GOLF - The big news coming from this weeks British Open has been the pairing together of the Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood in the opening round. However not much column space has been dedicated the third person in the threeball, Ryo Ishikawa. As regular readers will know we wrote about Ishikawa recently, noting that the 17-year-old is a phenomenon in Japan and is being touted as the 'Next Tiger Woods'. Therefore it is very interesting indeed that Ishikawa has been given the opportunity to play with Woods at this early stage in his career.'The Bashful Prince', as Ishikawa is sometimes known (a great nickname, I am sure you will agree), is available at odds of 7/1 with UK bookmakers to beat Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood in their threeball on the opening day. For sentimental reasons loserscomesecond may risk 50p or so on Ishikawa in the hope that the hype about him actually has some substance.
Interestingly, and on a slightly different note, Woods is available at a best-price of 5/2 to win the tournament with UK bookmakers, with the next person in the betting, Sergio Garcia, available at 25/1. Surely Woods is a very short price for a man who has never even played the course at Turnberry before? Only time will tell we suppose.
