Two well-known players, one on the rise and one apparently on the decline, have withdrawn from the Valero Texas Open.

Anthony Kim is trying to make a career comeback, but he continues to run aground. He withdrew from the tournament after 14 holes because of a wrist injury, citing numbness in his arm. He'll seek an MRI for his injury. This marks the second consecutive tournament, after the Shell Houston Open, from which Kim has withdrawn. The days of 2008, when he was one of golf's brightest young stars, seem far away now.

Meanwhile, Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient who's now playing on his first Tour card, withdrew after just nine holes. He cited weakness, but told Golf Talk Central via text that he's "fine." Up till now, Compton had made seven of nine cuts.

Different concerns for both — with Kim, this is another career setback; with Compton, you never want to see any kind of weakness — so, bottom line, as unfortunate as it is to see familiar names out of the tournament, hopefully it's for the sake of better times ahead.

They may not finish one-two this week, but for at least the next couple of days, it looks like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will remain the betting favorites in Las Vegas to win the Masters. The Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Sportsbook (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton) released updated betting odds on Monday, and Woods is still the favorite at 9/2.

McIlroy was second at 11/2, followed by Phil Mickelson 12/1 and Luke Donald 15/1. All in all, not a whole lot has changed with the exception of Hunter Mahan, who went from 40/1 to 25/1 following his Shell Houston Open win.

You've got a couple more days to pour over the lines and lay a couple of bets before Thursday's opening round, so here's a look at where everybody stands at the start of the week.

The big question is, who's going to lay the wood and bet on Mark O'Meara (1000/1) to win this week. *Crickets* So I guess I'm the only one, huh?

Here's a rundown of Las Vegas Hotel and Casino's top 10 to win the Masters:

RORY McILROY 4/1
TIGER WOODS 7/1
PHIL MICKELSON 9/1
LEE WESTWOOD 15/1
LUKE DONALD 15/1
ADAM SCOTT 25/1
JASON DAY 40/1
DUSTIN JOHNSON 25/1
NICK WATNEY 30/1
MARTIN KAYMER 40/1

The rest of the odds come after the jump.

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Like Rory McIlroy's reign as the No. 1-ranked player in the world, his run as the favorite to win the Masters didn't last very long.

[Eric Adelson: Will Tiger Woods' 'resurrection' be enough to satiate public?]

With his win at Bay Hill, Tiger Woods was tabbed the new favorite to win at Augusta by Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Sportsbook (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton), which released updated odds on Sunday evening.

[Related: Tiger Woods heads to Augusta with a head of steam and look of triumph

Woods, a 7/1 pick to win at the start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, moved to the front of the pack with his emphatic win and now stands as the 4/1 favorite to win the first major of the year.

With the Azaleas in bloom at Augusta National and Woods officially atop Vegas' Masters odds, it feels like everything's right in the golf world.

[Related: Tiger Woods just made the best season in golf a whole lot better]

Here's a rundown of Las Vegas Hotel and Casino's top 10 to win the Masters (and a couple of interesting Tiger and Rory prop bets):

RORY McILROY 5/1
TIGER WOODS 4/1
PHIL MICKELSON 10/1
LEE WESTWOOD 18/1
LUKE DONALD 15/1
ADAM SCOTT 25/1
JASON DAY 40/1
DUSTIN JOHNSON 30/1
NICK WATNEY 40/1
MARTIN KAYMER 60/1

The rest of the odds come after the jump.

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Spring at Bay Hill is one of the Tour's nicer stops, and many of the world's best obliged on Thursday. A couple of whatever-happened-to's in Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim played quite well, but in the end, it was Charlie Wi and Jason Dufner who staked themselves to the first-night lead with six-under 66s. Can either of these guys hang onto the lead, a task that has eluded both in recent weeks? Play continues on Friday, and we'll find out.

There are plenty of guys on the PGA Tour struggling to find their golf game at the moment, but it's safe to say nobody has struggled more than Anthony Kim over the past year-plus.

Once tabbed as the guy to take on Tiger Woods following a two-win season in 2008, the last three years have been a roller coaster of emotions for Kim, who went from losing his game in 2009 to finding it 2010 ... to then completely falling off the face of the earth in 2011.

Nobody, not even Kim, knew what this year held. But after six starts, it was clear his game was headed in one direction -- and that was down. Way down. With five missed cuts, 1 DQ and a 42nd place finish, his game officially hit an all-time low.

Throw in last season's 11 missed cuts (in 26 events) and you're looking at stretch of golf that would make most players reassess every aspect of their game. Anthony Kim tried doing that, but for some reason he didn't see a single positive result until Thursday's opening round 3-under 69 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that put him three back of the lead.

"I've been running my head into a brick wall," Kim said after his round. "So I moved away from the brick wall, and now I can swing and make some birdies out here."

He certainly made some birdies during his round, carding five to go along with a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th that saw him go out (he started on the back nine) in 4-under 32. The nine-hole stretch included four birdies, a hole-in-one, two bogeys ... and just two pars.

It was unconventional, sure, but nothing Kim has done recently has followed a script. The guy seems to be winging it at the moment, and it looks like he'll continue to do just that until he starts stringing together made cuts.

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It was the kind of opening round that should've had Tiger Woods smiling and feeling good about his prospects for the rest of the week. But when Woods walked off the course to discuss his 3-under 69, he didn't sound like a guy who was impressed with just getting in the mix at Bay Hill.

Woods called the round "just one of those days where not a lot [was] going on." To be honest, he was correct to call his round nothing special; it was a mixture of good moments that included back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16, and a couple of not-so-good ones, including two three-putts and a whopping 32 putts for the round (averaging 2 putts per GIR).

Even still, Woods was able to put himself in a great spot just three back of the lead. It'd be easy to nitpick and point at his lack of success with the putter as a potential problem, but we've done that in the past.

We've seen Woods' putter go from hot to cold multiple times; the same can be said for pretty much his entire game. At this point it's not worth looking into a crystal ball and trying to predict what Woods is going to do tomorrow. But if there's on thing that makes you believe he could be onto something, it's that his ordinary rounds are starting to look, well, not so ordinary.

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This is going to come as a shock to many of you, but Rory McIlroy is still the favorite to win the 2012 Masters. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are.

After capturing his third PGA Tour win at the Honda Classic and picking up the No. 1 ranking as a parting gift, the 22-year-old became the definitive favorite to win the first major of the year when the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Sportsbook (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton) released new Masters odds on Monday morning.

[ Related: Golf No. 1 Rory McIlroy tries out tennis against Maria Sharapova ]

McIlroy went from a 6/1 favorite to 5/1 following his win, while Tiger Woods went from 13/2 to 11/2 after his final-round 62. All in all, there weren't a whole lot of changes. But that could certainly change if McIlroy or Woods wins this week at Doral. With the Masters a month away, it's almost time to start placing your bets for the first major of the year.

Here's a rundown of Las Vegas Hotel and Casino's 10 favorites to win the Masters:

RORY McILROY 5/1
TIGER WOODS 11/2
PHIL MICKELSON 9/1
LEE WESTWOOD 15/1
LUKE DONALD 20/1
ADAM SCOTT 30/1
JASON DAY 30/1
DUSTIN JOHNSON 25/1
NICK WATNEY 25/1
MARTIN KAYMER 40/1

The rest of the odds come after the jump.

Read More »

Welcome to Teeing Off, where Devil Ball editor Jay Busbee and head writer Shane Bacon take a day's topic and smack it all over the course. Suggest a future topic by writing jay.busbee@yahoo.com, or hit us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @shanebacon. Today: who are the best American players under 30?

Busbee: We've just seen Nick Watney win at Doral, continuing what's been an exceptional opening to the season. He turns 30 in a little over a month, leading us to ask: who are the best under-30 Americans in the game? We spend so much time focused on Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson when they've almost certainly got more majors in their past than their future. Are we at that point where the under-30 set has finally, definitively established itself as the new standard for American golf?

Bacon: I love Watney. I love his game, I love his demeanor and I love the way he moves about on the golf course, but I still have to give this title to Dustin Johnson. He has four PGA Tour wins since 2008, he has put himself in multiple positions at major championships, and he seems to have the complete game to keep winning each and every season.

Busbee: Agreed, DJ is the class of the lot at this point. Where does this leave Anthony Kim, though? He was supposed to be the rock star of the younger crowd, late-night Vegas jaunts and all, but injuries have slowed him. What's your take on how he stacks up to Dustin?

