Let the fireworks begin.
It?d widely expected there will be as much drama and tension off the course as on when the 88th PGA Championship opens at the Medinah Country Club this week.
The drama actually started building the second the pairings for the first two rounds of the championship were announced ? specifically, when it was revealed that Tiger Woods would be paired with bitter rival Phil Mickelson.
That hotly anticipated grouping is also the highlight of the PGA championship odds at www.betED.com. Bettors can wager on the head-to-head match up (Tiger Woods, -260; Phil Mickelson, +210), or choose between the two for the overall win (Tiger Woods, +225; Phil Mickelson, +950).
This is the first time in five years that the two will be paired together in a major championship, and there is sure to be some early-morning excitement when the world?s No. 1 and No. 2 players hit the links at 8:30 am (CDT) in Medinah, Illinois.
Individually, Woods and Masters winner Mickelson have a lot on the line at the PGA beyond the title itself. Each has the chance to trump the other by winning a second major in 2006. A victory by either player almost certainly would tip the scales when it comes to the money title and player of the year voting.
And the spotlight will shine on Woods for another reason. After his British Open win at Royal Liverpool, observers were quick to jump back on the Tiger bandwagon.
But Medinah will be a different story. At 7,561 yards, with lush fairways and punishing rough, the No. 3 course -- the longest in major championship history -- will force the world's No. 1 player to use his driver, something he didn?t have to do at the shorter Liverpool.
Given that the driver has been Woods' least dependable club, we won't know until the first round whether we'll see the Tiger who won the British or the Tiger who missed the cut in a major for the first time as a professional in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
Woods, of course, returns to Medinah as the last player to win a major there. The memorable battle down the stretch against Sergio Garcia in the 1999 PGA Championship -- the tournament that brought the Spanish teen to international prominence -- gave Woods his second major championship and served as the launching pad for 18 months of the best golf ever played.
Some other PGA Championship picks available at betED.com include: (To win outright) Ernie Els (+1400), Vijay Singh (+1800), Jim Furyk (+1600). In another highly anticipated pairing, Els is the favorite (-130) to beat Singh (+100).
It?d widely expected there will be as much drama and tension off the course as on when the 88th PGA Championship opens at the Medinah Country Club this week.
The drama actually started building the second the pairings for the first two rounds of the championship were announced ? specifically, when it was revealed that Tiger Woods would be paired with bitter rival Phil Mickelson.
That hotly anticipated grouping is also the highlight of the PGA championship odds at www.betED.com. Bettors can wager on the head-to-head match up (Tiger Woods, -260; Phil Mickelson, +210), or choose between the two for the overall win (Tiger Woods, +225; Phil Mickelson, +950).
This is the first time in five years that the two will be paired together in a major championship, and there is sure to be some early-morning excitement when the world?s No. 1 and No. 2 players hit the links at 8:30 am (CDT) in Medinah, Illinois.
Individually, Woods and Masters winner Mickelson have a lot on the line at the PGA beyond the title itself. Each has the chance to trump the other by winning a second major in 2006. A victory by either player almost certainly would tip the scales when it comes to the money title and player of the year voting.
And the spotlight will shine on Woods for another reason. After his British Open win at Royal Liverpool, observers were quick to jump back on the Tiger bandwagon.
But Medinah will be a different story. At 7,561 yards, with lush fairways and punishing rough, the No. 3 course -- the longest in major championship history -- will force the world's No. 1 player to use his driver, something he didn?t have to do at the shorter Liverpool.
Given that the driver has been Woods' least dependable club, we won't know until the first round whether we'll see the Tiger who won the British or the Tiger who missed the cut in a major for the first time as a professional in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
Woods, of course, returns to Medinah as the last player to win a major there. The memorable battle down the stretch against Sergio Garcia in the 1999 PGA Championship -- the tournament that brought the Spanish teen to international prominence -- gave Woods his second major championship and served as the launching pad for 18 months of the best golf ever played.
Some other PGA Championship picks available at betED.com include: (To win outright) Ernie Els (+1400), Vijay Singh (+1800), Jim Furyk (+1600). In another highly anticipated pairing, Els is the favorite (-130) to beat Singh (+100).
