished fourth at the Transitions last week.

Charl Schwartzel (+4000). The young South African was in the Top 25 in the World at the start of the year. He’s got the game to make a return.

Ernie Els (+4000). Els is currently out of form but he’s won here before and there’s no reason he can’t win again.

Ian Poulter (+6000). Good value at a big price.

Bet now on the Arnold Palmer Invitational!

Golf World Rankings, March 22nd, 2011

Rank	Change	Last Week	Player	Nationality	Average Points
1	-	1	Martin Kaymer	Germany	7.98
2	-	2	Lee Westwood	England	7.69
3	-	3	Luke Donald	England	6.64
4	-	4	Graeme McDowell	Northern Ireland	6.28
5	-	5	Tiger Woods	USA	5.94
6	-	6	Phil Mickelson	USA	5.88
7	-	7	Paul Casey	England	5.74
8	-	8	Rory McIlroy	Northern Ireland	5.54
9	-	9	Matt Kuchar	USA	5.4
10	-	10	Steve Stricker	USA	5.37
11	-	11	Dustin Johnson	USA	5.17
12	-	12	Jim Furyk	USA	4.98
13	-	13	Ernie Els	South Africa	4.82
14	+1	15	Nick Watney	USA	4.61
15	-1	14	Ian Poulter	England	4.47
16	-	16	Francesco Molinari	Italy	4.46
17	-	17	Bubba Watson	USA	4.35
18	+1	19	Retief Goosen	South Africa	4.24
19	-1	18	Hunter Mahan	USA	4.22
20	-	20	Robert Karlsson	Sweden	4.13
21	+3	24	Alvaro Quiros	Spain	3.74
22	+1	23	Tim Clark	South Africa	3.73
23	-2	21	Miguel A. Jimenez	Spain	3.72
24	-2	22	Louis Oosthuizen	South Africa	3.68
25	-	25	Edoardo Molinari	Italy	3.49