Bacon: I think AK is the type of golfer that, when he wants, is great, but that is few and far between. I've heard too many stories of him taking weeks off to enjoy his personal life, which isn't really the wrong mentality, but it won't make you the best around. I think Kim is the type of talent that will win once or twice a year when he's healthy, because he IS really good and does enjoy taking down tournaments when he's in the hunt. But for now, it seems Kim might be fourth or fifth on my list of under-30 Americans.

Busbee: That works. Throw in Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, plus you and me, and there's not much room for Kim at the top. We may not be the equal of the Europeans just yet, but we're getting there. U-S-A! U-S-A!

All right, your turn. Who are your picks for the best American golfers under 30? Are we at the dawn of a new age? Have your say.

If you're a golf fan — and if you're not, why the hell are you here? — Thursday would be a good day to suddenly fake sick after lunch and find your way to a television. Why? Because the WGC-Cadillac Championship features the greatest pairings of 2011, and perhaps the greatest pairings of the last few years. Check these groups, and just try to decide which one you'd follow:

11:41 a.m. (1st): Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson

11:41 a.m. (10th): Vijay Singh, Adam Scott, Nick Watney

11:51 a.m. (10th): Graeme McDowell, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson

12:02 p.m. (10th): Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Steve Stricker

12:12 p.m. (10th): Anthony Kim, Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas

12:33 p.m. (1st): Rickie Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa, Jhonattan Vegas

12:44 p.m. (1st): Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els

12:54 p.m. (1st): Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald

Full tee times for the first and second rounds are right here.

There are more storylines there than an entire season of Lost. Obviously, the Woods/Mickelson pairing will get major media scrutiny, but the best of the lot could be the Poulter/DJ/Bubba one. Plus, you've got the Underachieving/Underappreciated bracket (Casey/McIlroy/Stricker), the What Have You Done For Us Lately bracket (Kim/Harrington/Villegas), the Diaper Dandies bracket (Fowler/Ryo/Jhonny Vegas), the European Domination bracket (Kaymer/Westwood/Donald), and oh so much more.

Damn, this is going to be a good couple days to check out some golf. Who are your picks?

Can you believe the West Coast Swing is already over, and golf has now moved east? With that said, we present you with the best from the 2011 West Coast Swing.

Best Event - Farmers Insurance Open -- It's easy to pick the hottest tournament on the West Coast Swing as the event of the early season, but it had everything you want including a finish we've never seen before. Bubba Watson, with a birdie putt to basically wrap up the event, rolled it in the middle of the cup, forcing Phil Mickelson to hole a wedge to force a playoff. What did Mickelson do? Had his caddie tend the flag while he stood in the fairway, and nearly dropped it in for the eagle. (Runner up - AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)

Biggest Surprise - Jhonattan Vegas -- Here is a list of accomplishment the 26-year-old rookie has carded the first two months of the PGA Tour season; playoff winner at the Bob Hope Classic, beat Tiger Woods the first time he's paired with him, finish third behind Watson and Mickelson at Torrey Pines and land second in FedEx Cup points. Not a bad start to his career, eh? (Runner up - D.A. Points)

Biggest Disappointment - Tiger Woods - I hate to pile on the guy here, but come on. Tiger played in two events during the West Coast Swing, finishing out of the top-30 in both of them. He exited the Accenture Match Play on the first day, and has been far from as sharp as we expected with as much time off as he took in the off-season to recalibrate his golf swing. He's an easy pick here, but the appropriate one. (Runner up - Anthony Kim)

Best Shot - D.A. Points, wedge on 14 at Pebble Beach on Sunday - You can watch the shot here, but you have to understand, that shot is to one of the trickiest greens on tour and it gave him the cushion he needed to win his first PGA Tour event.(Runner up - Jarrod Lyle's ace on the 16th at TPC Scottsdale)

Best Player - Mark Wilson - When you win twice on the West Coast Swing, you're going to be considered the best, no matter what. Wilson's win at the Sony was great, but the way he handled the Waste Management showed he could do it a couple of more times this season before it ends. (Runner up - Bubba Watson)

Alright, now, discuss! Criticize! Rip our picks apart!