Following Tiger Woods’ impressive displays in The Open Championship and the PGA Championship, where he finished sixth and second respectively, the former world No.1 proved that he has not only retained the desire to compete for golf’s biggest prizes, but also the ability.
Firing on all cylinders following an almost Lazarus-style recovery from multiple back surgeries, the 42-year-old is being backed off the boards to secure a long overdue major victory No.15 next season.
Woods is listed at 5/1 to win either the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open or Open Championship in 2019, and there is no shortage of punters willing to bet that he’ll do just that.
Besides his solid run of form, another reason for Woods’ popularity in the major betting markets is that next year’s schedule of tournament venues has proved a happy hunting ground for him over the years.
Along with four green jackets at Augusta National, Woods has won twice at Pebble Beach, which is hosting the US Open (including his record-breaking performance at the 2000 US Open, where he won by 15 shots), while he also won the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black, which will be the site of the PGA Championship. Royal Portrush has not hosted the Open Championship since 1951, so no-one has much course form to speak of there, although Rory McIlroy might fancy his chances of adding to his own major tally when competing, as he will be, in virtually his own back yard.
Other bets in the Tiger Woods’ majors market include his prospects of missing a cut in one of the four (5/6), as well as the odds him playing in the final pairing on Sunday (2/1). He’s also priced up at 5/6 to hold the lead at some point during any of the 16 rounds.
Elsewhere, reigning world No.1 Dustin Johnson has the lowest price odds to lift a major title in 2019 (11/4), with Jordan Spieth lurking just behind at 3/1. Brooks Koepka, winner of three of the past seven majors, comes in at 4/1, as does McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship.
Among players looking to bag their first major in 2019, Rickie Fowler is priced up at 9/2 to get the monkey off his back, followed by John Rahm (5/1) and Tommy Fleetwood (7/1).
The odds all four major championships going to first-time winners is 40/1, with odds that all are repeat champions currently set at 7/1.