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Tiger Woods will take his second attempt at breaking the PGA Tour’s all-time wins records this week when he tees it up at the 2020 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. He’ll be competing against the strongest PGA Tour field of the year to date.
We look at Tiger’s chances of claiming his 83rd career victory, with PGA Tour betting odds and picks for the 2020 Genesis Invitational.
BETTING ODDS: PGA Tour best bets
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Tiger Woods’ history at Riviera Country Club
Woods, the tournament host, has never won at Riviera Country Club, which has hosted an annual event since 1999. He was a co-runner-up in 1999, finishing two strokes behind Ernie Els in a tie with Davis Love III and Ted Tryba. He didn’t play in the 1995 PGA Championship held at Riviera.
Tiger finished in a tie for 15th last year, two months before his Masters win, but he missed the cut in 2018 in his first appearance since withdrawing from the 2006 Nissan Open. He has made 12 career appearances at Riviera without a win.
Tiger Woods’ key stats for the Genesis Invitational
Based on historical tournament data from Fantasy National, my key stats for the week are:
- Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
- Strokes Gained: Around the Green
- Birdies Gained
- Driving Distance Gained
- Par 4 Efficiency 450-500 Yards
The model looks at the last 50 rounds on courses between 7,200 and 7,400 yards.
Tiger ranks eighth by the overall stat model with a top rank of 10th in Birdies Gained. He’s one spot behind Adam Scott and a spot ahead of Jon Rahm. His worst field rank is a 48th in Par 4 Efficiency on the longer holes.
Outright odds for the Genesis Invitational
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 8 a.m. ET.
Woods is +1600 to win the 2020 Genesis Invitational, entering the week as the fifth favorite. While it’s a better number than he had at the Farmers Insurance Open (+1100) for his 2020 debut at Torrey Pines (a course which he’s had much more success at) there are better options with more enticing odds. Brooks Koepka, ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is +2000 to win outright. Three-time Riviera champ Bubba Watson is +2200.
I would rather back Woods at +175 to finish in the Top 10. This is a loaded 120-man field featuring eight of the top 10 golfers in the world, and there are other values with better course history. It’s a good week to play it a little safer with Tiger as he ramps up his preparation for the 2020 Masters Tournament.
Best Props on Tiger Woods to win the Genesis Invitational
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Woods, Woods, ranked seventh in the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking and eighth in the OWGR to begin the week, is in a group with Rory McIlroy (1), Jon Rahm (3), Justin Thomas (4) and Dustin Johnson (5). Accordingly, he has the longest odds of the five golfers in Group A at +500. I like this number less than the outright odds, as the winner is most likely to come from this group. PASS.
For head-to-head betting, Tiger (+100) is paired against Johnson (-125), who won the then-Genesis Open by a five-stroke margin at 17-under par in 2017. There is value in backing the two to tie at +1600. It’s my favorite play for Tiger this week.
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