posted April 1, 2008 at 14:41 in Golf Articles

Most golf betting fans are looking ahead to The Masters in two weeks, but those hoping to do some golf betting this weekend will note that there’ll be a pretty good field at the Shell Houston Open at Redstone Golf Course in Humble, Texas. And while Tiger Woods won’t be in attendance, Phil Mickelson will be there – and he’s the tournament favorite.

Mickelson started out well at the WGC-CA Championship a couple of weeks ago, but middling scores in the second and third rounds doomed his chances – he ended up nine strokes behind eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy in a tie for 20th place. Overall Lefty has played 10 PGA events this season, with three Top-10 finishes and one victory to date.

That’s enough to have Mickelson listed as the +700 favorite to win the Shell Houston Open this week. Following him on the odds list is Adam Scott, at +900. Scott won this event back in 2007, beating both Stuart Appleby and Bubba Watson by three strokes. Tommy Armour III finished four strokes back of first place, with each of Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, and Robert Garrigus ending up tied for fifth place, five strokes behind.

Geoff Ogilvy didn’t play in the Shell Houston Open last year, but he did top Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, and Vijay Singh by one stroke to win the WGC-CA Championship two weeks ago. The BetUS oddsmakers think Ogilvy could carry some of that momentum over into this week’s tournament, as he’s listed third to win at +1500 odds.

Padraig Harrington, Steve Stricker, and K.J. Choi are also pegged at +1500 odds to win this weekend. Harrington finished in a tie for fourth place at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last weekend, while Stricker ended up missing the cut. Choi is coming off a 12th-place finish in the WGC event, and he tied for 19th place in this tourney last year.

Appleby is next on the odds list at +2000; the Australian won the Shell Houston Open in both 2006 and 1999. 2005 tourney champion Robert Allenby is then tied with both Mahan and Aaron Baddeley at +2500 odds, with Angel Cabrera at +3000, and Justin Leonard at +3500. Fred Couples, who won this event back in 2003, is pegged at +8000.

Other notables and their odds to grab the trophy this weekend include Chad Campbell (+4000), Kim (+4000), Bryant (+4000), Nick O’Hern (+4500), and Carl Pettersson (+5000). Andres Romero, who won last weekend’s tournament, is listed at +4000 odds.

Meanwhile, the European Tour will be in Portugal this weekend for the Estotil Open de Portugal. Charl Schwartzel is the +1500 favorite to win that event, with Alexander Noren at +1800 odds, and each of Graeme Storm, Simon Dyson, Johan Edfors, and Soren Kjeldsen at +2000 odds. Paul McGinley and Alastair Forsyth are pegged at +2500 odds.

Woods and the rest of golf’s big names will then be back in action on April 10, when The Masters gets underway at Augusta National in Georgia. Zach Johnson will be looking to pick up a second straight green jacket at that event, but Woods will be the golfer to beat. The world’s top player is currently listed at +800 odds to win all four major events this season, +500 odds to win three, +225 odds to win two, and +175 odds to win one.

If you think Woods will get shut out at all four major tournaments in 2008, you can get +350 odds on that possibility at BetUS right now. Check the golf odds section for all the latest future lines for this season, as well as more odds for this weekend’s tournaments.

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