in Golf Articles

Healthy foes or enemies?

Tiger Woods’ posted odds to win the  have gone from +250 to +200 to +175 over the past month, so clearly his flameout at the U.S. Open has been long forgotten. Woods has picked up a win in three of the past seven major tournaments, and finished in at least a tie for fourth place in six of those seven events.

At least year’s PGA Championship Woods finished tied for fourth, which was his best result in the tournament since a second-place performance in 2002. His two victories in that major came in 1999 and 2000. In fact, Woods’ results in this tourney have been surprisingly spotty; along with two wins, a second, a fourth, and a tenth at the PGA Championship, he also has a 24th, two 29ths, and a 39th-place finish on his resume.

However, some weak results in the past aren’t going to dissuade bettors or oddsmakers this time around. Woods’ strong play of late has made him the clear favorite to roll to the win in Medinah, Illinois this weekend. Woods’ +175 odds are by far the shortest on the list, with Phil Mickelson next at +800 odds, and Jim Furyk farther back at +1000 odds.

Here are the current odds for all the listed golfers to win the fourth and final ’06 major:

Odds to Win 2006 PGA Championship

Tiger Woods --- +175  
Phil Mickelson --- +800  
Jim Furyk --- +1000  
Ernie Els --- +1400  
Vijay Singh --- +1400  
Sergio Garcia --- +2200  
Retief Goosen --- +2200  
Adam Scott --- +2500  
Luke Donald --- +3000  
Chris DiMarco --- +4000  
Padraig Harrington --- +4000
Geoff Ogilvy --- +4000  
Stuart Appleby --- +5000  
Stewart Cink --- +5000  
Tim Clark --- +5000  
David Toms --- +5000  
Mike Weir --- +5000  
Robert Allenby --- +6000  
Chad Campbell --- +6500  
Kenny Perry --- +6500  
Angel Cabrera --- +7500  
Colin Montgomerie --- +7500  
Michael Campbell --- +8000  
David Howell --- +8000  
Jose Maria Olazabal --- +8000  
Scott Verplank --- +8000  
Thomas Bjorn --- +10000  
Justin Leonard --- +10000  
Davis Love --- +10000  
Fred Couples --- +15000  
John Daly --- +15000   

But if you’re tired of betting against Woods and then watching him cost you money, you can also lay down some cash on a Tiger-free prop this week. Furyk and Mickelson are both pegged at +800 odds to have the best non-Tiger result at the PGA Championship, followed by Ernie Els at +1000, and Vijay Singh at +1100. Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott are both listed at +1600 odds for this prop bet, while Retief Goosen sits at +1800.

Or you can take Woods as part of a team. You can get -200 odds on an American player winning the PGA Championship this year, with the Europeans sitting at +550 odds, and the ‘Rest of the World’ pegged at +220 odds. As well, you can bet that one of the new ‘Big 5’ (Woods, Mickelson, Els, Furyk, Singh) will win the tournament at -120 odds.

For general PGA Championship props, you can bet that the tournament will end with a playoff at +200 odds, while the ‘No’ side for that one pays off at -300 odds. Also, correctly wagering that someone will pump up the crowd by nailing a hole-in-one at the tourney pays off at an underdog +115 odds, with the ‘No’ side the favorite at -155 odds.

You can’t escape Woods for long though - he’s pegged at lofty -800 odds to finish somewhere in the Top 10 golfers this weekend, and at -400 to finish amongst the Top 4. And no wonder - along with his recent stretch of hot play, Woods came out the winner when the PGA Championship was last held at Medinah Country Club (back in 1999).

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