No surprise here: Tiger is the betting favorite

Tiger Woods hasn't played competitive golf since June, yet he is a 5-to-1 favorite to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship this week.

Is that a good bet? Even when healthy and playing regularly he seldom wins half his starts, and the odds a bettor receives on him are always small. The built-in problem is that you don't want to bet on him for so little return, yet you don't ever want to bet against him, either.

-- John Strege