Upcoming Match-ups

After Winning The Masters, Tiger Woods Listed as Favorite to Win PGA Championship, US Open & British Open

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in Golf

Updated Mar 27, 2020 · 9:57 AM PDT

Tiger Woods
Ending a 14-year major drought with a win in the Masters, Tiger Woods is now favored to triumph at the US and British Opens and the PGA Championship. Photo by US Army (flickr).
  • Tiger Woods won his first Masters title since 2005
  • It was his first win in a major since the 2008 US Open
  • The 14-year gap between major victories is a golf record

Tiger is no longer in the tank, but how fueled is he for the future? With Sunday’s win at the Masters, Tiger Woods ended a 14-year drought between major championships. He also reignited the engine of a golfing public that loves to love him and obsess over his every shot.

That passion apparently extends to the betting public. Since Sunday’s win, sportsbooks have established Woods as the betting choice in each of golf’s three other 2019 majors – the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods 2019 Major Championship Odds

Major Tournament Tiger Woods’ Odds to Win
US Open +750
British Open +750
PGA Championship +700

Odds taken on 04/15/19.

The Masters victory by Woods was his first win in a major since the 2008 US Open. He most recently won the British Open in 2006 and was PGA champion in 2007.

How Tiger Roared Back

If you weren’t keeping score at home, it was 3,954 days between major victories for Woods. Augusta was where it all began for Tiger. He won his first major there in 1997 at the age of 21.

YouTube video

He’d earn another 13 major titles in the next 11 years, completing the career Grand Slam in 2000, before he’d turned 25.

The golfing world was his oyster but then it all fell apart. First, his marriage to Elin Nordegren collapsed through Woods’ own admissions of infidelity. He took a self-imposed exile from golf in 2009-10 in a failed bid to save his marriage.

Next, his golf game crumbled along with his health. He underwent four back surgeries between 2014-17. Woods played just one tournament between August of 2015 and January of 2018. The former world no. 1 tumbled out of the top 1000 players.

The comeback began last December when Woods won the Tour Championship, his first PGA Tour victory in five years. He tied for sixth at the 2018 British Open and finished second in last year’s PGA.

Woods finally completed his comeback journey to the top this weekend.

Is Chasing Jack Back on Track?

When he sat with 14 major titles by the age of 32, everyone was ready to concede that it was only a matter of time until Woods surpassed the golfing mark of 18 major victories held by Jack Nicklaus.

Then everything went off the rails. The question became not whether Tiger would win the most majors, but would he win another major?

With Sunday’s victory, is the race back on to hunt down Jack’s mark? Or is it too little, too late for Tiger?

Sportsbooks are also offering a prop wager on the number of major championships Woods will capture in 2019.

Tiger Woods 2019 Major Championship Total

Major Tournament Victories for Tiger Woods Odds
Exactly One -300
Exactly Two +275
Exactly Three +2000
Exactly Four +10000

If you look at it historically, Woods won three majors in 2000 and two each in 2002, 2005, and 2006.

Still, he’s 43, and no golfer has won multiple majors in their careers beyond that age, let alone in the same year.

YouTube video

Nicklaus was 46 when he won the 1986 Masters. Lee Trevino took the 1984 US Open at 44. Julius Boros is the oldest golfer to win a major. He was 48 when he captured the 1968 PGA.

YouTube video

But Tiger has spent a career doing things no golfer has ever done. Bet on him winning one more major this year.

We think it will be the US Open. He already has two career wins at Pebble Beach, this year’s venue, including the 2000 US Open.

Author Image