The Masters
Scheffler, McIlroy, Koepka the favorites, but people just keep betting on Tiger Woods
AP Photo of Tiger Woods; Brant James illustration
Folks just love The Masters.
Maybe it’s because Augusta is the first visceral representation of spring for those who’ve not yet moved to the Sun Belt. Perhaps it’s the beautiful grass, the gentility, or the tradition. Or because no one is allowed to take a selfie there.
Maybe the thought of tuning out of work on a Thursday for the second time in a month is blissful.
Maybe a $1.50 pimento cheese sandwich just hits ‘em right in the feels.
The Playbook appreciates the athletic cut of a green blazer as much as the next Substack - probably more - but is self-aware enough to understand why you’re here.
Let’s chat about betting on The Masters, shall we?
Masters Odds and Analysis:
And Then There’s This Guy
Folks also love betting on this Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods. You’ve heard of him.
Tiger Woods is incredibly unlikely to win The Masters for the sixth time on Sunday. Multitudes of factors conspire against one of the greatest ever to haul a club from a bag.
He’s 48.
His surgically repaired body requires much longer to limber and loosen than before numerous back surgeries, a 2021 car accident, and heavy rains forecast for Thursday could throw scheduling awry.
Then there’s Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm.
None of this, as usual, has stopped the dabbling golf-betting public from betting on him. A lot. Even with his odds to win a 16th major currently at +14000 at DraftKings and similarly priced elsewhere.
“There were times when Tiger was in his prime where he was 7-to-5, 8-to-5 to win a tournament,” DraftKings director of race and sportsbook Johnny Avello told Gaming Today. “And I don’t think a lot of people have forgotten that. So when they see 130-1, 140-1 to one, I think their eyes pop out and they just take a chance on him, see if that magic can be there.”
If you said ‘Other,’ share your flavor in the comments, please.
Masters of their Universe
The PGA Tour has a dream. The galleries of majestic golf courses in states where sports betting is legal will become virtual sportsbooks, bustling with commerce inspired by in-the-moment, at-the-event bro energy.
It’s verifiably happened at the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale twice, and the Tour very much hopes and expects the scene to repeat at the US Open at the Village of Pinehurst (N.C.) in June.
But it will probably never happen at The Masters, not even if Georgia eventually legalizes sports betting. The curators of Augusta National are extremely serious about perpetuating the pristine persona of their little fiefdom, and among the quaintnesses - again, $1.50 pimento cheese sandwiches - underpinning the process are rules such as the very strict one banning mobile phone use while on course during tournament play.
From the course’s mouth:
Beepers! Now that’s quaint. But seriously, there goes the Brooks Koepka boost bet at Amen Corner.
PGA Tour vice president of gaming Scott Warfield addressed the question like the par-5 dog-left on 13 at Augusta. Carefully.
“That’s obviously for Augusta National and the club to decide,” he told Gaming Today.
And that’s all fine.
Betting on stuff is an aside.
Access to it isn’t an all-encompassing necessity.
Just look at that pretty grass.
How Ohtani, Porter, Davis Debacles Might Hack a Path for Sports Betting Legitimacy, Transparency
There will be lessons for Major League Baseball, its teams, and players even if investigating Ippei Mizuhara’s sports betting absolves Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani of wrongdoing.
Because when the American sport most scarred by gambling scandals first embraces sports betting as a revenue stream, then is unprepared for the inevitable first controversy – or is simply slow to act – it allows suspicion and innuendo to fill the void where information could have engendered trust. And then it is allowed an epic institutional failure to occur.
Women’s Final Four Wrap
Watching and betting on the women’s NCAA basketball tournament grew as a national taste all the way to the final, where South Carolina prevailed over Iowa.
From FanDuel:
“After record-breaking games in the Elite Eight and Final Four, the final between Iowa and South Carolina became the new biggest women’s single betting event of all time on FanDuel.”
Highlights include:
The game eclipsed (yep, we went there) the short-lived previous record-holder, the Connecticut-Iowa Final Four game, by 22% in terms of handle.
Iowa-South Carolina was the #1 betting event on FanDuel on Sunday.
The national championship game generated a 155% increase in handle and 205% increase in bet count on FanDuel over the 2023 National Championship.
“It’s been all about [Caitlin] Clark, Angel Reese, Flau’jae Johnson, Paige Bueckers, etc. But it’s also about the players preceding them who have brought popularity first as college players and then as WNBA players,” Aron Wattleworth, bet365 Trading Team Leader said. “The Sheryl Swoopes, the Dawn Staleys, the Sue Birds, the Diana Taurasis, the Brittney Griners, the Breanna Stewarts, the growth explosion we are witnessing stems directly from the two-way impact and relationship between college and the pros – now more than ever.”
“Without them, the Clarks, the Reeses, the Bueckers, the Cardosos don’t have the level of popularity they have now. The Women’s game wouldn’t have it without those before who helped build the train, which is now becoming a hyperspeed locomotive.”
Odds …
… and enders
Call 1-800-GAMBLER if you have a gambling problem. 21+: All content herein is intended for audiences 21+.
Catch the eclipse this week? It was better than we expected. But you had to look really close.
