The Loop

Vegas severely downgrades Tiger Woods' Masters odds after ugly Dubai round

February 02, 2017
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Warren Little

It took just 36 holes at Torrey Pines for Tiger Woods' Masters odds to be downgraded from 20/1 to 25/1. It took just one ugly round in Dubai for that line to move even more.

On Thursday, Westgate Las Vegas Superbook manager Jeff Sherman announced the latest change to Woods' odds of winning at Augusta National. And it seems the golf oddsmaker was just as unimpressed by Woods' opening 77 at the Dubai Desert Classic as everyone else.

Woods opened as a 60/1 Masters long shot in August when he was still sitting out from two off-season back surgeries, but he climbed all the way to 20/1 -- tied for the sixth-best odds in the field -- following his performance at the Hero World Challenge in December. Woods finished 15th out of 17 golfers that week, but led the field with 24 birdies and hit enough good shots to indicate his golf game was headed in the right direction.

Then he shot 76-72 to miss the cut by four shots at Torrey Pines, a place where he had eight victories as a pro. The at times chilly and windy conditions in La Jolla led many to speculate it was difficult for him to get his back warmed up. But on Thursday he played in 80-degree temps in Dubai and looked even worse, failing to make a single birdie in ideal scoring conditions.

Jordan Spieth is currently an 8-to-1 favorite, according to Westgate. He's followed by Jason Day and Rory McIlroy, who are both listed at 10/1.

At 40/1, Woods is still tied for the 15th-lowest Masters odds thanks to his four green jackets and the fact that there will always be people willing to wager on him no matter the state of his golf game. Sherman confirmed this with a follow-up tweet:

Ouch.

UPDATE: Those odds got even worse after Woods withdrew before his second round in Dubai due to back spasms.

Woods' next start is scheduled for Feb. 16 at the Genesis Open at Riviera, part of a busy stretch of four tournaments in five weeks. Well, busy if he actually winds up playing in all of them.