posted August 11, 2009 at 16:25 EST in Golf Articles
PGA Championship Insider - Lefty needs to get it Right
by Charles Jay
Despite playing only one tournament in a seven-week period, Phil Mickelson, arguably the second best golfer in the world, is still getting plenty of respect from the BetUS oddsmakers in advance of this week's PGA Championship.
Let's take a look at the numbers:
To Win PGA Championship
(Top 20 plus ties on list)
Tiger Woods +150
PHIL MICKELSON +1600
Pedraig Harrington +2000
Hunter Mahan +2500
Lee Westwood +2500
Retief Goosen +2500
Steve Stricker +2500
Stewart Cink +3000
Sergio Garcia +3000
Kenny Perry +3500
Angel Cabrera +4000
Anthony Kim +4000
Geoff Oglivy +4000
Henrik Stenson +4000
Jim Furyk +4000
Ross Fisher +4000
Vijay Singh +4000
Camilo Villegas +5000
Ernie Els +5000
Ian Poulter +5000
Luke Donald +5000
Zach Johnson +5000
Phil Mickelson got back into action at the WCG-Bridgestone Invitational, and finished in a tie for 58th place.
He certainly hopes that's just a run-through for the REAL game.
That takes place this week at the PGA Championship, which starts Thursday at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. Mickelson, who is considered to be one of the main contenders to Tiger Woods (+160 to win the PGA at BetUS) in almost every major, is posted at +1600 to win the PGA in the BetUS pro golf betting odds.
Mickelson, as most golf fans are aware, sat out the British Open, as well as all other tournaments since the U.S. Open, staying at home with his wife, who is struggling with breast cancer. His mother is also being treated for that ailment. Mickelson had played in 61 straight majors before that, more than any active competitor on tour.
Mickelson was unquestionably rusty at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, as he started off with a promising first two days, then shot a 75 in the third round of action and a 75 in the final round. He may have longer to go before reaching the level he was at when he tied for second at the U.S. Open behind Lucas Glover at Bethpage.
Mickelson thinks he played better than his actual score, and knows that the touch on his short game is the thing that needs some shoring up before he tees off on Thursday. Before competing at Firestone, he had played a practice round at Hazeltine and shortly after that announced his decision to go into the fourth and final major of the season.
Mickelson is currently listed #2 in the World Golf Rankings, where he is well behind Woods, who won at Firestone on Sunday. It didn't so much hurt him that he didn't get out there on the links course at Turnberry, but he had taken a six-week break from competition, during which time Woods has won two straight golf tournaments, which should give the four-time PGA champ some real momentum and confidence going into this week.
In a field that contains 97 of the world's top 100 ranked players, Mickelson has very little margin for error, and I say that despite the fact that he will without doubt be as big a sentimental favorite to the crowd in Minnesota as he was to New Yorkers at the U.S. Open. He was greeted warmly, to say the least, at Firestone.
He is involved with a group that is bidding to buy 105 Waffle House franchises throughout the Southeast out of k, but he wasn't waffling at all when he expressed his gratitude for all the support he and his family have gotten from fans. "So many people have gone through the same thing. It all helped a great deal to know we're not alone."
Mickelson has won 36 times on the tour, the first one coming while he was still an amateur. For the longest time, he held the somewhat dubious title of "Best Player never To Win a Major." After a series of near-misses, he broke through in 2004 when he won the Green Jacket, He won against at the Masters two years later, and in between he won the PGA title at Baltusrol. Mickelson very nearly won three majors in a row but tied for second in the '06 U.S. Open. Aside from those three major titles, he has finished second six times and third six more times. In sixteen years, he has had eight top ten finishes in the PGA Championship
