Olazabal may be the man to upset the odds

BELIEVE the bookmakers, and the 70th Masters is a straight fight between the United States and South Africa.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lead the betting at 3 and 6 to 1 respectively, followed by Retief Goosen, 9 to 1, and Ernie Els, 11 to 1. It sounds like a reasonable scenario, even if it excludes world number 2 Vijay Singh and quite a few others who have legitimate claims on the green jacket.

And if the title is to go outside the US, it could well be on its way to Spain rather than the other side of the world. Sergio Garcia, now lumbered with the tag of “best player never to have won a major”, will immediately spring to mind and is reasonable value at 25 to 1, but I prefer his compatriot Jose-Maria Olazabal, terrific value at 40.