Vegas still likes Tiger Woods to win Masters

Las Vegas still thinks Tiger Woods is the man to beat in The Masters.

Woods, who is making his comeback from a 4 1/2 month layoff from golf in the season’s first major, is still the runaway favorite to win based on odds posted in Vegas sports books.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the MGM Mirage had Woods as a 13 to 5 favorite (that’s just below 3-to-1 odds) to capture his fifth green jacket. The next closest competitors were Ernie Els at 8 to 1 and Phil Mickelson at 9 to 1.

“He’s still a solid favorite to win,” Jay Rood, director of race and sports betting at the Mirage, told the AJC. “I think it’s because he looks fine. He looks good, he looks fit and all indications are he’s playing well. He explained a lot about his injury situation this week. His ability to play through all that [last year] says a lot about his ability to focus when it’s time to compete. I’m expecting his instincts will kick in and he’ll play well.”

In any case, Woods is generating a lot of action. Rood said the number of wagers on the world’s No. 1-ranked player have doubled in the last 10 days.

And he’s getting a lot of takers on propostion (or “prop”) bets. The most popular? How will Woods do on the first hole.

“It’s 15 to 1 right now that he’ll make double bogey or higher,” Rood said.”That pays a lot and a lot of people are going for that.”

Woods is getting similar love from other betting outposts. bodog.com has him at 5-1 to win, ahead of Mickelson at 11-1 and Els at 12-1. bodog is giving 16 to 1 on Woods making double or worse on No. 1 and has even money on him shooting 71 or less.