posted June 25, 2008 at 12:43 in Golf Betting Trends

If you did any futures golf betting on Tiger Woods for this season, it doesn’t look like those wagers are going to pay off. Woods’ dramatic victory in the U.S. Open a couple of weeks ago is going to be his last hurrah for a while, as he’s now going to have surgery performed on his knee. We won’t see Woods back on a golf course this season.

That means the world’s top player won’t be at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan this week to try and pick up another Buick Open title. Woods grabbed the victory in that event back in both 2002 and 2006, although he was likely going to skip this year’s tournament. So who replaces Woods as the sportsbook favorite this week?

It’s Jim Furyk, who won the Buick Open back in 2003. Furyk has been pegged as the +900 favorite to get the win at Warwick Hills this week; he ended up tied for fifth place at this tourney last year, finishing two strokes behind unheralded champion Brian Bateman.

2001 Buick Open champion Kenny Perry is next at +1100 odds to claim the trophy this week (he ended up tied for 10th place at last year’s tournament), with 1996 champ Justin Leonard sitting third at +1600 odds. Leonard also turned in a good performance at this event in 2007; he was tied with Jason Gore and 1995 champ Woody Austin for second place. Austin is pegged at +5500 odds to return to the winner’s circle this week.

Heath Slocum (+1800), Brandt Snedeker (+2200), 1988 champion Scott Verplank (+2200), and Ben Crane (+3000) round out the top tier of contenders, with Ryuji Imada and Briny Baird at +3300, and both Jeff Quinney and Rod Pampling at +3500. 2000 champ Rocco Mediate and 1999 champ Tom Pernice Jr. are both listed at +4500 odds to win the event again this week, while 1998 champ Billy Mayfair is well back at +9000.

Overseas the European Tour will be staging the Open de France ALSTOM at Le Golf National in Paris this week. Graeme Storm won that tournament by a single stroke over Soren Hansen last year, but the oddsmakers at BetUS have Lee Westwood pegged as the +1000 favorite this time around. Westwood finished in a tie for 33rd place last year.

Robert Karlsson (+1100), Martin Kaymer (+1600), and Miguel Angel Jimenez (+2000) follow Westwood on the odds list, with each of Soren Hansen, Anders Hansen, and Ian Poulter at +2500. Nick Dougherty, Darren Clarke, and Angel Cabrera are all at +3000 odds, with 2000 champ Colin Montgomerie at +4000, and Storm farther back at +5000.

Finally, the LPGA stages one of its major tournaments this week, as the best women golfers in the world hit Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota for the U.S. Women’s Open. Cristie Kerr won this tournament by two strokes over Lorena Ochoa and Angela Park last year, but she’s listed farther back at +2200 odds this time around.

Instead, it’s Ochoa who has been listed as the big +150 favorite. 2006 champion Annika Sorenstam is next at +850, with Jeong Jang at +1600, Suzann Pettersen at +2000, and Ji Yai Shin and Yani Tseng tied with Kerr at +2200. Morgan Pressel is pegged at +2500.

Karrie Webb won the U.S. Women’s Open in both 2000 and 2001, and she’s tied with Paula Creamer at +2800 odds this week. Juli Inkster, the 1999 and 2002 champ, is at +3000 odds, with 1998 winner Se Ri Pak at +4500. 1991 champion Meg Mallon is a +12500 longshot, with Michelle Wie listed at +5000 odds, and Natalie Gulbis at +9000.

The golfers of the LPGA Tour will move on to the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers next week, while the PGA Tour’s next event is the AT&T National in Bethesda, Maryland. The European Tour next heads to The London Golf Club in Kent for the European Open, with the British Open set to get started on July 17.

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