Gambling Trends
Genesis Invitational betting: Why sportsbooks don't seem too scared about Tiger Woods winning this week
Ronald Martinez
Golf fans are looking forward to seeing a familiar face in Tiger Woods taking on a familiar track in Riviera this week. There will be some major differences when the 15-time major champ makes his PGA Tour return—including his new clothes and his new caddie—but for the most part, things will be back to normal. And you can say the same for sportsbooks in terms of taking bets on Tiger.
It's no surprise that people are plunking down money on Woods to win the Genesis Invitational despite the fact that he hasn't played in an official PGA Tour event since last year's Masters. And in spite of another fact: Even at his peak, he never won at Riviera.
But as long as there are odds on Woods winning, there will be gamblers willing to put money on him. According to Bet MGM, Tiger has received the highest ticket percentage (8% with Justin Thomas second at 5.75%) of anyone in the field. And that, coupled with Tiger's long odds make him Bet MGM's biggest liability this week (Again, ahead of JT).
That being said, Bet MGM and other sportsbooks don't seem too scared of a Woods win when you consider his odds movement. At Bet MGM Woods opened at 100-to-1 odds, but has since dropped to 125-to-1 odds despite all that money coming in on him. Usually, odds move the other way. It's almost like they're trying to lure in more people to bet on the 82-time PGA Tour winner.
And a quick search shows he's not getting much respect anywhere. Woods is 130-to-1 odds at DraftKings and all the way up to 150-to-1 odds at FanDuel. OK, so there's nothing normal about that. Keep in mind, this is only a 70-man field.
But also keep in mind that Woods recently turned 48, and he's only played in five official PGA Tour events since his car crash following this tournament in 2021. He also finished 18th out of 20 in the Hero World Challenge in December, his first start since having his ankle fused last year.
Crazier things have happened, though. In fact, crazier things have been happening all year as the first six winners on the PGA Tour in 2024 have all had odds of 100-to-1 or higher. Hmm. Maybe this is actually the perfect time to bet on Tiger after all. Or, maybe, that's just what the sportsbooks want you to think.