Masters Preview
Perhaps the best bet of all ahead of the US Masters is that all eyes will be on Tiger Woods as he makes his first appearance in competitive golf since a well publicised break from the professional game. Spread bettors will be pleased that Sporting Index has gone to town with their Tiger related special bets, allowing punters to bet on when Tiger will sink his first eagle, birdie and bogey at the Augusta National among numerous other spread bets. Buyers of his finishing position at 18 will hope that far from benefitting from a refreshing break, the lengthy rest will show Woods to be rusty, as he perhaps appeared in his early practice rounds in Georgia.
Even if spread bettors predict he will struggle to make any impact on the leaderboard from Thursday onwards, they may still prefer to sell Tiger's 'stop at a birdie' spread at 41 points, where 10pts are awarded for every hole he plays before holing a birdie or better. Augusta's par five second, Pink Dogwood, can be reached in two, while the 350 yard third, Flowering Peach, is drivable. Sellers will hope that Woods will go under par on either of these holes, while spread buyers will hope for no birdies until the back nine or later.
Tiger is clear favourite according to Sporting Index's finishing positions spread market, ahead of Phil Mickelson, with a spread of 21-24, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington, both at 25-28. Sellers of Els's spread will hope he can repeat his form at the recent WGC and Arnold Palmer Invitational where he won back-to-back titles in March, although spread buyers will no doubt focus more on the big South African's three consecutive missed cuts here since 2007. Harrington is clearly the top European hope according to the traders, his spread of 12-15pts leading Lee Westwood (9-12) and Paul Casey (also 9-12) in the leading European Index (50-30-20-10 spread). Sellers of Pod's spread will be aware that neither Englishman has set the azaleas alight here before, but will be counting on good form from each this season to carry them above the Irishman on the leaderboard. Sellers of any of these players' overall win index spread will hope the trend of the last ten years continues - no European has won since Jose Maria Olazabal slipped into his second green jacket in 1999.
For those spread bettors with a negatively skewed view of the world, Sporting Index offer a number of 'coldshot' spreads among their US Masters golf specials, where a group of four players are rewarded 25pts each for missing the cut, with a 50pt bonus should all four miss. The 'Dad's Army' coldshots of Larry Mize, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson tee-off with a spread of 78-83pts so buyers will be hoping that Watson, who last won here in 1981, will be unable to repeat his 2009 Open heroics. The 2009 major winners are grouped as Sporting Index's 'Class of 2009' hostshots, with a spread of 13-17pts, where 25pts are awarded for a top-10 finish.
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