LONDON, September 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
The eyes of the golfing world will be on the Medinah Country Club in Illinois this weekend and bwin, Europe's leading sports book, believes that world number one Rory McIlroy could hold the key for Europe as they look to defend their crown.
The Northern Irish golfer comes into this year's Ryder Cup on the back of an incredible victory at the PGA Championship in South Carolina last month and bwin are making him 9/2 to be the top European this weekend.
The 23-year-old, who made his rookie appearance at the 2010 Ryder Cup in Newport, won the PGA Championship with a -13 score, eight strokes ahead of Carl Pettersson. However, McIlroy will be challenged all the way by a back-in-form Tiger Woods, who has fond memories of the Medinah Club.
Woods, who is 5/1 to finish as the top American, won the first of four PGA Championships at Medinah and won the same major again at the course in 2006 - becoming the first golfer to win the PGA Championship twice at the same course.
The USA team go into this year's tournament as the 7/10 favourites and, as the home team, history is on their side - five of the last ten Ryder Cups have been won by the home team; although you only have to go as far back as 2004 for a European win on US soil, when the visitors triumphed 18½-9½ in Michigan. At 6/4, the European side are underdogs, whilst bwin are 10/1 on this year's tournament ending in a tie - the first stalemate since 1989.
Commenting on the Cup a spokesman for bwin said:
"This year's Ryder's cup promises to be a great clash between to very evenly matched teams. Although home advantage gives the USA a slight edge, as ever it will come down to who holds their nerves around the greens. In match-play golf, putting is so often the deciding factor."
For all of the latest Ryder Cup markets, visit http://www.bwin.com/golf
About bwin
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