- Tiger Woods is the biggest liability to win the Masters Tournament at BetMGM.
- Woods has 7.6 % of the bets and 7.7% of the total betting handle to win the tournament.
- Tiger announced last Sunday that his participation in the event will be a game-time decision.
Tiger Woods announced on Sunday that his participation in the 2022 Masters Tournament will be a ‘game-time’ decision. Despite that, hoards of fans are not just flocking to the Augusta National Golf Club on a Monday to catch a glimpse of Woods,
A Monday when Tiger Woods is in town. Wow ? pic.twitter.com/IsQn0YZ3rN
— James Hibbitt (@jhibbitt13) April 4, 2022
But sports bettors are also busy pounding Tiger’s odds at the best golf sportsbooks, placing bets on the 46-year old to win the tournament he won in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2019. Woods’ win here three years ago was his first major win in 11 years with oddsmakers and golf experts agreeing that if he wins another major, it will likely be in Augusta, again.
Biggest Liability to win the Tournament
“Once Tiger Woods began practicing at Augusta, bettors flocked to @BetMGM to place wagers on the golf legend. Woods is currently BetMGM’s biggest liability to win the tournament.”
– Matt Cosgriff, Director of Trading, BetMGM
— John Ewing ? (@johnewing) April 4, 2022
According to BetMGM Director of Trading Matt Cosgriff, as soon as Tiger made the trip to Augusta, bettors flocked to their sportsbook to place wagers on the 15-time majors winner. Cosgriff added that the heavy betting on Woods who is currently listed at +5000 to win the tournament has made him the sportsbook’s biggest liability to win the tournament.
Latest BetMGM figures say that Woods is the most popular bet with 7.6% of the total betting tickets written. Brooks Koepka, the man who finished second behind Woods when Tiger won here in 2019, is next with 5.4% of the total bets. Meanwhile, world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who has won three tournaments in the last two months, is third with 4.6% of the bets and Justin Thomas follows with 4.3% of the bets Patrick Cantlay rounds up the Top 5 with 4%.
On the other hand, Koepka is the most popular bet as far as the handle is concerned with 11.0%. Cantlay is second with 8.0% of the total dollars wagered while Tiger Woods is third with 7.7%. Considering their percentages in the early betting action and their betting odds, it’s Tiger and Koepka who are the top two liabilities of BetMGM, in that order.
Game-Time Decision
Game-time decision for @TigerWoods. pic.twitter.com/uzGGQPfAbq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 3, 2022
What makes the early betting data ridiculous is that Tiger Woods has not even confirmed that he is playing in the tournament, although the signs point to that. Woods flew in last Tuesday and played 18 holes of practice round with his son Charlie and fellow pro Justin Thomas.
Just because of that appearance at Augusta, Woods’ odds to win the 2022 Masters shot up from +6600 to +5000. Again, that’s impressive, considering that Woods hasn’t played in a PGA Tour event since the 2020 Masters which was held in November of that year due to the pandemic. 14 months ago, it was unsure if Woods would walk again after he suffered serious leg and foot injuries after a near-fatal one-car accident near Los Angeles. But then he’s no ordinary guy.
Woods is the most popular golfer in the history of the sport. He is also considered one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest. As such, he commands attention- including from a gambling perspective, every time he plays, especially in the Masters. And while it’s still uncertain if he will tee off at Augusta later this week, all of the other stories surrounding the tournament are just subplots secondary to anything that Tiger does or doesn’t do.
