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For 19 of the players in this week’s Hero World Challenge golf tournament it’s a nice way to head into the holiday season.
But for the 20th player in the field, it’s another shot to make PGA Tour history.
That’s because the tournament’s host, Tiger Woods, is also going to be playing this week as he returns to action after a seven-month layoff while he’s been recovering from his latest surgery.
In his last event, he withdrew from the Masters. Since his injury in February 2021, he’s played in just five tournaments. He’s made four cuts but also withdrew twice in two of those events.
And now he’s back.
The good news is it’s just a 20-man field. The bad news is it’s many of the world’s best players and includes 17 of the world’s top 26-ranked players.
No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is here along with other big names like Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and others.
Then there’s that Woods guy who comes into this week ranked … wait for it … No. 1,274 in the world. It’s his lowest ranking in his professional career.
Now, we bring all of this up for one simple reason: Can Tiger Woods win again?
Some bettors are saying yes, kind of. Wood has a lot of bets coming in but not a lot of money.
He’s to win (the longest odds in the event along with Lucas Glover) so while many bettors’ hearts are in it, their wallets aren’t as the bigger money is coming in on those who haven’t had time off and been recovering from surgery.
Odds to win the Hero World Challenge
Here are the latest odds for all 20 golfers at the Hero World Challenge from top-rated sportsbooks:
Too many questions to bet Tiger Woods to win Hero World Challenge
We’d love to join those who are betting that Woods gets back in the winner’s circle, but we just can’t.
There are too many questions and -- as tight-lipped as the Woods camp is -- there aren’t enough answers to give us a lot of positivity.
Can he walk four rounds pain-free? Sure, he caddied for his son, Charlie, in a recent event. But even after that, he said he was sore. And he didn’t have to swing a club once, or contort his body as he tries one of his patented recovery shots.
Add in the fact he’s going to have to get back into his routine of getting up very early to go through his pre-round physio and loosen up, then hit the range and follow that up with 18 holes.
Rinse and repeat three more days, and as much as we love the long odds, we just can’t pull the trigger.
As much as this made-for-TV comeback story intrigues us, too much can go wrong for us to back him even in a limited field where he’s also the host.
Now that we’ve dashed everyone’s Christmas wishes, let’s see if we can replace that lump of coal with a couple of presents to help ease the pain and sorrow.
More: Tiger Woods props | Best golf betting sites | Latest sports betting promo codes and bonuses
Defending champ Hovland odds not a great value, but he's the favorite for a reason
We’re a big fan of backing the defending champ.
But at , Viktor Hovland doesn’t give us a lot of room when it comes to profit.
Why, you may wonder, is he the favorite this week?
Well, considering he’s won this event the last two years it’s a no-brainer.
Oh, that’s not the only reason.
He’s coming into this event as hot as any player on the planet. He finished up the FedEx Cup playoffs with back-to-back wins in the final two events, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.
He’s also proven he’s not a one-trick pony.
Two years ago he rallied from six shots back to nip Scottie Scheffler for the title. Last year he won by three strokes, again beating Scheffler. And last year, he won wire-to-wire which is never easy to do.
So, he’s won the last two events he’s played in this year and he’s the two-time defending champion here.
It’s not too tough to see why he’s the favorite and why we will be driving the Hovland bandwagon for the foreseeable future.
Limited field means limited longshots at Hero World Challenge
Only 20 players in the field won’t give us many longshots to ponder.
When is the longest shot on the board, it’s tough to get great value.
We feel the best longer shot, rather than a longshot, is Keegan Bradley at .
He’s been under the radar all year despite two wins. Add in four other top 10s and his game is solid and has been all of 2023.
He was left off the Ryder Cup roster when he would have been playing with and against many of the same players he will be battling this week.
A little payback? That might not be front-and-center in his thinking but it just might be lurking in the back of his mind.
Tiger Woods Hero World Challenge prop picks
We’re going to look at DraftKings for a couple of prop bets.
As there are just 20 players in the field, the prop bets are slim pickings.
But we are going to give Tiger fans a break. We’re going to look at him to finish in the top 10 at . Not great numbers, but then again we aren’t sure what we’re going to get over the four days.
We’re thinking there’s going to be a hole-in-one this week. At +400, we’ll take it.
With this being a made-for-TV event, chances are there are going to be gettable hole placements.
Whether those result in more aces is to be seen, but at least the targets should be more accessible.
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