Why some sportsbooks are rooting against Tiger Woods at the Masters

While many fans might be rooting for a comeback story this weekend as Tiger Woods returns to professional golf for the first time since a severe leg injury 14 months ago, sportsbooks likely aren’t rooting for the movie-esque comeback.

All four of the sportsbooks Yahoo Finance collected data from on Thursday listed Tiger Woods as the most bet-on golfer to win the Masters Tournament. BetMGM (MGM) listed Woods as one of the sportsbooks' biggest “liabilities” prior to the tournament.

“Woods winning would be the worst result for PointsBet for any golf tournament since the company launched in the U.S.,” PointsBet (PBTHF), another one of the sportsbooks, told Yahoo Finance via email.

With increased interest on a player with long odds, sportsbooks could stand to lose more money than normal should Woods win. One bettor at FanDuel (PDYPY) placed a $15,000 wager on a Woods victory. If the bet cashes, the bettor nets $750,000. Woods entered Friday's action tied for 10th place.

At 46 and with no golf tournament experience since the injury, Woods is far from the favorite to beat out 90 other golfers across the four-day tournament. Most sportsbooks had him at +4000 or +5000 odds to win the tournament (for comparison, the world’s top-ranked player Scottie Scheffler had +1500 odds on FanDuel and Justin Thomas was +1600 on DraftKings (DKNG)).

Bettors initially placed wagers on if the golfer would participate in the tournament at all. After a single car crash in February 2021 caused "significant orthopedic injuries to his right lower extremity," it appeared the five-time Masters champion might have played his last round at the tournament. But as pictures of his practice rounds surfaced this week, fans swarmed Augusta National to get a glimpse at the 46-year old’s comeback attempt.

As a result, gamblers shifted their focus to Woods winning the tournament for a sixth-time.

The interest in Woods now puts sportsbooks in a peculiar position. Normally when money pours in on someone to win any given sporting event, the money is coming in on the favorite or at least someone expected to do reasonably well.

While Woods could impact the betting company’s bottom line, he's also still good for business. Bets on Woods to win the 2022 Masters with FanDuel have surpassed the total amount of bets placed on the entire tournament in 2019, the company told Yahoo Finance, though the betting platform has added 12 new states since then.

Josh is a producer for Yahoo Finance.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn