Money has been pouring in at sportsbooks around the nation on long shot Tiger Woods to win the Masters.
Entering the week, the betting action on the odds to win the Masters at Caesars Sportsbook was very evenly distributed between Woods and two top-tier contenders, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler.
Only 16 bets separated Thomas, Scheffler and Woods as of Tuesday afternoon at Caesars. By Wednesday, the gap had widened significantly after Woods said a day earlier that he was planning to tee it up this week at Augusta National.
“Woods is now ahead of everyone by over 1,000 tickets,” Max Meyer, spokesperson for Caesars Sportsbook, told ESPN.
The Masters will mark Woods’ first professional tournament since suffering serious injuries in a February 2021 car crash. The five-time Masters winner is 40-1 to win the tournament at Caesars Sportsbook.
At sportsbook PointsBet, Woods has attracted over three times more bets — and more than double the money wagered — than any other golfer. The sportsbook’s liability on Woods winning was seven times greater than any other player as of Wednesday morning.
“Tiger winning the Masters would be the worst result for us at any golf tournament since we started operating in the U.S. by far,” said Jay Croucher, head of trading for PointsBet.
On March 30, Las Vegas-based sportsbook Circa Sports posted yes/no odds on whether Woods would play in the Masters at basically pick ’em. The next day, the odds on the “yes” grew to -1,000 and got as high as -2,000 before the sportsbook took them off the board this week.
“When we put the prop up we never had the intention of winning it,” Jeffrey Benson, sportsbook operations manager for Circa, told ESPN in a direct message on social media. “The goal when you book this stuff is not to get killed.”
Benson tweeted that Circa would lose a “nice nice house” if Woods wins this week.
Woods is a small underdog (+110) to make the cut at the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas. Jeff Sherman, vice president of risk and a golf odds specialist for the SuperBook, said he has taken wagers from sharp bettors on both sides of Woods making the cut.
“Him returning after everything to win in 2019, I think that gives people hope at long odds that something like that can happen again,” Sherman said. “I’m pretty sure that’s why you’re seeing what we’re seeing now.”
Asked what he believes Woods’ true odds of winning the Masters are, Sherman said 200-1.
Jon Rahm (10-1) and Thomas (12-1) are the favorites at most sportsbooks. Dustin Johnson (16-1, Brooks Koepka (18-1), Cameron Smith (18-1) and Scheffler (18-1) round out the golfers with odds of better than 20-1 at Caesars Sportsbook.
