Arnold Palmer Invitational - Picking the Winner

We’re two weeks away from the biggest golf tournament of the year, the Masters at Augusta!

This week golfers will be teeing off at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tiger Woods won the 2008 Arnold Palmer and picked up the winner’s share of the $6,000,000 purse.

Can Tiger repeat? The BetUS odds makers believe he can as they have installed Tiger as the +200 favorite. Unlike betting a golfer to finish in the Arnold Palmer Top Ten, finding the winner of a golf tournament is much more difficult but provides much better odds to gamblers.

Let’s analyze the chances of some of the golfers to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Golf: Arnold Palmer Invitational To Win

1. Jim Furyk +2000 - - Two weeks ago he finished 3rd to Phil Mickelson in the WGC-CA. Then, last week he shot a 65 in the first round of the Transitions Championship before blowing his lead in the second round. Furyk should be ready to win if he’s got his mind straight. I’ll make him the top choice in this.

2. Kenny Perry +2500 - - Like Furyk, Perry was fantastic last Thursday in the Transitions. He shot a cool 67 before tailing off and finishing 17th. He should be ready to win his second tournament of the year and is going off at nice Golf odds.

3. Tiger Woods +200 - - The odds on Tiger are just too low for me to really back him in this, but make no mistake, if Wood is on, then the rest of this field will be playing for second place. Tiger should be much better in the Arnold Palmer than he was in the WGC-CA. A victory isn’t out of the question for Woods in this.

4. Vijay Singh +3000 - - Like Tiger, Vijay will be using the Arnold Palmer to get himself ready for the Masters in two weeks. But also like Tiger, Vijay can play with anybody on the tour. He’s one of the best golfers in the world and could win this just because he’ll be trying to keep himself sharp for Augusta.

5. Anthony Kim +2500 - - Kim isn’t yet ready to take on the best in the world at the Masters. He will want to try to pick up the win money in this while Woods, Singh and Padraig Harrington, will be playing to tighten themselves up for Augusta. If that’s the case, and Kim actually goes for the jugular early, he could separate himself from the rest of the pack. He’s that talented.

6. Retief Goosen +2000 - - He was terrific in the Transitions last week and should carry that over to this week. He shot consistently in all four rounds in the Transitions. That’s a huge advantage as Goosen appears to be on top of his game and won’t need to adjust anything this week. He could put back to back victories together.

Best Long Shots

Mike Weir +5000 - - Weir usually plays well enough for a Top Ten finish. Why not take a chance on him at 50 to 1 to beat the best in the world? He’s a good golfer that should be going off closer to 30 to 1 in this than 50 to 1.

Trevor Immelman +6000 - - Immelman won the green jacket last year. He could surprise in this because he’s gearing up to defend his title at Augusta. At 60 to 1, he’s worth a look.

Stewart Cink +5500 - - Cink is too good of a golfer to be going off at odds of 40 to 1 or higher. He was in the top ten in money earnings in 2008 and should start playing better than he has so far this year.