Written in the stars?

He's 7 shots off the lead and has just 11 holes to play. In the US Open. So why is Tiger great value at 17/1?

Don't think Barnes can keep it straight enough down the stretch. Glover's got mind issues when he gets in contention. Can't think where to start with Duval. The fatBoy and Weir are poor value although both could sneak it as could Mahan.

Have taken the 50/1 about Goosen who knows how to win and the 320/1 on Soren Hansen. (Because it's 320/1 mainly).

But I can't say no to a small saver at 17/1 about the world's greatest sportsman on his home turf. The man who won on one leg last year. As Joe Strummer would say, "ridiculous ain't it".

TOPPING runs in a barrier trial at Toowoomba tomorrow. (It's in Australia). Will he be the next Xaar Xaar or the next Go Golf World? Go you hopefully good thing...

Open and shut?

We're back to the old dilemma. Do we back Tiger at 3/1 now or wait till he shoots 74 on day one and take the more generous 5/1? Or do we wait till 36 holes are under our belt?

The answer of course is a bit of both. We'll wait till tomorrow on Tiger and pick the best outsider on Saturday morning. For now we'll concentrate on fidning the winner of the "betting without Tiger" market. Our criteria are obvious. Must be able to win under pressure. Must know how to hit it straight and long. Be nice if he's a good price too.

It's the last criteria that knocks out Phil, Sergio, Furyk and Casey. But I reckon three of them can't win anyway. Like Adam Scott (who he?).

My three tentative choices are ludicrously sentimental. My three poms against the rest are Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell. They've all shown enough to suggest they'll be up for this and at 75/1 plus, great value. I've also had a micron on James Nitties. 790/1 was just too hard to resist.

We'll be back at the weekend, hopefuly just before the Lions put De Wet Barry's countrymen in their place. Not a moment too soon.

Back to reality

Two birdies down the stretch. Tiger wins. And I'm 50, apparently. Hilarious.

As is the website I got this picture from. It's called www.cakethat.com. Marvellous. Happy, happy happy...

Out of the woods?

How bizarre. Calculating the odds on a big event and not even thinking about Tiger. Famous last words? We'll see...

Yesterday was obviously tougher than the first day where Loooook Donald shot 8 under. I've never heard of Matt Bettencourt but noticed that in shooting the day's lowest round he had three bogeys to go with the 8 birdies. Which is nice. At 100/1 we had to take a few dollars worth...

As for the rest of the field, DiMarco is good value three off the lead at 100/1. He's struggled since the operation but he's gradually coming back to form and obviously knows how to win. I'm also interested in the 400/1 about Hunter MayHan. He can win. As can Johnson Wagner at 200/1, That's him in the picture.

But it's entirely possible I'll be starting again with more small stakes tomorrow...