It wasn't unrealistic for Tiger Woods to believe he had a legitimate shot at the Grand Slam in 2008 before the start of the Masters at Augusta. But the best golfer in the world stumbled in the first major, putting an early damper on the Grand Slam talk…and then he had knee surgery.

So exactly what Tiger Woods will do after teeing-off this week at the US Open is an interesting question.

His knee appears to be sufficiently healed, although he has been using a cart on practice rounds, and hadn't played a full 18 holes since the Masters until this week. He loves the Torrey Pines course and it is a Major, so the odds are good he'll be in the mix come Sunday.

There is a full U.S. Open betting menu, including options for Tiger, such as: he is +250 to win the U.S. Open and even though he is the odds-on favorite and the line isn't offering a lot of value, he might be worth the wager as he has won six times at this course in San Diego.

But although Tiger is chomping at the bit to get back at it, there are others to consider. For example, one of Tiger's biggest rivals, Phil Mickelson, is +500 to beat out Woods and the rest of the field in San Diego.

The USGA sneered at the wishes of the TV broadcaster and did fans a favor by pairing Tiger and Lefty together on Thursday and Friday. SPORTSBETTING.COM has a Head-To-Head Matchup bet option with Woods favored at -140 over Mickelson.

The two were paired together once before at the U.S. Open back in 1999 in the third round. It wasn't Tiger's best round as he failed to birdie any holes and finished the round at 1-over par. Mickelson on the other hand fared much better shooting under par in every hole until he broke even three times and went 1-over once in the final four holes finishing the round at even par.

Bettors like Woods in this one, as he is receiving a majority of action, grabbing 66 percent of the early action wagered, while Phil sits at 34 percent.

Tiger is getting even more of the action in the full tournament matchup betting vs. Lefty with 79 percent of the betting action going Woods' way.

Other matchup bets that are seeing steady betting action:

Bettors seem to have forgotten that Geoff Ogilvy won the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York a mere two years ago as Ogilvy is only seeing 29 percent of the betting action and partner Padraig Harrington is getting 71 percent.

Sergio Garcia is teamed with Vijay Singh and is seeing 59 percent of the action.

But as usual, all eyes will be on Tiger as he tries to capture the U.S. Open; take win No. 7 at Torrey Pines and shake off the rust from a two month layoff after having knee surgery.

Enjoy all the golf from San Diego.

Check out SPORTSBETTING.COM’s 50 percent US Open match bonus running all Thursday.