Tiger Woods is back on the mend. The 15-time major winner underwent surgery on his ankle in April due to post-traumatic arthritis and finally made his return at the 2023 Hero World Challenge in December.
The 15-time major winner visibly struggled to walk at times during the Masters in April, fighting through the pain to make the cut before eventually withdrawing midway through the third round due to a bout with plantar fasciitis. Expectations were low given the lower-body injuries suffered in a 2021 car crash, which Woods said nearly cost him his right leg.
Woods is now 47 years old and the injuries continue to pile up. It’s been five years since he returned from spinal fusion surgery and picked off another green jacket at the 2019 Masters, confirming that Woods’ competitive career wasn’t at the final chapter just yet.
Tiger Woods Odds to Win Golf’s Four Major Championships
Tournament OddsBest Sportsbook2024 Masters +10000 FanDuel 2023 PGA Championship +10000 BetMGM 2023 U.S. Open +10000 BetMGM 2023 British Open +10000 DraftKings
Woods’ odds are current as of publication.
Tiger Woods 2024 Masters Odds
Date: April 11-14, 2024
Course: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tiger Woods odds to win: +10000
Woods’ first major test in 2023 came at the course most associated with his championship resume – Augusta National. Woods has five Masters victories in his career and it’s the major he won most recently, back in 2019.
He was clearly limited by a number of physical ailments and still managed to make the cut, eventually withdrawing Sunday morning after an overnight Round 3 weather delay.
This is still the most likely major for Woods given the smaller fields and his immense course knowledge. If he’s healthy enough to walk the course relatively pain-free, he’ll always be a factor at Augusta.
Tiger Woods 2024 PGA Championship Odds
Date: May 16-19, 2024
Course: Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky
Tiger Woods odds to win: +10000
Woods’ 2024 PGA Championship odds on betting sites are considerably long, for several reasons. It’s been a tough go at this event in recent years, other than a solo second finish in an epic 2018 shootout with Brooks Koepka at Bellerive.
He missed the cut in 2014, 2015 and 2019, and he was forced to withdraw in 2022 despite a promising second-round 69 at Southern Hills.
After several years of birdie-fests, we’ve seen this tournament trend in a much tougher direction with winning scores of -6, -5 and -9 the past three years. That sort of challenge used to be right in Woods’ wheelhouse – the tougher the conditions, the more his skills were amplified. He always liked it when par was a good score.
Whether or not that’s still the case in his current physical state is a fair question, as Woods hopes to turn his PGA fortunes around in 2024.
Tiger Woods 2024 US Open Odds
Date: June 13-16, 2024
Course: Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst, North Carolina
Tiger Woods odds to win: +10000
Woods’ US Open odds are identical to the PGA Championship listings at +10000, and he hasn’t played the national championship since 2020. Woods was still in the early stages of rehab in 2021 and he chose not to tee it up in 2022, focusing his efforts on prep for the 150th British Open at St. Andrews. He also missed 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club due to injury.
The US Open used to be arguably Woods’ best event. It certainly led to two of the most memorable wins of his career – the record-setting 15-shot victory at the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, and the epic 2009 playoff win over Rocco Mediate on a broken leg and torn ACL at Torrey Pines.
It hasn’t been great to him lately. Woods has missed the cut in three of his last four US Open starts, and he hasn’t finished inside the top 20 since a T-4 in 2010.
Tiger Woods 2024 British Open Odds
Date: July 18-21, 2024
Course: Royal Troon, Troon, Scotland
Tiger Woods odds to win: +10000
While the Masters is the most likely major for Woods to win from a purely logical standpoint thanks to the smaller fields and incredible history, the British Open seemingly remains in reach as well.
Again, it’s been a tough go lately. Woods has missed three of the last four British Open cuts, shooting 78-75 in 2022 at St. Andrews. He did contend and take the lead on Sunday en route to a T-6 finish at Carnoustie in 2018, and from a physical perspective this would be the easiest tournament in general to get it round with a long iron and take some of the physical strain out of the equation.
These golf odds are still fluid and could change drastically in either direction by the time the final major of the year rolls around.
Woods Has Come Back Before
The 15-time major winner made an improbable comeback not long ago when he returned from spinal fusion surgery in 2018 and eventually became the second-oldest player to win the Masters when he ended a long major drought in 2019 to win again at Augusta National at age 43.
Woods has said he likely won’t play a full Tour schedule ever again. He’s just hoping to get healthy enough to pick and choose his spots. He was already scaling way back on practice time and tournament appearances for a number of reasons prior to his crash, among them the desire to spend more time with his teenage children.
He’s also realistic about what the comeback process would look like.
“I don’t foresee this leg ever being what it used to be,” Woods said. “Hence, I’ll never have the back what it used to be. And the clock is ticking. I’m getting older, not getting younger.”
Woods said he doesn’t have any desire to ramp up for multiple events and regular Tour stops each season, especially now. He is 47 years old and is still three career major victories behind Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18 wins. His past injury-related back and knee operations are in the double digits.
That’s all understood and Woods harbors no illusions of becoming the player he once was. But thinking of the player he could be again following another year-long absence – one whose swing is tailored around his physical limitations rather than abilities – is enough to trigger plenty of excitement ahead of the 2023 major schedule.
“If you practice correctly and you do it correctly, I’ve come off of surgeries and come off of long layoffs and won or come close to winning before,” Woods said. “I know the recipe for that. I just need to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough where I can do that again.”
