Record of golfers means Rose may struggle in SPOTY
Published:Not since Nick Faldo in 1989 has a golfer putted his way to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year accolade and this is despite major wins since for the likes of Paul Lawrie, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke.
In 2011 in particular, British golf was riding the crest of a wave with Luke Donald the world number one, Darren Clarke triumphing in the British Open and McIlroy the US Open, but there was still no SPOTY victor.
Therefore, the chances of Justin Rose scooping the honour in 2013 appear on the slim side, even if he has been backed into 5/1 second favourite in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year odds after his victory in the US Open.
Some will argue that Rose has the back story to enhance his appeal to the British public as he holed his winning putt at Merion on Father’s Day, 11 years after the death of his own father to leukaemia, who coached his son up until this point.
But Clarke’s efforts in helping Europe win the Ryder Cup of 2006 when playing a pivotal role in Ireland just months after the death of his wife was arguably even more emotional. Yet, he was still only second to Zara Phillips.
The fact that this is a non-Olympic year does enhance Rose’s prospects and he would be hard to compete against for SPOTY should he win one of the other two majors still to come this year, especially the British Open at Muirfield in July.
Away from golf and the Olympics, a number of other big sporting events are still to come and are sure to have an impact on the SPOTY betting.
Andy Murray is favourite at 9/4 and this price is only likely to shorten if he wins Wimbledon.
Cyclists have done well in recent years with victories for Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome must enter calculations if he can reign supreme in the Tour De France.
Meanwhile, England face Australia in the Ashes and a star performance from the likes of Alistair Cook, Joe Root or Stuart Broad could easily put them in the box seat for the accolade.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
