The Players Championship Odds: Spieth, McIlroy, Day Top List, Tiger, and Phil Lurk

Posted on: May 9, 2018, 01:00h. 

Last updated on: May 9, 2018, 11:45h.

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The Players Championship tees off Thursday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where oddsmakers feel Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and Jason Day will battle for golf’s so-called fifth major.

The Players Championship odds Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will go head-to-head this week at The Players Championship. Woods has won the event twice, while Mickelson has one victory at TPC Sawgrass. (Image: Andrew Redington/Getty)

The Westgate SuperBook has all three superstars at 14/1 to win The Players. Spieth’s grouping with the shortest odds of the 144-man field comes as a bit of a surprise considering he’s missed three consecutive cuts at TPC Sawgrass.

“The first year I played here I almost won it, and so I just kind of assumed that it would come easy to me,” Spieth said of his T4 performance in 2014. “The last couple of years … I haven’t approached it like I approach the major championship-caliber golf, and this golf course and this tournament are major championship-caliber.”

McIlroy and Day have enjoyed plenty of success at The Players.

Day, who enters fresh off a win at the Wells Fargo, won The Players Championship in 2016. McIlroy finished T8 in 2013, T6 in 2014, T8 in 2015, T12 in 2016, and T38 last year.

2017 Players champ Si Woo Kim is getting little respect despite some recent good play. Kim is at 80/1 to defend.

Woods Attracts Action

Tiger Woods’ season got off to a blistering, unexpected start. He followed up a 12th-place finish at The Honda Classic with two top-five performances (T2 Valspar, T5 Arnold Palmer Invitational).

But after disappointing play at the Masters (T32) and Wells Fargo (T55), Woods’ game has seemingly taken a step backwards. That isn’t stopping sports bettors from going forward with the 14-time major champ.

Woods is at 30/1 to win The Players, tied for the 10th-shortest line. His Thursday and Friday playing partner Phil Mickelson shares the 30/1 line. The third competitor in their group, Rickie Fowler, is shorter at 16/1.

Fowler won The Players in dramatic fashion in 2015 when he played the final four holes -5, and then won in a playoff against Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.

After the three-way tie at the top, Fowler is the next shortest at the SuperBook with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson. Jon Rahm is next at 20/1, followed by Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson (25/1).

Masters champ Patrick Reed shares Woods and Mickelson’s 30/1 line.

Las Vegas Loves Tiger

Tiger Woods hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2013, the same year he won his second Players Championship. For Las Vegas oddsmakers, his victory drought has netted big wins for casinos in recent months.

Woods in a tournament always increases interest, and subsequently total handle. The SuperBook said the 2018 Masters, Tiger’s first trip around Augusta National since 2015, set a new betting record.

Woods chalks up his constantly short odds to “gamble-oholics.“

Reed’s victory last month was an ace for Las Vegas. The longshot, who entered the Masters at 40/1 odds, generated little interest. The most money was on Woods, McIlroy, and Dustin Johnson. Reed wasn’t in the top 10 of ticket count or money wagered.