The Loop
Rory McIlroy has the best odds of winning a major this year, according to Vegas
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With so many great players, there hasn't been as much "Big Four" talk in 2017. But a group of four has already separated itself in terms of gambling odds for major championship season. According to Bovada Sportsbook, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, are the favorites to claim at least one major this year. And it's not even close.
OK, so none of this should surprise even the most casual of golf fans. However, it's still interesting to see how the lines shake out for this particular bet of whether a golfer will win any of the four majors in 2017. McIlroy is the favorite at 7-to-5 odds, but it's really close among this quartet.
Day is second at 3/2, followed by Johnson (8/5) and Spieth (7/4). The trio of McIlroy, Day and Spieth got shutout in terms of major titles in 2016 after entering the year having won five of the past six. Johnson broke through for his first major victory at last year's U.S. Open during a season in which all four major winners were first-time champs.
After the big four, Hideki Matsuyama is listed by Bovada at 3/1, just slightly ahead of Henrik Stenson (9/2), who was one of those four first-time major champs in 2016 after holding off Phil Mickelson in an epic duel at the Open Championship. And then we get to a certain 14-time major champion. Tiger Woods, who is down to a 20-to-1 shot to win the Masters, is listed at 5/1 to win one of the four majors. It's not quite the days where Woods was 3/1 to win the Grand Slam, but those are still pretty respectable odds.
As far as potential first-time major champs go, Rickie Fowler (7/1) has the second-lowest odds to Matsuyama, followed by Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, who are both listed at 10/1.
Of course, none of this really means anything, but it's still fun to think about. Also fun to think about? As of Wednesday, we're just 84 days away from the Masters.