There is plenty of intrigue and excitement surrounding Tiger Woods and his return to competitive golf this week. It is the first time we will have seen Woods in a competitive environment since he withdrew during his third round of the 2023 Masters after he said he re-aggravated his plantar fasciitis. (Woods would have a subtalar fusion surgery on his right ankle later in April.)
Seven months later, Woods steps back onto the world stage at his tournament, the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in the Bahamas. The 15-time major champion is one of 20 golfers competing. Joining Woods for the no-cut event are many of the sport’s biggest names, including two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Max Homa. All are competing for the top prize of $1 million.
(Read More: How to Watch the Hero World Challenge)
Lets take a look at the betting markets for the event:
No surprise to see the hottest golfer on the planet, Viktor Hovland (+400), as the favorite to win the tournament. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+450) is second on the odds board at DraftKings followed by Collin Morikawa (+800) and Max Homa (+850).
Biggest odds movers in the field currently are Cam Young (+2500 to +1800) and Justin Thomas (+1600 to +1400). Tiger’s odds have seen a substantial shift but in the wrong direction (+4000 to +6600).
DraftKings has more than a few interesting options for bettors in addition to the standard first round leader and tournament winner markets including traditional 1st Round Head-to-Head matchups, a Round 1 Six Shooter, Tournament 3-balls, and 2 Ball (3 Way) matchups for Round 1. Additional bets include betting a player’s specific score for select holes.
(Read More: Hero World Challenge Round 1 Tee Times for all including Tiger)
It is an interesting event to handicap as the players have, for the most part, not played a competitive round since the Ryder Cup or Tour Championship.
Snubbed by the Ryder Cup brass, Keegan Bradley enjoyed a career renaissance last season earning two wins and six Top 10 finishes. DraftKings pits him against another golfer who returned to the winner’s circle after a lengthy drought, Rickie Fowler.
No shot Bradley enters the year without a chip on his shoulder after being snubbed for the Ryder Cup team possibly to make room for Fowler. Take Bradley (+110) in that Round 1 matchup.
If you believe Justin Thomas’ game showed signs of life at the Ryder Cup and he will build on that this week, you can get him at +550 to win his group on DraftKings that includes Hovland (+300), Scheffler (+330), Homa (+400), Morikawa (+400), and Fowler (+600). However, the full field is only 20 golfers so if you like Thomas to win that group, take the better value at +1400 to win the entire tournament.
While Justin Thomas’ game had its bright spots in Rome, Jordan Spieth’s did not. His Tournament Trio matchup is with Rickie Fowler and Sam Burns. Their odds head-to-head are: Spieth (+180), Fowler (+160), Burns (+180). Both Spieth and Burns competed in the event last year with Burns bettering Spieth by 3. Not sure how relevant that is but at least difficult to ignore is the eye test from the last time we saw each. That was in Rome and if any of the three made anything close to a positive impression it was Burns. Lets ride with Sam in the Bahamas in his matchup against Fowler and Spieth.
Regardless of where you place your bets, enjoy Tiger’s return as we just do not know how often we will get to enjoy him in a competitive environment moving forward.
*odds courtesy of DraftKings
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