V, v excited now, just 3 days to go

Some fantastic value prices out there so here are my thoughts fwiw. Gl with all bets folks


Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson are all heading into the season's first Major in prime form but at almost 3 times the price of his two main rivals it's the San Diego native who gets the nod to lift his fourth Masters crown at a very attractive 12/1.

Mickelson is enjoying another stellar year with victory at Pebble Beach in February followed by a Playoff loss to Bill Haas at The Northern Trust Open the very next week. He ranks 3rd on official PGA Stats this season for Strokes Gained-Putting, is 14th in Scrambling and 26th in Par 5 Performance, three key areas for this week's challenge at Augusta. The Masters Champion of 2004, 2006 and 2010 covets this tournament above all others and with the world's media focused on a rejuvenated Tiger Woods and the outstanding young talent that is Rory McIlroy, Mickelson will be aided by a lower than usual profile in his quest for a fourth Masters title.

Woods and McIlroy will of course be very tough to beat and are afforded maximum respect. Woods has been playing more like the champion of old in recent months and his outstanding performance when holding off a spirited Graeme McDowell to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational will have filled him with confidence as he attempts to lift his first Masters crown since 2005. However he has demonstrated some vulnerability with his putter over the past year or two, namely with makeable birdie putts and putts for par that at his peak he would have sank with almost monotonous regularity. The winner will be the man with the hottest putter of the week and at as short as 4/1 favourite, and with Paddy Power offering money back to all punters if he wins, Tiger is not for me.

The impact Rory McIlroy has had on the world of golf of in the past two years is almost impossible to quantify. He is an outstanding natural talent who has started to fulfil his potential in the most spectacular way with a demolition job at Congressional last year on his way to his first Major Championship at The US Open. The course at Augusta sets up perfectly for his eye and with an impressive victory this season at The Honda Classic already under his belt he looks set to go very close to lifting the first of what could be multiple Masters titles and he is in my view the most likely winner. However although he is generally immaculate from tee to green, he is a solid putter without being spectacular and does not convert as many of his opportunities for birdies or tournament victories as he should. With last year's Final Round collapse sure to play on his mind if he gets in contention on Sunday night I am prepared to give him a miss at 5/1.

Justin Rose has been on my shortlist for this year's event for several months now and although the fancy prices have gone he is still well worth backing at 33/1 with **** offer of 6 places. Always a very strong iron player he has developed the winning instinct over the past few seasons with four PGA Tour victories in the past two years, including both The Memorial AND the AT & T National in 2010. He is enjoying an outstanding season with victory at The World Golf Championships- Cadillac Championship last month coming hot on the heels of his fifth place at The Honda Classic. He ranks 11th in Greens In Regulation this season and 19th in Ball Striking and with an excellent Masters record of 11-20-36-5-22 in his past five appearances he looks primed to challenge very strongly for his first Major.

The 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell is playing right at the peak of his powers at the moment and he rates excellent value at 66/1 with Stan James to add a Green Jacket to his trophy cabinet. The Northern Ireland man feels he has not done himself justice at Augusta during his career so far and resolved to change that this season by adopting a busier than usual schedule in the build-up to the year's first Major in order to hone his game. It is a decision that has reaped dividends with his three PGA appearances in March yielding a 9th, 13th and a battling runner-up finish to Tiger at Bay Hill. At The 2009 Masters he opened and closed with excellent rounds of 69 so we know he can handle the course and a US Open Champion should be right at home with the lightning fast greens and intense pressure that will face the competitors on a Sunday afternoon at Augusta. He ranks 17th in GIR and 30th in Strokes Gained-Putting and has everything in his locker that a potential Masters Champion needs.

For our final selection I have a question: what price would you expect for a recent Masters Champion whose last four visits to Augusta have yielded a 15-14-20-WIN and who is coming off the back of an excellent 11th place finish at The Arnold Palmer Invitational last week where he ranked 1st in Putts Per Round? How about 100/1 for The 2008 Masters Champion Trevor Immelman? The humble South African has endured a torrid time with injuries, both before and after his finest hour four years ago, but has been showing some exciting recent signs that his form is returning. His effort at Bay Hill was no flash in the pan as he had already posted a fine 12th place result at The Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. With Paddy Power and **** both offering six places each way this is no 100/1 shot in my book.

