The 2018 Masters is shaping up to be one of the most exciting editions of the tournament in its 82-year history. The field is boosted by the triumphant return of Tiger Woods, the legendary golfer who hasn’t even participated in a major championship in over two years, let alone won one in that span. He’s now going on nearly a decade without hoisting a trophy at a major, but that could easily change this year and the odds are indicating exactly that. There are also a number of young, exciting players—such as Jordan Speith and Rory McIlroy—hoping to don the world’s most famous green jacket on Sunday evening. Oddsmakers have just released updated lines for every golfer in the field at Augusta National and you might be surprised at who the favorites are.
The Masters Tournament tweeted out a clip showing Woods is ready to change his fortunes:
"This year is going to be different." — @TigerWoods pic.twitter.com/3OoSr9BvbY
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 2, 2018
After an outstanding March that included a pair of top-five finishes at the Valspar Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tiger Woods catapulted to the top of the odds table for this event. Due to the overwhelming attention that the Woods’ comeback was getting, the bookmakers in Vegas initially installed the 42-year-old as the odds-on favorite to win his fifth green jacket. At one point during the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods’ odds went soaring all the way up to the top of the Masters board at 8-1, but excitement surrounding the 14-time major champion has tempered a bit in the last few days. That, coupled with early action coming in on some other notable participants, caused the books to shift Tiger’s odds down to 12-1, where they currently sit at.
Odds consultant Scott Cooley at BetDSI explained the exact reasoning behind Woods’ line movement:
At the end of the day, Tiger Woods should have never been the favorite to win the 2018 Masters. Of course he’s been playing with more efficiency lately, and he’s the best to ever play Augusta, but he was made the favorite a few weeks ago only because of public perception. The sportsbooks anticipated a windfall of wagers on him, and BetDSI hasn’t seen that so the odds were adjusted. Until Tiger wins a tournament, he should never be favored over guys like Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and a few others.
Tiger is still in the top-five, but is now listed behind odds-on favorite McIlroy (9.5-1), as well as Bubba Watson (10-1), Dustin Johnson (11-1) and Justin Thomas (12-1). That still puts Woods ahead of some of the golf world’s biggest stars, such as Spieth (13-1), Phil Mickelson (15-1), Ricky Fowler (17.5-1), Justin Rose (25-1) and Alexander Noren (25-1), a strong group that rounds out the top-10 for favorites at Augusta. Those are golfers that even the oddsmakers believe should not be behind Woods based on recent performance, but his popularity has a way of generating bets that other golfers simply aren’t capable of drawing based on name alone.
Justin Thomas, who won The Honda Classic in late-February—an event that Tiger finished 12th at—and his first major at the PGA Championship last year, admitted that even he’d go watch Woods over himself if he were a fan, as per Golf Digest:
He is the needle. He moves the needle. He’s the reason probably why the attendance this week was as high as it was, and you know, they weren’t coming out here to watch Luke List and Justin Thomas. They were coming out here to watch Tiger, so I don’t blame them. I’d go watch him, too, instead of me.
Skip Bayless thinks it is time for Tiger to win a tournament after his age 40-plus peers have had a recent run of success:
Hey, Tiger Woods: Ian Poulter, born just 11 days after you, just won for the first time in six years, at Houston. Phil recently won at 47. Why not you next week at Augusta?
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 1, 2018
To capitalize on the excitement surrounding Woods’ return to the Masters, the sportsbooks have released a slew of prop bets relating to the superstar. These props range from where he’ll finish on the leaderboard to if he’ll hit it in the water on certain holes. There are also exotic wagers that cover the entire field, such as if a hole-in-one will occur during the tournament or whether or not the winning golfer will cry on the 18th green. There’s plenty more to check out, so take a peek at the full list at the end of this article.
Here’s a complete look at the most recent odds for every golfer in the field, plus the full schedule, television and live stream info so you can watch online and more for the 2018 Masters. Jon Price, along with his team at SportsInformationTraders.com, is currently analyzing all the options on the board to identify the best bets you can make on Tiger Woods and the rest of the participants at Augusta National this year. Check back here on Forbes throughout the week for in-depth betting predictions and the top prop wagers from the pro Vegas handicapper.
Here’s a look at the top favorites as of Monday.
- Rory McIlroy: 19-2
- Bubba Watson: 10-1
- Dustin Johnson: 11-1
- Justin Thomas: 11-1
- Tiger Woods: 12-1
- Jordan Spieth: 13-1
- Phil Mickelson: 15-1
- Rickie Fowler: 35-2
- Justin Rose: 25-1
- Alex Noren: 25-1
- Paul Casey: 27-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 27-1
- Jason Day: 30-1
- Jon Rahm: 30-1
- Sergio Garcia: 31-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 38-1
- Henrik Stenson: 38-1
Source: Forbes.com
The post The Masters 2018: Odds Favorites for Monday appeared first on Heritage Harbour Golf Club.
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