Incredibly, Tiger Woods has been given 33/1 odds to win the PGA Championship. If he withdraws, of course all bets are off, but even if he tees it up, I can’t see how he possibly has a better chance than, say Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell, Jordan Spieth or Martin Kaymer—just to name a few who currently are 35/1 or worse.
I think it reflects the continuing delusion some golf fans have about Tiger Woods. Let me clear it up for those people: Tiger Woods is done winning Majors.
The favorite—and how could it be otherwise, given his last two starts—is Rory McIlroy, who is in at 9/2. It would be good for golf for Rory to win this Major just as Tiger is fading away. Rory is just as exciting as Tiger, without the surly demeanor.
The most recent former number one, Adam Scott, is next at 11/2. He’s followed by Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia at 16/1.
I like Sergio for this Major. He’s been playing some of the best golf of his career in the past few months, and actually seems to be enjoying the game. That’s a good sign. I’m going to cheer for Sergio this week.
After Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, Phil Mickelson is my favorite golfer; I will always pull for him. But aside from that amazing final round at the Bridgestone last week, Phil just hasn’t shown much spark this year. I think he’s probably overvalued at 20/1.
I like Rick(ie) Fowler at the top of the odds list, though. His game has really progressed under Butch Harmon, and I think he’s ready to win a Major.
The next four in the top ten are no real surprises: Henrik Stenson (25/1), Keegan Bradley (28/1), Matt Kuchar (28/1) and Bubba Watson (33/1).
A win by any of the first three wouldn’t surprise me. Bubba would surprise me nearly as much as Tiger.
The complete odds for the 2014 PGA Championship follow, courtesy of Bovada:
| Player | Odds |
| Rory McIlroy | 9/2 |
| Adam Scott | 11/1 |
| Justin Rose | 16/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 16/1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 20/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 20/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 25/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 28/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 28/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 33/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 33/1 |
| Tiger Woods | 33/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 35/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 35/1 |
| Jordan Spieth | 35/1 |
| Marc Leishman | 40/1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 40/1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 50/1 |
| Jason Day | 50/1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 50/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 55/1 |
| Hunter Mahan | 66/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 66/1 |
| Lee Westwood | 66/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 66/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 66/1 |
| Angel Cabrera | 80/1 |
| Luke Donald | 80/1 |
| Patrick Reed | 80/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 80/1 |
| Victor Dubuisson | 80/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 80/1 |
| Bill Haas | 100/1 |
| Brendon Todd | 100/1 |
| Gary Woodland | 100/1 |
| Graham Delaet | 100/1 |
| Harris English | 100/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 100/1 |
| J.B. Holmes | 100/1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 100/1 |
| Nick Watney | 100/1 |
| Paul Casey | 100/1 |
| Robert Karlsson | 100/1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 125/1 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 125/1 |
| Kevin Na | 125/1 |
| Shane Lowry | 125/1 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 125/1 |
| Billy Horschel | 150/1 |
| Brendan Steele | 150/1 |
| Brendon De Jonge | 150/1 |
| Brian Harman | 150/1 |
| Brooks Koepka | 150/1 |
| Chris Kirk | 150/1 |
| Ernie Els | 150/1 |
| Jamie Donaldson | 150/1 |
| John Senden | 150/1 |
| Matteo Manassero | 150/1 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 150/1 |
| Russell Knox | 150/1 |
| Stephen Gallacher | 150/1 |
| Tim Clark | 150/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 200/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 200/1 |
