Vijay Singh is getting ever closer to his outstanding best again and he is fancied to land the Western Open which begins at Cog Hill, Chicago, on Thursday.
Singh, who has waged a running battle with Tiger Woods this season for the world number one ranking, has yet to win a Western Open, although he did finish second in 1998.
The indications are that he may not be long in putting right that omission on his CV. He collected two wins, two seconds and two thirds in the early part of the season, and looked as though he was not far short of that form with a sixth in the US Open and a seventh last week at the Barclays Classic in New York. Skybet offer a stand-out 9-1 and that looks appealing.
Tiger opposes after his second place in the US Open, in which he led the field in reaching the green in regulation only to be betrayed by an unusually errant putter.
Three-times Western Open winner Woods is no better than 100-30 with Bet365, but in a field short on depth that is a fair reflection of his chance.
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Jim Furyk is third-best at a general 12-1 but he had the misery of seeing the Barclays Classic snatched from under his nose by Padraig Harrington’s monster putt at the last. He has to recover from that setback and makes little appeal at the price.
Nor does Luke Donald, 16-1 with Stanleybet. Donald seems to play his best golf in the early rounds and has too often folded up on the last day.