Those who placed wagers on Tiger Woods entering the 150th Open Championship were left either thrilled or incredibly disappointed following his first round on The Old Course at St. Andrews.
Woods started off with a double bogie on the par-4 1st hole and proceeded to card another double on the par-4 7th with five additional bogies on his round, including a three-putt at the par-3 11th. All told, Woods carded a 6-over par 78 on Thursday.
Golf’s biggest name sits 14 shots back of the leader Cameron Young. Young shot 8-under 64 to edge Rory McIlroy by two strokes while claiming the first-round lead.
Of course, those who bet Woods to miss the cut are more than content.
DraftKings Sportsbook revealed Wednesday evening that 34% of the money wagered and 27% of bets to miss the weekend cut were on Woods. He more than doubled the next closest golfer in handle to miss the cut and there were five-times more tickets on Woods to miss than anyone else.
On the other side, however, those who bet Woods would be golfing this weekend were dealt a tough one. DraftKings shared how 70% of bettors took Woods to make the cut, which represented 46% of the handle. The drastic separation — no other golfer had more than 6% of tickets — perfectly depicts just how much bettors love firing on Woods.
Additionally, Woods was responsible for 8% of the betting handle to win The Open Championship on DraftKings. It ranked second behind on McIlroy. Woods presented BetMGM oddsmakers their biggest liability entering the tournament with similar numbers pertaining to tickets and handle.
Those bettors, too, have been dealt a dose of reality. The situation Woods has put himself in likely indicates he won’t be anywhere in contention this weekend — if he even makes it. He sits in a tie for 145th in a 156-player field.
The last six Open champions have been within three shots of lead after round one, as shared on the USA broadcast. If that were to prove true this time around, the winner will come from a group of three players including McIlroy, who’s two shots back at 6-under 66, and Cameron Smith, who’s three shots back at 5-under 65. There are nine additional golfers at 4-under par 68 after the opening round.
