Singh when he's winning at 20-1

Vijay Singh can dash Tiger Woods’ Glad Slam ambitions at the first hurdle and land punters a 20-1 touch by claiming his second green jacket in the Masters at Augusta, starting Thursday.

The 45-year-old, victorious in 2000, believes he has one more major in him and can be confident of his chances this week after arresting a dip in form that has seen him slip to ninth in the world rankings.

While his detractors will point to his failure to win for more than a year, Singh’s form this season stands close inspection, with the Fijian posting four finishes of fifth or higher in his past five starts, including runners-up placings in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the WGC-CA Championship.

Whilst Singh’s putting can be flaky, his strategic play at Augusta has seen him repeatedly contend, with a further five top-ten finishes being gained since his victory eight years ago.

Woods is again the player that everyone has to beat and best odds of 6-5 with Blue Square and Coral cannot be viewed as mean given his four earlier wins at Augusta and a run of form that saw him record seven straight global victories before his fifth-place finish in the WGC-CA Championship.

Bookmakers opposing Woods will content themselves that he has won only one of the past five renewals at Augusta, latterly finding Zach Johnson his superior 12 months ago.

Phil Mickelson, the 2006 victor and 11-1 second favourite with Paddy Power, has gone off the boil since winning in February, failing to finish higher than 17th in four straight starts, while 28-1 chance Ernie Els missed the cut at the PODS Championship after claiming his first US PGA Tour victory since 2004 at the Honda Classic. Moreover, his preparations were interrupted when he withdrew from the last Masters tuneup in Houston with flu.

Defending champion Johnson has had an indifferent season so far, with just one top-ten finish in eight starts, and a more likely contender is Geoff Ogilvy. The Aussie, available at a general 25-1, is proving himself the man for the big occasion, recently adding a second WGC title at Doral to his 2006 US Open success.