Until he proves otherwise, it looks like Tiger Woods‘ favorite status in another golf major has become a risky proposition for anybody to put some money on. Over the past few years, Woods has been pegged as the favorite to win all of the majors he participated on. Yet the bookmakers’ respect for his game and majors mojo hasn’t been repaid in kind because, well, he’s got a big goose egg to show for it. Remember, the last time Woods won a major was back in 2008. Since then, he’s been more Eldrige than Tiger. Clark Kent more than Superman.
But yet again, Woods is the clear favorite to win the 2013 British Open at just 13/2 odds, surprisingly well clear of closest competitors, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy, all three of whom have been priced at 18/1 odds. This isn’t even a case of being a narrow favorite; the odds for Scott, Rose, and McIlroy are almost three times as much as what Woods is getting, a sign that bookmakers may know something that the public punter doesn’t or they posted these odds hours after a record run of beer chugging.
Adam Scott looks to be a good player to have some money on. After all, he had the title in the bag last year only to collapse in the end, gift-wrapping the title to Ernie Els, who incidentally, has been priced at 25/1 odds to go back-to-back in the British Open.
Closer odds (than Els) include Lee Westwood and Luke Donald at 20/1 odds and Graeme McDowell at 22/1. Meanwhile, other golfers with similar 25/1 odds include Jason Day, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia. From there, the odds jump to 33/1 for the likes of Brandt Snedeker, Charl Schwartzel, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, and Padraig Harrington.
But the pre-tournament odds, as always, appears to revolve around Tiger Woods. Whether he deserves to be favorite or not is another discussion altogether. But books have shown tremendous faith in the man in recent years to break his majors slump only to see him crash and burn each and every time.
