Tiger 22-1 for winning return

SPORTS BETTING: THE long road back to the top of the golfing world begins for Tiger Woods tomorrow.

Whatever your opinion may be about his private-life controversies, there is little doubt that the game has been poorer for his mental and injury-enforced absences.

Woods in full flow is a tremendous sight to behold. He plays the game at a level others can only dream of and the excitement he generates among spectators brings tournaments to life.

But can Tiger get back to where he once was and dominate golf to such an extent that others crumble when his name appears on the leader board?

I have my doubts. While Woods has been regressing, others have been gaining in stature.

The likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson and the mercurial Rory McIlroy to name but a few have prospered, while Woods has been beset with emotional, injury and technical problems.

That said, if dedication and determination are the keys to success, then Woods is the right man to claw his way back to the pinnacle of golf.

He starts on the long road back in the latest World Golf Championship event – the Bridgestone Invitational – at Ohio, starting tomorrow.

And he insists that he will able to play pain-free golf for the first time for a couple of years.

That has to be a plus, but his absence from the heat of battle will surely count against him if he is able to get in the mix and he makes little appeal, even at odds of 22-1.

McIlroy, quite rightly given his eight-shots romp in the US Open, is the 14-1 favourite, but I like the look of Johnson, joint second with Phil Mickelson at the Open and a player who is going to win one of these big events sooner rather than later.

He is available at 20-1 and that is fair enough given his previous competent displays on the course.

Looking a week further ahead to the USPGA Championship at John’s Creek, Georgia, McIlroy is the 10-1 favourite, followed by Westwood (14-1), Mickelson (14-1), Donald (16-1) and Woods (16-1).




ENGLAND’S cricketers have been all over India like a rash so it is no surprise to see them installed as hot favourites to win the third Test - and take a 3-0 lead - at Edgbaston next week.



The hosts are 6-5, with India 4-1 and the draw 7-4.

As for top England batsman, Ian Bell looks attractively priced at 5-1 given his heroics at Trent Bridge and the lack of form of openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, and the shoulder injury sustained by Jonathan Trott.




RECOMMENDATIONS: Dustin Johnson to win Bridgestone Invitational, 20-1 (general); Ian Bell to be top England batsman in third Test, 5-1 (general).