Golf - World Match Play Championship betting preview

The World Match Play Championship is being held at Finca Cortesin (Spain) this year and is in a new format. Previously, seeded players were given a bye in the first round, meaning the better players got through without playing and were well-rested, leading to one of them generally winning the tournament. This week, however, every player starts at the same stage, in four groups of four, the winners of which make the semi-finals, and the winner is much harder to predict.

For those who would try, however, Lee Westwood is slight favourite at 13/2 (bet $20 to win $130 profit) after winning the Portugal Masters, just ahead of Spaniard Sergio Garcia at 7/1. Garcia has the better scoring average of the two, at 69.86 to Westwood`s 70.23, and the best `Greens in Regulation` percentage in Europe at 80.2%.Westwood, however, has won more titles, most noticeably boasting nineteen European Tour wins  to Garcia`s eight.

Although Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and other top players are missing from the tournament, there remain many top contenders, and apart from Westwood and Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and number One seed Paul Casey are all taking part. McIlroy, a twenty year-old from Northern Ireland, can be found at 8/1 and is the only player in Europe with a better scoring average than Sergio Garcia at 69.82.

Henrik Stenson is priced at 9/1 and the thirty-three year-old Swede has twelve professional wins under his belt. Paul Casey is at 12/1 and is returning from injury to play in this event, his first in three months.

World Match Play Championship betting odds