Woods to return to Major glory sooner rather than later

Tiger Woods may not have won at Augusta, but in finishing four shots back to tie for fourth – having incurred a two-shot penalty – he made a return to form of sorts. His play had a conviction that has been lacking in recent seasons, and it was a mixture of misfortune and transgression which eventually cost him. He is 6/1 to win a fourth Open Championship.

This year the Open is being played at Muirfield, where Woods has an interesting history. A round of 81 in the third round in 2002, played in appalling conditions, laid to rest his hopes of Open glory, although he finished just six shots off the lead despite registering his worst ever score as a professional. His 65 finish on the Sunday served purely to highlight the anomalous nature of the preceding day as opposed to any sort of deep-rooted issue with the course.

Three wins from six events in 2013 have propelled the American back to world number one, and to the head of the Money List, which he currently leads by over a million dollars after just six events; he is already 2/7 to secure that honour.

The winner at Muirfield in 2002 was Ernie Els, who would have found backers this time around with or without his triumph last year at Royal Lytham, when the South African appeared reinvigorated having relocated to America.

The Big Easy is an outstanding links course operator, as demonstrated at Lytham last year, and has finished in the top six an incredible 10 times, and in the Top 10 on a further three occasions. At 40/1 he is a hugely enticing each-way option.

Els’ second Open win had almost as much to do with the implosion of Adam Scott as with his own play, as the Australian dropped four shots on the final four holes to give Els the lead by a shot.

But with the Major burden now off Scott’s shoulders, the prodigiously talented Australian can be got at 20/1 to win in Scotland – as a Major winner it is hard to imagine him choking in similar fashion again, while three Top 10 finishes in five events in 2013 thus far bode well for his chances.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing