Even banged up as he is, Tiger Woods is still ranked as the number one golfer on the PGA Tour. He might not be able to hold onto that spot for much longer if he can’t go back into action, but for now, the Tiger’s still on top.
Against all odds, Woods is once again listed as the favorite to win the U.S. Open on the #2 course at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina in mid-June. He may not even be able to participate, but at this point the big Las Vegas SportsBooks still have Tiger listed as a 10-to-1 favorite to win the event along with his Irish buddy Rory McIlroy.
In fact, no golfer has been so popular with sports bettors in modern times as Tiger Woods. Even after he started having back trouble this year and was obviously not playing very well, he was still the favorite golfer at every major event, including this year’s Masters Tourney before he dropped out.
Tiger Woods fans know well and good that the situation with his back must have been quite serious for him to miss the Masters like that and he shows no real promise of making it back to the links for the U.S. Open in June. One event that Woods will likely be aiming for will be the Ryder Cup Competitions which will be held over in Scotland this year at the Gleneagles Course in Perthshire.
Scotland is the ancestral birthplace of the game of golf and dedicated golfers around the world always feel a special affinity toward playing there. However, if some real progress is not made with Tiger’s back situation, the world’s number one golfer may not even get invited to this year’s competition.
It’s all up to golfing icon Tom Watson who is Captain of the America’s Team once again. There is a qualifying process for the Ryder Cup but Captain Tom also has three wild card picks that he can make as Captain. Woods could be one of those three.
Watson stated earlier in the season that he would be saving one of those wildcard slots for Tiger Woods but now he seems to be backing off a bit from that statement. On the basis of the latest medical prognosis, Woods might not be healthy enough to be effective at Gleneagles even though the matches do not start until the last week in September.
Tom Watson summed it up for reporters, “Tiger I hope just basically gets well and starts playing well again. If he gets well and is playing well, I’ll pick him”.
