Ernie Els is a three-time golf Major winner and one of the most recognisable faces in the game, but despite the 42-year-old has to qualify for the US Masters this time around, he is using that as motivation for success.

Every year since the South African made his debut at Augusta in 1994 he has been given automatic qualification, however a poor run of recent form means ‘The Big Easy’ is outside the world’s top 50 and needs to qualify for the 2012 running. Anyone following the golf betting tips will know this.

Els has won the US Open twice and the British Open once, but has never quite managed to pass the finishing post at the US Masters, with two second placed finishes – in 2000 and 2004 – the best to show.

The veteran admits he has got “some work” to do to get into the US Masters but he will keep fighting in tournaments around the globe in the coming weeks as he looks to book his place. The US Masters Betting Odds suggest he is something of an outsider though.

He reckons his form is looking good and giving him a “good chance of getting in” as Els is confident he can rediscover past glories and compete for the Major titles once again, with the US Masters a real motivation for him.

“I think I’m close to getting back to that and playing the way I can play and I think if I do that the rest will take care of itself,” said Els.

“I’m still a professional golfer and I still want to win golf tournaments this year and in the future.”

The 2012 US Masters is scheduled for April 4th-8th at Augusta National Golf Club and the defending champion this time around will be Els compatriot in the shape of South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel.

Lee Westwood has made a solid start to his 2012 season so confidence could be high that he finally break’s his Major duck at the US Masters in April.

The Englishman sits third in the world golf rankings behind countryman Luke Donald and the US Open champion Rory McIlroy, two likely Ryder Cup colleagues who will be out to pip Westwood to that green jacket.

Westwood has struggled when it comes to the four Majors and throughout his long and distinguished career and two second-place finishes, at the US Masters in and The Open in 2010, are the best he has to show. Those looking at the US Masters betting will be wondering if he can push on.

The 38-year-old has started this year in a solid but uninspiring fashion, finishing 17th at the Abu Dhabi Championship and tied for 12th at the Qatar Masters, so he is looking to really spark into life in the coming weeks.

Westwood seems content with his driving, admitting he is hitting the ball “a lot better” than at this point in the season in previous years, and is looking to improve his short game to put him in best condition for April’s US Masters. http://betting.betfair.com/golf/

“My putts are quite nice, I’m starting to roll a few longer ones in, but it’s just been early-season sloppiness really, making too many bogeys and not making a birdie when I should,” he said.

“My wedge shots also haven’t been quite as sharp as they ought to have been.”

The 2012 US Masters is scheduled for April 4th-8th at Augusta National Golf Club and Westwood will be among a group of leading Europeans looking to cross the Atlantic and beat the Americans in their own back yard.

Nobody could argue that Italy are playing magnificent, stylish, or stunning rugby at the moment, and nobody could argue that they possess players capable of rivalling those belonging to the likes of Wales or the French, but their performance against France at the weekend was far from an embarrassment, and a display that, far from leaving pundits mocking them, left neutrals wondering which team will eventually pick up the dreaded wooden spoon this year.

Italy know that if they want to avoid this dreaded fate, they’ll need to start putting together a run of victories, while proving that they have absolutely nothing to fear against some of the toughest teams in the world, starting with their next opponents, England. Those looking at the Betfair Betting on Six Nations need to bear this in mind.

OK, so England aren’t the England team of old, capable of destroying teams with the power of the forwards and the accurate kicking of legend Jonny Wilkinson, but this England team has hope in its favour, and is beginning to build up its levels of self-belief despite playing in traditionally hostile environments such as Murrayfield. Ultimately, though, Italy need to remember that they’re taking on a team with a manager at the helm who has practically no experience at the top level of the game and is certainly not immune to making mistakes. Fans of the Betfair rugby betting website should remember this.

If Italy do manage to pull off the unthinkable, England could well be left struggling in the latter stages of the tournament while Italy hand themselves the best chance possible of staying firmly in the mix to finish fourth or fifth in the final standings, rather than securing their status as the usual whipping boys of the sport.

Yarmouth staged an impressive evening of racing as the track hosted the second round of the Betdaq Premier League – which saw Imperial Rock Its take the lead in the campaign as it heads to Doncaster. The Mark Wallis-trained Benkaat Blue continued the momentum he had built up during the first round and now looks it great shape to go on and win the event.

It was Dixies Air, who went into the opening leg playing the joker for Imperial Rock Its, started the evening off well for Wallis, coming home to claim the Puppies win in a comprehensive 27.79 seconds.

The Sprinter’s leg was next up and it was the untouchable Lenson Mac who produced a stunning 16.61-second victory for trainer Tony Collett, pipping Crown Striker at the end to bring home the win. Those following the Greyhound betting will have been very impressed.

