2009 US OPEN AT BETHPAGE BLACK BETTING TIPS

There is an absolutely titanic field contesting the 2009 US Open at Bethpage this weekend and Tiger Woods is listed as an extremely strong favourite with a mere 2/1 price tag for the outright victory. For a little sense of scale, the closest prices to Tiger are for Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy- both of whom carry a 20/1 price. You'll find Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Paul Casey all sitting at 25/1 with Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia both available at 40/1. David Toms, Vijay Singh, Sean O'Hair, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els are all available at 55/1. Other notables include Robert Allenby at 70/1, Ian Poulter and his 90/1 pricetag (I love him on an each-way bet), Kenny Perry and Mike Weir at 80/1, KJ Choi at 150/1, and Boo Weekley at 50/1. If you think David Duval could produce a career-defining comeback, you're looking at a 250/1 pricetag. William Hill is offering up each-way betting at 1/4 odds on the top 4 places. You can back the winning nationality if you're looking to spread things out a little bit. North America pays 2/5, rest of the world pays 16/5 while Great Britain & Ireland are listed at 11/2. Continental Europe pays 16/1 while a Scandinavian winner is the 25/1 longshot. There is also a separate market for a top five finish and you'll find Tiger Woods at 7/20, Phil Mickelson at 11/5, Geoff Ogilvy at 12/5 and Jim Furyk at 4/1. A separate Top 10 market is out there, but you can go check that out for yourself. Woods is 7/2 to be the 1st round leader, and this is a market where you can get strong value on those unknown players who produce a great first day and then fade into obscurity. With 18 amateurs on the course this year, you could be in for a massive payday on Thursday alone!A play-off will pay out at 12/5 and a Hole in One at any stage of the tournament is 5/4. There isn't a huge amount of value on Woods, so I would say either back him right now, or wait and see if he posts a mediocre first-day score as his odds will lengthen then. My golf insiders are tipping Geoff Ogilvy, Kenny Perry and KJ Choi, but I'm really liking Phil Mickelson for the sentimental tip- I think he's a big game player who can stand up in the face of adversity and play excellent golf. After all he's been through lately, a major Championship would be some extremely poetic justice.