Getty Tiger Woods at the Wells Fargo Championship in 2012, the last year he played in the tournament.
If you’re bullish on Tiger Woods’ resurgence and not too put off by his disappointing showing last month at Augusta, you can make a little more money betting on Woods this weekend than you might have in tournaments past.
Here’s a look at how betting markets — and daily fantasy sites — value Woods heading into the Wells Fargo Championship, which begins Thursday:
Tiger Woods’ Odds This Weekend
As Woods continued to play his best golf in years, his stock in betting markets reached a level that was hard for the 14-time major champion to live up to. Heading into the Masters, for instance, odds that he’d win the Green Jacket reached as high as 8/1, earning him co-favorite status heading into the tournament.
Woods’ odds this weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship, by contrast, are more modest. After finishing tied for 32nd at the Masters, Woods is a more modestly priced 25/1 at Quail Hollow, according to the website GolfOdds.com, which is run by Westgate Las Vegas Superbook manager Jeff Sherman. Woods isn’t exactly a longshot, but he’s a few notches down from Rory McIlroy, who’s favored to win the tournament with odds of 7/1.
Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler are just behind McIlroy at 10/1. Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama and Masters champion Patrick Reed are at 20/1. Paul Casey, Phil Mickelson and Tommy Fleetwood join Woods at 25/1.
The Westgate Superbook is also offering several prop bets on Woods, who’s a strong favorite to make the cut but an underdog to finish in the top 10 — something he’s done three times in seven starts this season.
Wells Fargo Championship …
Tiger Woods to Win: 25/1
Tiger Woods Make the Cut? Yes -450 No +350
Tiger Woods Finish Top 10? Yes +250 No -310
Tiger Woods Finish Top 20? Yes +125 No -145
Tiger Woods’ Fantasy Stock This Weekend
Woods’ fantasy stock is at a similar level. He’s eighth on the pricing list at DraftKings, where he costs $9,100, and at FanDuel, where he costs $11,400. In both cases, he’s more expensive than players with similar fantasy scoring averages. At DraftKings, his 69.2 fantasy points per tournament rank 26th in the field. At FanDuel, his 69 points per game rank 19th in the field.
If you’re looking for value, you can draft a guy like Kevin Streelman, who has a higher fantasy scoring average, has made 14 out of 15 cuts this season, and costs only $7,200 at DraftKings and $9,100 at FanDuel. (FanDuel has a higher salary cap than DraftKings, so individual player prices are higher across the board.)
But if you’re looking for entertainment value and want Woods in your lineup, it’s not a terrible play. His price at both sites is high but not off-the-charts. If you have a bargain play at the back of your lineup, you’ll be able to draft both Woods and one of the pricier options at the top of the board. I wanted to take a stab at a lineup including Woods while also pairing him with a big gun who appears really likely to be in the mix on Sunday. I had to take fliers on Shane Lowry ($7,000) and Kevin Tway ($6,600) to make it work, but I was able to afford a DraftKings lineup that includes Woods ($9,100), Rickie Fowler ($11,100), Tony Finau ($8,700) and Andrew Landry ($7,500).
Wells Fargo Championship Schedule & TV Info
Woods will be the first pro to tee off on the first hole during Wednesday’s pro-am, with a 7 a.m. tee time. Rickie Fowler is next up at 7:10. Justin Thomas (7 a.m.) and Brooks Koepka (7:10) are first up on the 10th tee. Here are all the pro-am tee times.
Woods is playing with an intriguing group in the opening round on Thursday. He’ll tee off on the first hole at 12:50 p.m. with Masters champion Patrick Reed and 2017 US Open champion Brooks Koepka, who’s playing his first solo tournament in three months because of a wrist injury. (Koepka played last week’s Zurich Classic, the Tour’s only team event.)
Here’s a rundown of the tournament schedule and broadcast info:
Tournament dates: May 3-6
Course: Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina
Par/yardage: Par 71; 7,600 yards
Wells Fargo purse: $7.7 million ($1,386,000 to first place)
Making the cut: The top 70 on the leaderboard, including ties, will advance to to play over the weekend. There are 156 players in the field.
Wells Fargo TV coverage: Thursday and Friday: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday: 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the Golf Channel; 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on CBS
Tiger Woods’ history at the Wells Fargo (previously called the Wachovia Championship and the Quail Hollow Championship): Tied for third in 2004; tied for 11th in 2005; first in 2007; fourth in 2009; missed the cut in 2010 and 2012
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Tiger Woods’ Odds This Weekend Are a Relative Bargain