Tiger Says He Will Return in the Masters and Instantly is Made the Favorite

Within minutes of his announcing that he would return to competitive golf at Augusta National for the 2010 Masters, Tiger Woods was installed as the +300 favorite to win the PGA Tour’s first major tournament of the year.

Woods hasn’t played competitively since crashing his SUV into a tree on Thanksgiving night.  What ensued were revelations that Mr. Woods hadn’t exactly been the pristine golfer that everybody thought he had been.

Now, the newly improved Mr. Woods, the one who went through sex rehab and, by some accounts, drug rehab to help him get off of prescription pills, will tee off against the best other golfers in the world at the Masters.

Will he win it?  Maybe.  But because of his odds, El Tigre isn’t the best bet in the golf sportsbook to win the Masters.  In fact, Tiger is probably the worst bet on the board.

2010 Masters:  To Win

Tee-off:  April 8th

Best Bet A:  Steve Stricker +1500

Stricker finished at 8 under, tied for 6th, in the 2009 Masters.  The 2nd ranked golfer in the world is going off at 5 times the odds of El Tigre and he’s been playing well recording a victory in the Northern Trust Open and finishing 3rd in the Sony Open. 

His only real stumble was the 33rd place finish in the WGC-Accenture but that was a match play event.  The odds say Stricker’s the bet…for now.

Best Bet B:  Paul Casey +2000

Casey finished in 20th place, at -2, in last year’s Masters.  In 2009, by his own admission, Casey struggled through some injury issues.  Not so in 2010.  Paul has been en fuego this year.  He hasn’t finished out of the Top 10 in the four tournaments he’s played on the PGA Tour. 

What’s more impressive is that he’s done exceptionally well in the two WGC Tournaments, the Accenture and CA, so far in 2010.  He finished 2nd in the WGC-Accenture and 6th in the WGC-CA.  He’s ready to take home a major championship. 

Worst Bet:  Tiger Woods +300

Could Tiger win the Masters in his come back event?  Of course, he could, but I won’t be betting him to do it at 3 to 1 odds.  He’s just not that much better than Stricker, Mickelson, Westwood or Harrington right now.  That Villegas kid is pretty good to. 

Look, El Tigre could win the 2010 Masters, no doubt, but there are a lot of things going against him.  First, I don’t care what anybody says, the gallery will affect Tiger on the course.  It has to.  Second, I’m  not sure if he’s really over the knee injury.  Finally, Tiger has won the Masters four times. 

That’s four victories in 13 years and usually I’d say, wow! But not at the odds of +300.  This game is just too tough to find a winner to take low odds.  Give me +1000 and maybe I’ll bite.

Best +2000 to +5000 Bet:  Camilo Villegas +2800

I think Villegas could have his coming out party during this year’s Masters.  The Brazilian finished at -6 and in 13th place in 2009.  In 2010, he’s been as impressive as any golfer on the Tour. 

Camilo finished 3rd in the WGC-Accenture and then won the Honda Classic.  He’s good.  At 28 to 1, I’m willing to say he’s better than Tiger this year.