I think Tiger Woods' win at the British Open showed the world that he does not need to hit the tee ball long to win. In fact it is this handicappers opinion that his win at Royal Liverpool was his best ever.

Phil Mickelson is still looking to shake off his U.S. Open collapse. (Getty)

Tiger had never led a tournament in fairways hit or fairway percentage until the British Open. He proved something that I have preached for many years...is that if Tiger is in the fairway he is the best player in the world and will rarely lose that event.

So, next week we have the 2006 PGA Championship which will be the longest major championship in history. The Medinah Golf Club will stretch out to 7,561 yards. Note: there are so many changes to this golf course since the 1999 PGA Championship held there that I believe those results are not valid. (Tiger won in 1999 where the track was 7,401 yards)

The bunkers have been deepened, 300 trees ripped out, new tee boxes and the greens replaced. The rough is thick enough to cause trouble if you miss the fairway. The course has plenty of length but the greens are rather flat and if you miss the green there are not drastic hazards that prevent anyone from getting up and down.

Getting back to Tiger. In both practice rounds, he hit only five drivers (driver on all par fives), three 3 woods, and six 2 irons off Medinah's tees. In other words he is preparing to tackle this course by putting the ball in play and avoid the rough, just like Hoylake.

The Medinah GC does favor a draw off the tee as there are 5 holes that bend right to left and only two the other direction.

Tiger Woods    2/1

Tiger will win or finish in the top five at worst on a course that will surrender -14 to -18 under-par score total. Recall, he just won two weeks ago at the Buick Open with a good control of most of his shots. At 2 to 1 not much value but I hope to find a good play on him in matchups.

Phil Mickelson 10/1

Mickelson is once again preparing like no other for another major championship. He has charted every green and worked around the greens with short game guru Dave Pelz for over 20 hours. I expect the two-driver tandem in the bag this week that worked well to win his second Masters, He is the defending champion this week.

Luke Donald 33/1

Its time the sweet swinging Donald breaks through and wins a big tournament. The Chicago area resident is short off the tee but straight enough to be in contention come Sunday.

Geoff Ogilvy  50/1

Here is a player that has done little wrong in the 2006 season. He has won twice, backed into winning the U.S. Open and all you hear is how Mickelson blew the tournament. Very underrated and long off the tee, Ogilvy has become a consistent force on the PGA Tour.

Sleepers

Zach Johnson 100/1 

Sean O Hair  125/1

Rod Pampling 125/1

Jerry Kelly 150/1.......Kelly sitting in 12th spot on the Ryder Cup team has not played since the U.S. Bank Championship in his hometown of Milwaukee where he finished a close second to Corey Pavin. He says he is so confident with his current game that the PGA Championship which is double points, will vault him into the Top 10 and make the Ryder Cup.

Greg Owen 150/1

Lucas Glover 125/1