The U.S. Open begins today at the iconic Torrey Pines south course. It will be a homecoming for reigning PGA champion Phil Mickelson as he’ll be playing in front of family and friends on a course he got to know as a kid. The U.S. Open is the one missing piece from Phil’s grand slam resume, and it will be fascinating to see how he does on his home course. It’s interesting to read how Mickelson hated the Rees Jones redesign of the Torrey Pines course.

Torrey Pines hosted the legendary 2008 U.S. Open when Tiger Woods won the tournament over Rocco Mediate despite having a fractured leg.

As for the odds, Mickelson is still a long shot at 50-1, while the top contenders include Dustin Johnson (16-1), Brooks Koepka (18-1) and Jordan Spieth (20-1).

Here are the odds to win the Masters title this year:

Adam Scott 10/1
Rory McIlroy 10/1
Phil Mickelson 12/1
Jason Day 14/1
Matt Kuchar 18/1
Sergio Garcia 20/1
Dustin Johnson 22/1
Bubba Watson 25/1
Henrik Stenson 25/1
Zach Johnson 28/1

I’m surprised Sergio made it that high as he’s always a lock to choke in big tournaments, but he still has talent.

The Masters won’t be the same without Tiger Woods this year, but let’s hope for a great tournament.

We live in a world where every story, no matter how insignificant, can get a lot of coverage on television and of course on the Internet. Small stories can become big stories, and big stories become huge.

Then we have stuff like the Rory McIlroy controversy where he walked off the course and quit during the Honda Open. Yes, it’s an obvious topic for debate, and some people like the guys in the video above are trying to have some fun with the story.

But the overall reaction has been ridiculous. McIlroy has since come out and said he made a mistake by withdrawing, but the criticism seems to be way overboard as news outlets and sports commentators look for topics to discuss during this dead sports period.

Everyone seems to be downplaying the whole tooth ache thing, but anyone who has had a serious tooth ache realizes that it can be even more debilitating than a muscle injury. Perhaps Rory could have handled it better, but as usual the media blows things way out of proportion.

The interesting angle is that stupid stories like this actually impact how people view an athlete and his performance potential, and if you’re into online golf betting then you might have an interesting angle. With this silly story, fewer people might be willing to place their bets on Rory, and that could affect the odds in upcoming tournaments. There’s no guarantee of this naturally, but it’s definitely worth monitoring.

With The Masters around the corner and Tiger Woods playing well again, we’re due for an epic showdown between these two. It will be interesting to see the odds as they change leading up to this and other tournaments. It could be a very interesting golf season!