Holiday season is here, and suddenly your bank account starts to take a hit. It’s natural. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday — money is going to go out the door. You can spend a bunch of it on this very website snagging golf gear. Or you can give it away to a sports book and hope to reap back every dollar and more in a golf bet, just like one person did this week in the wake of Tiger Woods’ viral practice range video.
Chances are you’ve seen the tape already. Woods practicing alone in front of a launch monitor on the range at Medalist, his home club. It was the first video of Woods that he’s posted to his social media feeds since his tragic car accident in February.
He wasn’t just swinging the club — he was taking divots, too. It was a full swing iron shot, and it looked smooth. It looked like Tiger, just now with a sleeve on his right lower leg. And it was enough to inspire one punter at a Nevada sports book to go all-in.
According to SuperBook Nevada, one better placed a $1,046 bet on Woods to win the 2022 Masters, that special event that, one week ago, we weren’t sure he’d ever compete in again. Woods’ team has kept his public appearances extremely quiet, as well as his progress through rehabbing the injuries he sustained in the accident. Charley Hoffman predicted Woods would return. Justin Thomas said he couldn’t see Woods playing on Tour if he didn’t play well. Both seemed to know something, but we didn’t know what.
Will Woods play the 2022 Masters? It’s a complete unknown to this point. We have seen one swing on one three-second video. But that was enough for the bettor mentioned above to chase the 100-to-1 odds listed next to Woods’ name when he made the offer. That should be some simple math for the folks at home to comprehend. $1,046 at 100-to-1 odds? It’ll equal a payout of profit of $104,600 if Woods is somehow able to make magic again at Augusta National.
We don’t have to get into the details of what might keep this from happening. Those are pretty obvious, between the uphill rehab battle Woods is still enduring, or the countless killers on the PGA Tour who want a green jacket of their own.
If Woods does somehow play, though, 100-to-1 odds would be quite the ticket to possess. If he were to play, he’d know he was capable of walking 72 holes in four days. His back would have to be healthy enough to make about 1,000 swings that week. His game would have to be airtight as ever. So don’t go scoffing at those odds distributed by the bookmaker. They’re extremely fair.
Let’s try and remain a touch patient as the man continues to make “progress.”
