By Frank Scandale @FScandale @TheDailyPayoff
With 14 holes under his belt, Tiger Woods sits at +11 in the second round of the U.S. Open, near the bottom of the pack.
Trailed only by Ricky Fowler when he teed off this morning at Chambers Bay in Oregon, Woods’ quest for a 15th major will have to wait until another event.
As reported earlier, despite his 14 majors, his unparalleled history and the record holder of longest golfer in the World No. 1 spot, Woods’ odds no longer focus on whether he will win, but if he will even make the cut.
Woods was attempting yet another comeback to his old form, this time at the challenging course in Oregon that looks more like a British Open course than a US Open.
As previously reported, going off at 50-1 at Wynn Las Vegas to win the event outright, most of the focus is on whether he can make the cut, says Johnny Avello, director of Race and Sports Operations at Wynn Las Vegas.
“Even money, yes, to make the cut, and -120 to miss it,” Avello said. His reasoning? “First of all, Tiger is struggling with his game. He’s been there (at the course) for a while, maybe even a week, trying to get his game back to respectability.”
His 50-1 to win odds is probably more of a courtesy to how great a player he was. ”
“Back then, you’d be hard pressed to get 5 or 6-1 on him. But he’s not the same Tiger. He’s struggling to even make cuts. All that said, if he gets his game back to respectability and while I am not sure how many wins he will get, he is still Tiger Woods and he draws crowds.”
Avello had Rory McIlroy as the favorite at 5-1, Jordan Spieth right behind at 7-1, then in the low double digits Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, followed by a smattering of players at 20-1.
As of this writing, Speith was tied for the lead at -5.
Bovada sports betting also had Woods at even to make the cut and 40-1 to win. http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/golf-pga.jsp They put the Mickelson, Spieth and McIlroy group as the favorites. (As of this writing, Mickelson was -3 and McIlroy -1). Woods missing the cut is the -130 favorite on that bet.
Woods is also offered at +8000 odds to shoot a hole in one at the U.S. Open this week, according to Bovada’s site.