The third leg saw the runners line up over 462 meters and it was Liz McNair’s King Jaffa who picked up his second victory at Yarmouth in two weeks, coming in for the win in a time of 27.81 seconds. Anyone looking at the betting odds will be keeping an eye on him.

The Stayers leg was stopped on safety grounds just before the sixth bend. With Matt Dartnall’s Ballymac Pet leading, Miss Magpie sustained an injury and began running back towards the pack, putting the other runners in danger of a collision. All runners received the 3.5 points for their Premier League campaign, with double for the joker.

The second Standard race closed the evening’s activities – the Dunham Devils notching up their third victory of the night after Kelly Findlay’s Local Dee Jay claimed the joker to close the gap between themselves and the top of the Premier League table.

After describing himself as an ‘elite’ quarterback in August, New York Giants’ playmaker Eli Manning has repeatedly proved himself to be one of the NFL’s best.
The 31-year-old is currently experiencing the best season of his eight year career and has led his side to their second Super Bowl appearance under his command.

His performances have also helped the 2008 Super Bowl MVP earn the respect of his peers most notably Patriots playmaker Tom Brady who has described him as a ‘great’ quarterback. People following the Super Bowl 2012 betting will be wondering who can make the biggest impact in the showpiece.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Brady said. “He does everything you’re looking for as a quarterback. I’ve seen it first-hand, what he can do in the fourth quarter of these games.

He’s done a great job of bringing his team back. “He’s a great leader. You always hear that coming out of New York; the guys really have a lot of respect for him, and so do I” he added.

His performances have not gone unnoticed by other members of the Patriots’ squad especially their defence. Defensive tackle, Vince Wilfork was on the field when Manning helped the Giants’ defeat the Pats in the 2008 Super Bowl and like Brady, was full of praise for the Giants’ star. Those looking at the Betfair NFL betting should remember this.

“I think Eli is probably playing some of the best football of any quarterback in the game,” Wilfork said.

“He can always be compared to some of the greats in the game now because of his production,” he added. “He took that team over.”

Manning finished the season with 4,933 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 16 interceptions as the New York side scraped into the play-offs. However he has excelled in the post-season, throwing 923 yards and eight touchdowns.

Tony O’Shea has admitted he will need to make some drastic changes to his personal life if he is to be able to continue challenging for the major tournaments. The 50-year old fell at the final hurdle at last month’s BDO World Championships, losing out to Dutch qualifier Christian Kist in an absorbing final.

It was the second time O’Shea had been beaten in the World Championship final, which sums up the veteran’s career. Five major final appearances have resulted in five runners-up finishes, and now O’Shea has made it clear he wants to make the next step up and win a major. Those looking at the darts odds will be keeping an eye on his progress.

O’Shea had performed well during the tournament, recording impressive victories over defending champion Martin Adams and the exciting Wesley Harms during the earlier stages. However, it was the young Dutchman who proved to be the man-of-the-moment as he claimed a 7-5 victory, leaving O’Shea left to go away and work on how to improve.

While revealing his delight at making the final at the World Championships, the eighth-ranked player has admitted he knows if he wants to be able to continue being a force in this ever-youthful looking sport, then he’s going to need to make some personal sacrifices. Those looking at the latest betting odds need to bear this in mind.

“If somebody had offered me a final spot at the start of the week I would’ve been very happy! I played by best darts to knock Martin out but unfortunately not against Christian,” he said.

“I’m getting too old and too fat to keep up with these younger guys. I’m going to cut the beer right out. My wife, Gill, is a great cook and never feeds me junk so I know that’s not the problem.”

“People see me as a bit of a party animal – let’s have a beer with Tony – which I like, but to stay competitive I need to change my lifestyle.”

The St Louis Rams as a franchise already have a decent understanding of the UK sport market due to the fact that their owner Stan Kroenke is the owner of Arsenal, a London based Premier League side, but that’s about all they have on their side as they seek to try and become the new face of the NFL in the UK.

Having rejected the idea of going the whole hog by placing a new franchise in London, or even starting the process of moving an existing franchise across the pond, the NFL has taken a calculated risk by deciding that fans of the NFL in the UK don’t have strong enough ties to other franchises and will as such embrace the Rams as one of their own. In taking this risk, Kroenke and the rest of the NFL officials surely know that they have reached a crossroads as to the future of the NFL outside North America. Those following the 2012 Super Bowl Betting will need to bear this in mind.

Although there are thousands of NFL fans living in the UK, most of these fans tend to be either followers of the Patriots or fans of the San Francisco 49ers, and therefore not too keen to embrace a franchise that is clearly going through a messy rebuilding phase. With this in mind, the Rams know that they are going to have to put a lot of work in to winning over doubters in the UK if they want to pinch fans from other franchises in the way they will need to if they are to become a UK-based franchise. Anyone looking at the Betfair NFL betting site should remember this.

