High odds on Woods tempting to many

But that’s basically old news. The new fascination is with Woods’ unpredictable golf swing. When will his greatness resurface? When will he put it all together for four days and dominate?

It’s impossible not to ask those questions before wagering on a major, because the odds on Woods to win the Masters were posted as high as 10-1 at the Las Vegas Hilton this week. It was too tempting for many bettors. Money followed Tiger, and the odds were adjusted to 9-1.

“Those are odds that people are not used to seeing on him at Augusta,” said Hilton golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman, adding that “hopeful” bettors put a “ton” of action on Tiger.

All hope is not lost. Woods shot a 1-under-par 71 in Thursday’s first round. He’s not out of it, sitting six shots behind co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros. But he’s showing little indication he’s truly in the hunt to win, sitting in a tie for 24th.

“It was a decent round. He was conservative, and he didn’t make many mistakes. Tiger had his chances, but there were a couple putts he just barely missed,” Sherman said. “It’s still not the type of round to say we’re looking at the Tiger from five years ago.”

I was not tempted to bet on Tiger, even at unusually high odds. But I would not call it a sucker bet, and neither would Sherman.

A story appearing Wednesday on CBSsports.com was headlined, “Vegas oddsmaker says Tiger is a sucker bet.” The oddsmaker was Sherman, and the headline attracted lots of attention, but the story had no substance.

“I just said it was more wide open this year,” Sherman said. “It became national news that I said Tiger was a sucker bet. I never once said it’s a sucker bet or people shouldn’t bet him.”

Ninety-nine players teed off at Augusta National, and defending champ Phil Mickelson was the favorite at about 6-1 odds. The best bet might have been Y.E. Yang at 100-1.

Yang is two shots back and in a tie for third with K.J. Choi, who was at 60-1 odds. Sherman is posting adjusted odds after each of the first three rounds, and his updated prices on Choi (15-1) and Yang (20-1) are more attractive than the adjusted number on Woods (10-1).

“Obviously, Yang is a legitimate threat,” Sherman said. “He’s won other tournaments, too, so this isn’t something new to him.”

But because his name is Y.E. Yang, nobody was betting on him, Sherman said. But it was Yang who stripped Tiger of his air of invincibility by outdueling Woods in the final round of the PGA Championship. That was in August 2009, before all hell broke loose with Woods’ low-speed car crash and personal-life controversy.

Brian Blessing, Las Vegas radio host and handicapper (4Guyswin.com), said he “mentioned Yang five times on the radio” this week. And I heard him mention Yang twice.

So did he bet him? “I’ve got to honestly cry and say no,” Blessing said.

As for the leaders, McIlroy has been adjusted from 20-1 to 4-1, Quiros from 125-1 to 12-1. Mickelson is now the second choice at 9-2.

“In a head-to-head matchup the rest of the way, I’d play Mickelson over McIlroy,” Blessing said.

In last summer’s British Open, McIlroy opened by firing a 63 to storm out to the lead. But he flopped the next day and shot an 80 in windy conditions at St. Andrews.

“The last time McIlroy was in a position like this, he kind of blew it, but you can learn from your mistakes,” Sherman said. “I like his talent. We’ll see if he can do it over the course of four rounds. It’s not often you see the guy who leads after the first round goes on to win it.”

As a matter of fact, it has happened just once in the past 25 years at the Masters, which is turning into a wide-open event with all sorts of odd names near the top of the leaderboard.

Sherman said the handle before Thursday was “incredible.” The Hilton expects to add another 15 percent over the weekend with adjusted odds and matchups and in-running wagering during Sunday’s final round.

“The handle didn’t come far from doubling what we had last year, which was an all-time high,” Sherman said.

“Mickelson still looks like he’s in a lot better shape than Tiger.”

McIlroy, Quiros, Choi, Yang, Matt Kuchar and several other players are also in better shape. But it’s just one round. Tiger can’t be labeled a sucker bet yet.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the “Las Vegas Sportsline” weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.