British Open May End Tiger Woods' Run as Sports Betting Favorite

Tiger Woods was posted automatically because the favorite by sports betting sites at every golf event he has entered for a decade, but this week's British Open performance may signal an end to that gambling trend.

While Louis Oosthuizen celebrated his runaway victory this weekend on St. Andrews' Old Course, the fate of probably the most famed player in golf history remains more uncertain than ever before. Tiger Woods not just didn't challenge on the British Open, but his erratic play may remove him from his familiar spot because the gambling favorite of any tournament he enters. The unbeatable champion could have been taken down by Elin Nordegren when no golfer may have done the same.

Sports betting oddsmakers have automatically installed Tiger because the option to win on every occasion he plays for just about a decade. On the height of his dominance, Woods was frequently favored by bookmakers over all of the field, and lots of players successfully gambled on Woods to rout all opponents.

After all, this was the person raised from infancy to be the most productive golfer the arena had ever seen, and for years it has seemed his destiny to succeed in that goal. Tiger went as far as to defeat the world's best players within the 2009 US Open while fiddling with a broken leg.

But Tiger's marital infidelities hit the newspapers, and the full disruption of his personal life has apparently left his game in tatters. Not do the drives find the golf green with uncanny accuracy, nor do the putts curve magically into the cup.

Woods fell 13 strokes behind Oosthuizen by the point the British Open ended. But, even worse, Tiger finished tied for 23rd on a course he had avowed his favorite, one on which he has set records.

Many wondered how long it might take Tiger Woods to regain his game after his public embarrassment and subsequent separation from wife Elin and his children. Now, the question could also be not when, but when Tiger can return to the icy focus which allowed him to play golf on a degree beyond some other man in history.

Until then, gambling patrons is usually hedging their sports bets, putting such names as Phil Mickleson and Retief Goosen regardless of Tiger as favorites for future golf tournaments.

Published on July 18, 2010 by TomWeston

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