Lee Westwood’s nagging back and neck injuries have caused many to speculate on the former world number one golf champion’s future after a disappointing performance at the ongoing BMW Golf Championships, meaning the player has failed to qualify for the Tour Championship.

Westwood’s gradually worsening back and neck strain, caused in part by his advancing age and the rigours of the game, follow last year’s calf injury, creating a less than stellar run of luck for the Brit, who has admitted he is bowed but not defeated by his move to the US and subsequently disappointing season.

However, the US-based PGA Tour does represent a significant amount of money and media for the Worksop-born golfer, and affords easier opportunities for Westwood to play in many of the key matches, rather than facing the difficulty of travelling across the world in order to compete. This could perhaps aid Westwood in recovering from his injuries and improving his game in future.

Injuries and recent disappointment aside, Westwood is already being touted to captain for Europe at the 2024 Ryder Cup, which perhaps indicates that belief in the unlucky player has not entirely waned, and that freebets.org/ will be taking many more bets on the former champion player in the future.

Putting is so important in major championships, and Phil Mickelson was on fire today as he stormed to a stunning comeback win in the British Open. He birdied four of the last sic holes and said in the interview above that it’s the best he’s ever putted.

Meanwhile Lee Westwood faded and Tiger Woods was good but not good enough again. Think about it – Tiger hasn’t won a major in 5 years! He used to be well ahead of the pace set by Jack Nicklaus but know the two are pretty close. Passing Jack is no longer an easy task for Woods. There are plenty of young golfers who have emerged in the sport, and Mickelson continues to be a force in the game as well.

To the surprise of very few, Tiger Woods is favored to win this year’s PGA Championship, which starts today and runs through the weekend. The PGA Championship is the fourth and final major of the year.

Woods is currently a 3/2 favorite to win and although he’s coming off a victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger has yet to win a major in 2009. In fact, the best he’s done so far was a sixth place finish at the Masters and a sixth place finish at the U.S. Open. (He missed the cut entirely at the British Open.)

Tiger missed last year’s PGA Championship, but did win the event in 2006 and 2007. He also has some momentum heading into Hazeltine National, winning the two last consecutive tournaments (Bridgestone and the Buick Open) that he has played in, which give him a total of five wins on the year.

Tiger’s main competition this weekend, at least based on the odds, appears to be Padraig Harrington (20/1), Phil Mickelson (22/1), Lee Westwood (28/1) and Hunter Mahan (30/1).

Here’s a TV schedule for this year’s PGA Championship:

Thursday, August 13: 2PM – 8PM on TNT
Friday, August 14: 2PM – 8PM on TNT
Saturday, August 15: 11AM – 2PM on TNT
Sunday, August 16: 11AM – 2PM ET on TNT
Sunday, August 16: 2PM – 7PM on CBS

To check the 2009 PGA Championship leaderboard, click here.

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