29th May 2012 | The Memorial Tournament
Memorial Tips: Tiger Woods
Still has the ability to win tournaments and control off the tee could give him the edge over his closest rivals.
The column inches on Tiger Woods have been so numerous there scarcely seems much more to add. He’s be written off, only to be lauded at Bay Hill and then returned to the scrap heap after The Players.
Pundits seem to enjoy using Woods as their punch bag, but from a betting perspective it is best to ignore the hubbub.
The big question is whether he is worth backing at 16/1? On current form, you cannot judge Woods on his past glories, I still think the answer is yes.
His driving accuracy is much improved this season, ranking 37th for fairways hit compared to 186th in 2011. The inconsistencies in performance are still there but when on song he is capable of winning tournaments.
He ranks 5th for adjusted scoring average this season and that alone warrants a position towards the top of the betting. As we have seen in our trends analysis, four of the last five winners at Memorial ranked inside the top-10 for scoring average.
Of the players around him, Woods has looked the best off the tee. He ranks second for ‘total driving’ on tour and that should give him an advantage over the likes of McIlroy and Mickelson who have been wayward of late. At 16/1 (Bet365) Tiger is worth a small each-way investment with ¼ odds for a top-six finish.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 12:02 29th May, 2012 but subject to change