Y.E. Yang (left) defeated Tiger Woods at last year’s PGA Championship.
Y.E. Yang will be out to defend his title Thursday when the PGA Championship begins at
Whistling Straits, a 7,507-yard, par-72 golf course located in Kohler, Wisconsin. Yang defeated Tigers Woods by three strokes last year at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
However, Yang is not even listed among the favorites to win this event. Despite his recent poor play, that honor goes to Tiger Woods.
The Sports Club, a company that makes the betting line for the majority of Nevada's legal sports books, installed Woods as a 5/1 favorite. Yang is part of the 4/1 ‘field' bet.
"These are the highest odds we have ever assigned to Woods," noted Sports Club owner Pete Korner. "We made Phil Mickelson the second choice at 8/1 despite the recent news that he has some pretty bad arthritis.
"With those two top golfers having their issues lately, there might be some different names atop the leaderboard early in this event. I expect this to be one of the more wide-open exciting golf matches in quite some time."
The last time the PGA Championship went all the way to Wisconsin's Whistling Straits was during the 2004 campaign when Vijay Singh took home the title in a playoff with Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco.
"Just because Singh has been out of the headlines, it doesn't mean he can't repeat and be a surprise winner this weekend," stated Korner. "However, we have made Singh a 60/1 long shot."
The reason for Singh's recent downturn has not been entirely his fault. He faltered most of 2009 due to a balky knee, leading to his worst finish on the PGA money list. It was just a year after he brought home the most money on Tour.
Earlier this year, Singh was battling a back injury. He missed four cuts in five appearances.
Matchup betting in golf has become a very popular betting proposition is recent years, and The Sports Clubs has numerous pairings.
"One of the more intriguing matchup bets we released has Mickelson as a 150 favorite in a pairing against Woods at plus 130," said Korner.
After the week Tiger Woods had at Firestone, finishing 18 over par and 30 shots out of first, it seems a little crazy to even consider the world's No. 1 golfer could have any chance at the PGA Championship.
"A course like Whistling Straits should suit Woods' game," noted Korner. "The course has long, windy and tough but true greens, which are all things Woods normally likes. He should also be pleased with the pairing of Vijay Singh for the first couple of rounds, although adding Y.E. Yang to the mix might not be what he would have chosen."
Woods finished in a tie for 24th six years ago at the 2004 PGA Championship played at Whistling Straits. He will be attempting to win his first major since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
The method of play will be four rounds of stroke play. Following the first 36 holes the field will be reduced to the 70 players having the lowest scores and those tied for 70th place. In the event of a tie after 72 holes, there will be a playoff.
Woods is the all-time money winner at this event with $5,884,776 in earnings. With a minimum of 25 rounds played, he has the lowest scoring average at 69.81. There have been six wire-to-wire winners of the PGA, the last occurring in 2005 when Mickelson captured the event.
The winner of the PGA Championship has come out of the final pairing in the final round during 13 of the last 14 years. Only Padraig Harrington in 2008 came from outside of the final group.