Tiger Woods Back in Swing of Things, Farmers Insurance Open Favorite at His Beloved Torrey Pines

Posted on: January 23, 2019, 07:06h. 

Last updated on: January 23, 2019, 07:06h.

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Tiger Woods tees off his 2019 PGA Tour season this week at the Farmers Insurance Open where the seven-time winner is one of the favorites at Torrey Pines in Southern California.

The Westgate SuperBook has Woods at 16/1 to win his eighth Farmers, with a $100 bet and a Tiger victory netting $1,600. 2017 winner Jon Rahm is the frontrunner at 10/1, followed by Justin Rose, defending champ and 2015 victor Jason Day, and Rory McIlroy at 14/1.

Only Woods and Hall of Fame great Sam Snead have won a single PGA Tour event eight times. Snead – the only player with more total PGA Tour victories than Woods’ 80 at 82 – won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times. Tiger has done it at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods won the Tour Championship four months ago. He then competed in the Ryder Cup, which the Americans lost, and he was then defeated by Phil Mickelson in their one-on-one $10 million match. Needless to say, Woods is ready to get back inside the ropes.

I know what I can do, I know what I’m feeling, so now it’s about finishing a little bit better and winning some events this year,” Woods said Tuesday.

An assortment of prop bets can be found on Woods at various sportsbooks. The odds of him simply making the cut are strong at Yes -170, No +140. The line gives the 14-time major winner a 63 percent chance of playing the weekend.

Sacred Ground

Woods has won 10 percent of his 80 PGA Tour victories at Torrey Pines. Along with seven Farmers wins, Tiger won the 2008 US Open there in dramatic fashion over Rocco Mediate. It was the last time he won a major event.

In addition to the professional victories, Torrey Pines has extra sentimental value to Woods. The course is where he played (and won) as a junior golfer, and where he attended his first PGA Tour event.

Woods is bringing a new set of clubs to the course this week. Tiger says he’s switched out two woods with TaylorMade’s M5s, and he will play the TaylorMade P7TW irons.

Value Bets

Brandt Snedeker, the 2012 and 2016 Farmers winner, is listed at 40/1 to win this weekend. A $100 bet would net $4,000 at those odds. It will be Sneds’ third start in 2019 following T22 and T16 finishes at the Tournament of Champions and Sony Open.

It hasn’t been wise to bet against Jordan Spieth over the last five years, and despite recent poor play due to putting woes, it would seem only a matter of time until the former world No. 1 returns to form. He’s at 30/1 to win this weekend.

Finally, Xander Schauffele, who’s already won twice in the 2018-19 wraparound season at the WGC-HSBC Champions in October and Tournament of Champions earlier this month, is at 18/1.