| Chris Wood | 200/1 |
| Edoardo Molinari | 200/1 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 200/1 |
| George Coetzee | 200/1 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 200/1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 200/1 |
| Jonas Blixt | 200/1 |
| Joost Luiten | 200/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 200/1 |
| Kevin Chappell | 200/1 |
| Kevin Stadler | 200/1 |
| Matt Jones | 200/1 |
| Rafael Cabrera -Bello | 200/1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 200/1 |
| Scott Brown | 200/1 |
| Scott Piercy | 200/1 |
| Seung-yul Noh | 200/1 |
| Stewart Cink | 200/1 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 200/1 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 200/1 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 250/1 |
| Boo Weekley | 250/1 |
| Branden Grace | 250/1 |
| Cameron Tringale | 250/1 |
| Chris Stroud | 250/1 |
| Daniel Summerhays | 250/1 |
| Danny Willett | 250/1 |
| David Hearn | 250/1 |
| David Toms | 250/1 |
| Erik Compton | 250/1 |
| George Mcneill | 250/1 |
| Jerry Kelly | 250/1 |
| Kenny Perry | 250/1 |
| Marc Warren | 250/1 |
| Matt Every | 250/1 |
| Pablo Larrazabal | 250/1 |
| Padraig Harrington | 250/1 |
| Pat Perez | 250/1 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 250/1 |
| Ross Fisher | 250/1 |
| Russell Henley | 250/1 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | 250/1 |
| Ben Crane | 300/1 |
| Brian Stuard | 300/1 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 300/1 |
| Darren Clarke | 300/1 |
| Davis Love III | 300/1 |
| Fabrizio Zanotti | 300/1 |
| Jason Bohn | 300/1 |
| Kevin Streelman | 300/1 |
| Mikko Ilonen | 300/1 |
| Richard Sterne | 300/1 |
| Roberto Castro | 300/1 |
| Scott Stallings | 300/1 |
| Steven Bowditch | 300/1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 300/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 300/1 |
| Will Mackenzie | 300/1 |
| Chesson Hadley | 400/1 |
| Koumei Oda | 400/1 |
| Alexander Levy | 500/1 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 500/1 |
| Hideto Tanihara | 500/1 |
| John Daly | 500/1 |
| Kim Hyung-Sung | 500/1 |
| Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 500/1 |
| Tom Watson | 500/1 |
| Yong-Eun Yang | 500/1 |
| Aaron Krueger | 1000/1 |
| Mark Brooks | 1000/1 |
| Rich Beem | 1000/1 |
| Shaun Micheel | 1000/1 |
| Brian Norman | 1500/1 |
| David Tentis | 1500/1 |
| Frank Esposito | 1500/1 |
| Jamie Broce | 1500/1 |
| Jim Mc Govern | 1500/1 |
| Johan Kok | 1500/1 |
| Steve Schneiter | 1500/1 |
| Stuart Deane | 1500/1 |
| David Hronek | 2000/1 |
| David McNabb | 2000/1 |
| Dustin Volk | 2000/1 |
| Eric Williamson | 2000/1 |
| Matt Pesta | 2000/1 |
| Michael Block | 2000/1 |
| Rob Corcoran | 2000/1 |
| Rod Perry | 2000/1 |
| Ryan Helminen | 2000/1 |
| Bob Sowards | 2500/1 |
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I go Rory, Rickie, Phil. Sergio is not on my list, his chances are somewhere below Tiger. Sergio might be tied with Lee Westwood for me.
I think Phil on Sunday may have started peaking. That’s my hope. If he has a strong Thursday, somewhere in the top 10, look for him in the last two groups on Sunday.
Just heard one of the most ridiculous things I have heard in the Tiger droning. In discussing Tiger v. Jack, and Tiger still breaking the record – 1st, the Live@ crew said that from 38-46 Jack won 4 more times, but also Jack was 2 or 3, 6 times. (he was actually 2nd to 4th 7 times). So it is likely that Tiger will find himself in contention in the same way Jack did 10+ times, and just needs to win 5 of those times. The problem is that Tiger doesn’t put himself in contention the way Jack did. Tiger is, at age 38, 14 top 3’s behind Jack at 38.
The 2nd thing was more ridiculous. Nobilo said that Jack had an advantage because at 22 and at 42, Jack was playing with essentially the same clubs. It has been harder for Tiger to remain on top because the technology has been improving. That’s the first time I have ever hears someone contend that Jack had an equipment advantage.
They did also point out that Jack was in as good shape in his late 30s as late 20s, and injury free, where Tiger’s body is radically different and injury prone over the 10 years of aging.