Trevor Immelman big favorite to win the US Masters, Tiger Woods still at 3/1

Trevor Immelman big favorite to win the US Masters, Tiger Woods still at 3/1 The final round of the 2008 US Masters offers the best payouts golf punters have seen in a while with Trevor Immelman leading the board at -11 and Tiger Woods still paying out little. While many odds makers are offering even odds on Trevor Immelman, the online bookmaker BodogSports is still paying out 5/4 if the South African golfer keeps the lead throughout the final round of the US Masters. But this is nothing compared to the 80/1 odds Immelman held at the start of the 2008 US Masters Tournament - meaning that if he wins the Masters and you have bet $100 at the beginning, the bookie will pay you $8,000 plus the initial bet!

But who is Trevor Immelman? Immelman was born in Cape Town, South Africa and took up golf at the age of five. He won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 1998 and turned professional the following year. In 2000 Trevor Immelman played mainly on the second tier professional tour in Europe, the Challenge Tour, and finished tenth on the Order of Merit. He became a full member of the European Tour in 2001 and has made the top twenty of the Order of Merit three times. He has three wins on the European Tour, and in 2004 Trevor Immelman became the first man to successfully defend the South African Open title since Gary Player in the 1970s. On December 13, 2007 Immelman withdrew from the South African Airways Open due to severe discomfort around his ribcage area and a problem breathing. He went into surgery the following Tuesday, December 18, 2007, and doctors discovered a lesion approximately the size of a golf ball on his diaphragm, later diagnosed as a calcified fibrosis tumor. After more tests they discovered that it was benign. This caused Trevor Immelman to miss the first eight weeks of the 2008 PGA Tour season, but now he is back in full force, atop of the Masters leaderboard with eleven under par.

Meanwhile the odds on Tiger Woods to battle his way though to Masters victory were cut down to 3/1 from 10/3 a few hours ago. The rough weather conditions expected in Augusta, Georgia, (wind gusts up to 25mph) are forcing the bookmakers to consider Woods experience and have not yet ruled him out of the Masters chase. Also noticeable is the fact that the odds on Brandt Snedeker to win the US Masters were lengthened from 4/1 to 9/2 at BodogSports. Brandt Snedeker is currently at the second spot on the Masters leaderboard with nine under par.

Published on 04/13/2008