Brendan Steele sinks the winning putt at the 2011 Valero Texas Open
In only his 12th start on the PGA Tour, Brendan Steele found he winners circle at the Valero Texas Open. It was a tough week at the TPC San Antonio Oaks course, with lots of big numbers being posted, most notably Kevin Na’s 16 on the par 4 ninth hole.
The wind blew relentlessly for most of the tournament, though it didn’t seem to bother Steele as he posted par or better all four days, including 2 rounds in the 60′s.
I wish I could say that I saw Schwartzel coming from a mile away and brilliantly picked him last week as a darkhorse favorite to win the Masters. But unfortunately the Power of the Schwartz-el wasn’t with me.
So how did my darkhorse picks fare? Read on to find out.
[Update] My apologies to Gary Woodland, it was a hooked drive that his a patron in the face, not his club. That’s what I get for trying to watch multiple feeds at the same time 
Gary Woodland, one of my “darkhorse” picks this week at Augusta, didn’t exactly have a career round today today at Augusta. On the 15th tee box, he hooked his drive into the gallery and hit a fan in the face.
It looked painful for the fan, although it didn’t seem like it caused any serious harm. A few minutes later Woodland was shaking the fan’s hand after apologizing.
Woodland went on to make par for the hole and finished the day with a 2-over 74. Hopefully he’ll have a better day out on the course tomorrow.
In the latest Masters odds from Bodog.com, Phil Mickelson remains the favorite at 6-1. Tiger is 8-1 (again, wtf?). Both Lee Westwood and Nick Watney are 14-1, with nobody else under 20-1.
The odds on my dark horse picks? Justin Rose is 30-1. Anthony Kim is 33-1. Ben Crane is 100-1. And Gary Woodland and Ryu Ishikawa are sitting at 150-1.
Interestingly Tom Watson is sitting at 400-1. That might be a good long shot bet. He came damn close to winning the British Open 2 years ago and was on the leaderboard going into Friday at the 2010 Masters after firing a first round 67. Yes, at 61, he’s probably too old to realistically contend at the Masters. But at 400-1 it might be worth a little fun money.
Everybody knows that Phil and Tiger are the two favorites to win the Masters. And of course there are guys like Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood that have sniffed at glory in the majors and come up just short. But there are a number of other players who have legitimate shots at winning their first major this year. Keep reading to find out who I like as “dark horse” picks.
