Buick Open PGA Golf Betting Odds: No Tiger, No Vijay? No Problem

Jim Furyk is a heavy favorite to win the 2007 Buick Open, which would be his first PGA tour win of the season. (AI Wire)

The Buick Open never really needed to draw extra attention onto itself.

For the last five years, the tournament had all the makings of a prolific event. Sandwiched neatly between two majors – The Open and PGA Championships – prominent players were drawn to the Michigan-based course as a tune up for the PGA. But the casual atmosphere made the Buick a fun, relaxing event after the nerve-blending Brit.

Three of golf’s biggest names – Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk – took turns exchanging trophies over the last half decade. As they did, the Buick gained a reputation for being the PGA’s ultimate melting pot, where the greatest golfers on the planet played to the second largest outdoor cocktail party in the world.

Rowdy fans chanted along as Singh captured back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, and were at their lager-fueled loudest as Woods held off a late charge by Furyk to win his second career Buick title in 2006.

Now, it’s all changed. What was once a favorite tour stop is now as popular as a fart in a space suit.

A PGA schedule change moved the 2007 Buick Open to the last weekend in June, snatching away its plum position between majors. Proud papa Tiger withdrew following the birth of his first kid. Vijay is out with a bum ankle and knee.

All told, only two of the top 20 in the World Golf Rankings – Furyk and Trevor Immelman – are participating at Warwick Hills this weekend.

So is the Buick ready for the wrecking yard? Well, not quite. What it lacks in star power, the tournament more than makes up for in competitiveness and dark-horse contenders.

Popular online magazine Bodog Nation has compiled a list of some of the more intriguing storylines that could arise from the 2007 Buick Open.

Read the entire article today!