I really can’t afford to do it, but I sometimes can’t help myself.  I like to bet on things.  I don’t know about anyone else, but the prospect of winning a few extra dollars makes any game more interesting.  It’s one of the many reasons I enjoy fantasy football.  But I like to bet on the games themselves, get into pools, draw horses names from a hat for the Kentucky Derby…whatever.  And not just on sports either – a co-worker is pregnant, let’s start a baby pool!  But there’s one sport that I’ve never bet on and I’m just not sure I ever will – golf.

Is it me, or is golf just too hard to bet on.  For me, there’s two reasons this is the case: 1. In the bigger tournaments where the superstars are, the odds are always crappy.  You have to put down way too much money to win anything significant.  2. In rounds when the stars aren’t playing, the field is so wide open and some names are so unfamiliar that there’s rarely a “good bet.”  Take for example this weekend.  Leading up to it, everyone was saying that Mickelson is the favorite among golf betting fans to win the Greenbrier Classic, and he is one of the superstars.  But lo and behold, the weekend rolled around and he was nowhere to be found.  At +2, he didn’t even make the cut!  So much for favorites.

So, what about the majors, when all of the stars come out to play?  Well, the odds for the Open Championship later this month have Tiger as the early favorite at 8 to 1.  But with his relatively inconsistent play, is that where you want to put your money?  And with the field full of such stars, the odds are probably not even as good as they may appear to be.  So what to do?  All of those names at the top look tempting, but then again, so do many of the names on the list.

You see what I mean?  There are just too many options and the field is just too wide open.  Do you go with one of the favorites, or one of the sleepers?  And in the majors, are there any sleepers really?  It’s just too damn complicated.  So for me, I think I’ll stick with football and pregnancy pools.  However, that being said, I’m going with Luke Donald.

Swing ’til you’re happy!