The first step for the Rams, though, will surely be getting off to a winning start in the first of their three years using Wembley as a home away from home.

Few people would dare to say that the Championship games this coming weekend aren’t going to be entertaining and fun to watch, but there is one question currently on everyone’s lips: will this weekend’s football turn out to be anywhere near as good as last week’s?

The chances are, of course, that the weekend’s games will provide a fair few unexpected twists and turns, but can they provide anything like the sense of drama gained when true underdogs beat expected favourites? With a last minute victory last weekend for the on-form San Francisco 49ers allowing them to celebrate in front of their adoring fans at a packed Candlestick Park, and a shock handed to all NFL fans when the New York Giants went down to Green Bay and not only won, but showed their numerous critics why they are still a great team despite a relatively unimpressive season, it’ll take something just a little bit special to top that this time around. Those looking at the Super Bowl Betting need to bear this in mind.

So, when the dust has settled on Sunday and we are starting to get excited about the Super Bowl itself, will we be doing so whilst watching new and even more exciting moments on the highlights reel, or will we still be looking back at past weeks and talking about earlier moments this season, such as that Vernon Davis catch? Fans of Betfair.com will be thinking about these things.

If we do (as hoped!) find ourselves talking about new moments this coming Sunday night, then hopefully this season and the Super Bowl itself can live up to its billing and provide even more talking points than last year.

Hall of Famer Joe Namath says he simply can’t understand why his former side, the New York Jets have hired Tony Sparano as the replacement for former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

The former quarter-back is never shy when it comes to expressing his opinion, especially when it concerns his beloved Jets and admits that he is unsure why the franchise have appointed the former Miami man.

“I’m stumped. I am stumped. Ay yay yay,” Namath said. “Let’s ask the world do you like the choice of Tony Sparano as offensive coordinator?”

Sparano spent 2011 as the Head Coach at the Dolphins but was relieved of his duties after they failed to make it into the play-offs.

Namath admits he admires Sporanao for the way he dealt with the pressure in Miami but is unsure whether he has the knowledge to run an offence. Those looking at the NFL betting odds should bear this in mind.

“Other than calling some plays with the Dallas Cowboys, I don’t know what his credentials are for an offensive coordinator,” Namath said. “That’s basically what I think about Tony getting that job. Because credentials as an offensive coordinator? I don’t see it.”

The 68-year-old is also concerned that Schottenheimer has been made a scapegoat and says there are deeper issues at the Jets, especially on the playing side of things. The New York side have once again disappointed in 2011 and many are starting to question whether or not star quarterback Mark Sanchez is truly up to the task of leading an NFL offence. Those looking at the Betfair Super Bowl Betting odds should remember this.

Some ‘anonymous’ comments were recently leaked from the club calling the playmaker ‘lazy and content’ and Namath, who has regularly defended Sanchez believes that whoever made the comments needs to own up for the good of the team.

“This stuff about guys saying things anonymously, it stinks. It’s lousy,” Namath said. “I don’t know how you correct it unless you’re there in the room looking at guys face to face and getting it squared away. And then some of them you’ve got to get rid of.”

With the opening Grand Slam of the year now a matter of days away, Andy Murray has revealed his lofty ambitions for the new season – to claim the world number-one spot. The Scot will return to Melbourne looking to make it third time lucky after suffering the pain of being a beaten finalist on both his previous visits to the Australian Open.

Winning the season’s maiden Grand Slam would give Murray the best possible platform of achieving his targets of finally breaking into the true elite. The world number four has highlighted the main ingredient he will need if he has any chance of reaching the top spot – consistency. Those looking at the Australian Open men’s singles betting will be keeping a close eye on his progress.

While the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are all capable of going on sensational winning streaks – something that Murray has failed to master and add to his game. The Scot knows it will be consistency that sees him come out on top in the battle for the number-one spot, and has made achieving it as his main target. Fans of Betfair should bear this in mind.

“From the French Open I played very well last year and I just need to keep that consistency for the whole year, that’s the plan really,” he said.

“I played badly in Indian Wells and Miami after the Australian Open in the last couple of the years and that’s something I really want to try and avoid.”

“If I can do that then hopefully I’ll get my ranking up and that’s one of the goals for this year, to finish at number one, to do that you have to play well all year.”

Murray has been finalising his Australian Open preparations at the Brisbane International. The 24-year old, who had previously failed to hit top gear, produced a dominant performance to secure his place in the semi-finals – seeing off Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets 6-2 6-2. Now Murray will be hoping to end the tournament well and head to Melbourne full of confidence.