A poor 2020 golf season saw Tiger Woods drop from No. 6 to No. 43 in the Official World Golf Ranking from mid-February 2020, to January 2021. He enters the new year still in search of his record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour win. Below, we’ll look at Tigers’ betting odds to win each of 2021’s four scheduled majors.
Woods played just seven events following the PGA Tour’s mid-June restart with a top finish of T-37 coming at the PGA Championship. He missed the cut at the US Open and tied for 38th in his defense of his fifth Masters title. The 2020 Open Championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s unknown when Tiger will make his 2021 debut after last teeing it up at Augusta National Golf Club. He underwent a back procedure in late December to force his withdrawal from usual appearances at the Farmers Insurance Open and Genesis Invitational. The Honda Classic, March 18-21, may be a potential target ahead of the Masters.
Update: Woods was involved in a single-car crash near Los Angeles on Feb. 23. The injuries sustained by Woods required him to have emergency surgery on his right leg. At 45-years-old and having already had major injury issues, it is unlikely Woods returns to the golf course any time soon.
Tiger Woods and the Majors
Tiger’s 15th career Major title — and fifth green jacket — turned the page on the numerous personal issues and, more-notably, back surgeries that have plagued him and tarnished his image since his 2009 infidelity scandal.
His 2001 victory at the Masters completed the honorary “Tiger Slam” coined for his winning of four consecutive Majors not all played in the same calendar year. He’s won each major at least three times – with a fourth victory at the PGA Championship – and has gone back-to-back as champion at all but the US Open.
Woods has just one more major win in a playoff (three) as he has victories by double-digit strokes. He has missed the cut or withdrawn from 11 major tournaments, but has 26 top-10 finishes in addition to his 15 wins, including six runner-ups.
Tiger Woods betting odds: The Masters
*Odds shown below were prior to Woods’ February car accident. He is currently off the board.
- Where: Augusta National Golf Club
- When: April 8-11
- Last win: 2019
- Career wins: 5
Woods stole all the headlines while opening with a first-round 68 at the 2020 Masters to sit three strokes off the 18-hole lead. He shot just 1-under par over his next 36 holes and was well back of Dustin Johnson’s lead heading into the final round. A septuple-bogey 10 on the par-3 12th Sunday will leave a bad taste in the mouth of golf fans despite the fact Woods finished with five birdies in his final six holes.
Woods’ chase for a sixth green jacket is believed to be his main motivator and he’ll play as sparingly as needed prior to April in order to make sure he’s in peak physical condition for Augusta National. His early odds could continue to rise if the world’s top-ranked golfers start 2021 with some wins while Woods is inactive.
Tiger Woods betting odds: PGA Championship
*Odds shown below were prior to Woods’ February car accident. He is currently off the board.
- Where: Kiawah Golf Resort – Ocean Course
- When: May 20-23
- Last win: 2007 (Southern Hills Country Club)
- Career wins: 4
Woods tied for 11th when the PGA Championship was last held at Kiawah in 2012. A Saturday round of plus-2, 74 did him in but little could have been done to catch Rory McIlroy, who won by eight strokes at minus-13.
The PGA Championship is the major Woods has won the second-most times. He disappointed at TPC Harding Park in 2020 with back-to-back rounds of plus-2, 72 Friday and Saturday.
Tiger Woods betting odds: US Open
*Odds shown below were prior to Woods’ February car accident. He is currently off the board.
- Where: Torrey Pines (South)
- When: June 17-20
- Last win: 2008 (Torrey Pines)
- Career wins: 3
Woods is expected to return to the site of one of his most famous major wins, as he outlasted Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff for what was then his 14th major title. He misses an opportunity for a tune-up at Torrey Pines by having to pull out of the Farmers Insurance Open, where he finished T-9 in 2020.
The US Open has been Tigers’ least successful major in recent years, with three missed cuts in his last four appearances dating back to 2013. The long, thick rough so strongly associated with the event has proven to be the toughest test for Woods and his surgically-repaired back.
Tiger Woods betting odds: Open Championship
*Odds shown below were prior to Woods’ February car accident. He is currently off the board.
- Where: Royal St. George’s Golf Club
- When: July 15-18
- Last win: 2006 (Royal Liverpool Golf Club)
- Career wins: 3
When Woods last won the Open Championship, he did so by two strokes over Chris DiMarco with the help of a 5-under, 67 final round. He finished at minus-18. Then his second consecutive Open Championship title, he has three top-10 finishes in 10 appearances since, most recently finishing T-6 in 2018 before missing the cut in 2019.
Woods will be one of the few contenders in this year’s field with major experience at Royal St. George’s. He tied for fourth at plus-1 in 2003 to finish two strokes back of Ben Curtis.