P Mickelson 12/1 3pts win (Skybet & BetVictor)

J Rose 33/1 1.5pts ew (**** 1/4 odds first 6 places)

G McDowell 66/1 1pt ew (Stan James 1/4 odds first 5 places)

T Immelman 100/1 0.5pt ew (Paddy Power & **** 1/4 odds first 6 places)

Already advised:

T Bjorn 230
P Lawrie 500
JM Olazabal 730

http://betsmarttrading.com/tipsters/in-the-hole

Jacobsen is an interesting one. He most certainly has the right stuff on the greens, just whether the rest of his game is up to it. Still debating him.

Masters Monday for me entails purchasing a few cases of Magners Pear Cider and a bottle of Aberlour Scotch Whiskey. ( for the weekend )
The High Street Shops will be doing special offers concerning Woods and Wee Rory,so I would advise waiting until Wednesday before going in heavilly on those Two.

Agree with you there Paddy,The Masters is my favourite Tournament of the whole year,apart from The Open,but only because the Beeb do such great coverage.

Three more days of looking longingly at the fridge and the Masters Market........it's like Krimbo....only much more exciting !!

Kjeldsen ''The impact Rory McIlroy has had on the world of golf of in the past two years is almost impossible to quantify.''

Actually it isn't.....very average.....won a few tournaments with flashes of brilliance.....layers dream because he's over-rated thus low odds at the start.....ridiculously too low when he gets one birdie on Thursday

Missed that Paddy.......I shop in Asda !! 8 tins for just over £7. !!

Now,now Wee Buddy.......absolutely no bitching allowed on Masters Week.

Embrace the pear !!!

KJ gr8 read thanks. Going to sort my buffet out at some point and won't be buying myself a sherry whiskey - Aberlour - WOW - that would be gone on day 1 !!!!!!

Ski.....chill out son. There is an unwritten rule in Major Weeks;'absolutely no bitching allowed.....whatsoever'!!!

That's Two hissy fits you've had already this morning. One more Wee Buddy,and you'll be consigned to the sin bin with 'jayjay' !!

Do you really want that ? Well,do ya ???

Looking at peoples bets on here for this tournament doesnt seem like there are that mean people backinig tiger, mcilroy.

Seem alot of people have faith in the following players winning:
- mickelson
- westwood
- rose
- mahan
- johnson
- stricker
- choi
- fowler

Im looking to back a few players to win outright but cant seem to pick a definate few, was looking at mickelson, rose, choi

HG.....oh!! i never bitch.....i don't throw a hissy fit........but plenty of banter

As an Englishmen and a regular whisky drinker...minimum 12 years old and 95% are single malt....i was merely defending the Scottish pride....ramping the quality and spelling distinction of their whisky....in the hope they don't vote for independence

'As an Englishmen' ? Hmmmm,actually that explains quite a lot.

You will,of course,know the oldest Whiskey Distillery in the world is Bushmills . They spell it Whiskey.

Currently have Glenfiddich single malt 18 years old....Jonny Walker Blue Label.....Jura.....A case of Chateaneuf Da Papa red wine.....but a damn tooth infection given to me by a dentist last week means i'm on antibiotics and can't drink until Wednesday.....bloody hope the infections goes away as strong painkillers making me grumpy and drowsy....also in damn pain....Mahan winning yesterday somehow made the pain disappear for 5 mins....human body is a weird collections of atoms....or should it be elements???

@ Ski-Wiz its a myth you cant drink on antibiotics, as there are only two of the dozens of different antibiotics that are affeted by alcohol. However, one of them is methotrexate, often used by dentists, so you could be scoobied anyway.

mary....also got painkillers of course.....it says on the leaflet....no alcohol otherwise it will amplify it's effect.....what exactly does it amplify it doesn't say.