Seeing Tiger Woods ride around in a golf cart and shoot +7 at the JP McManus Pro-Am this week gave one better a great deal of confidence for some reason. BetMGM says they took a $4,500 wager for him to win next week’s Open Championship at +4000 odds. If Woods wins, the bettor would take home $180,000.
Considering where his game – and his body – currently stands, it is hard to imagine Woods capturing his fourth Claret Jug and 16th career major on the PGA Tour. He might be in good spirits, but he just finished tied for 49th out of 50 players in the field at the JP McManus Pro-Am. And there is no way Adare Manor Golf Club will be more difficult than the Old Course at St Andrews.
Woods won the 2000 and 2005 Open Championships at the “home of golf” by a combined 13 strokes during his prime. He missed the cut at both the 2010 and 2015 editions of the event. The 46-year-old golfing legend has only one major championship win – the 2019 Masters – in the past 13 years.
I get that a potential $180,000 payday is huge – and it would be absolutely electric to see Woods near the top of the leaderboard next weekend – but this seems simply like a waste of $4,500. I look forward to being on an Old Takes Exposed feature if he ends up pulling it off.
Tiger Woods Tries to Have Body Ready
The road to recovery has been a long and difficult one for Tiger Woods. He made his return to competition at the 2022 Masters, his first tournament action since the 2020 U.S. Open. He was out of action for over a year due to chronic back injuries as well as a single-car crash near Los Angeles on February 21, 2021, in which he suffered multiple leg fractures.
A few weeks ago, the severity of Woods’ injury was revealed in a fan’s social media photo – and it was not pretty. He skipped the U.S. Open last month so he could be certain his body would be ready for both the JP McManus Pro-Am and The Open Championship.
“It’s been hard, but it’s been worth it. There have been some very difficult days and some days which moving off the couch is a hell of a task,” Woods said. “But that’s just the way it is.”
He continued: “This is a pretty historical Open we’re going to be playing. I’m lucky enough to be a past champion who has won there and wants to play there again … So I want to be able to give it at least one more run at a high level.”