It’s The Tour Championship this week at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and if you look at the PGA odds it’s Tiger Woods’ tournament to lose. The world’s best golfer is getting 1/1 odds to win and golf betting fans can’t get enough of it. After Woods at even odds, it’s Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk, both well back at 14/1.
Woods hasn’t exactly dominated The Tour Championship in recent years. Obviously he didn’t win last season while nursing an injury. He won in 2007, but that was his first victory since 1999.
It’s just so hard to bet against Woods, especially after watching him win by eight shots at the BMW Championship two weeks ago. Amazingly, that was the 10th time in his PGA Tour career that he’s won by at least eight shots.
Woods has six PGA Tour wins in 2009 and that’s without a major victory.
"There were so many uncertainties at the beginning of the season," Woods said after the BMW blowout. "I didn't know how the leg was going to respond. I've never had a leg that was stable. What kind of shots could I play? How was my recovery going to be from day-to-day? Am I going to hurt again? A lot of these things, I didn't know.
"To come back and be, as I said, this consistent feels pretty good."
But even odds to win The Tour Championship? That’s a pretty low payout when you’re betting on golf. What about the alternatives?
Steve Stricker’s second on the money list and he’s at 18/1.
Zach Johnson’s third in the money and he’s at 20/1.
Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open and he’s at 50/1.
Heath Slocum won The Barclays at the end of August and he’s at 80/1.
Every player who’s qualified for The Tour Championship could win it. In fact, Retief Goosen (25/1) and Mike Weir (40/1) have won it in past years.
With all the money being bet on Woods, over at Bodog Sportsbook we try to balance the action by offering juicier odds on the rest of the field. That leaves better PGA odds on other golfers for savvy bettors, as long as those bettors don’t mind going against the grain and, for that matter, Woods.
Remember that anyone who bet against Woods this season in each of the four majors came out on top. As good as Tiger is, golf tournaments are extremely hard to win. Woods played 16 PGA Tour events in 2009 and won six of them. That’s a great record, but it’s not .500. So is it worth even oddss?
Bettors looking to cash in on this tournament need to check out the latest odds at Bodog.com!
