Tiger Woods is less than 100%, but that isn’t deterring bettors from putting money on the GOAT’s chances at The Open Championship this weekend.
Despite +7000 odds at Tipico Sportsbook to win the event — the 25th-shortest in the field — Woods represents 10% of the book’s bets on outright winners. If he were to pull it off, bettors would rake in a whole lot of dough. His +1500 odds to finish in the top five are tied for 28th, and his odds to finish in the top 20 can be had at +300. Those are the longest odds out of his group for the first two rounds, which includes Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, who is a noted Woods fan.
At BetMGM, Woods is the single biggest liability, with 5.7% of tickets and 6.7% of handle on him.
Biggest outright liability for British Open @BetMGM is Tiger Woods, but they're cool:
“Judging from his last few tournaments, playing four days in a row seems to put incredible stress on Tiger’s body so we're comfortable with the huge liability," says Jason Scott, VP of trading. pic.twitter.com/l9LRvRanpl
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) July 12, 2022
As noted in the tweet from Cover reporter Geoff Zochodne, BetMGM is comfortable with the amount of money pouring in on Woods because of his condition. The last time we saw Woods in real competition was the PGA Championship in May, when he withdrew after the third round.
Woods skipped the U.S. Open last month to give his leg ample time to recover before this weekend, but he remains a longshot to come out on top. Rory McIlroy is the betting favorite to win, with +900 odds on Tipico, followed by Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele all at +1500.