Hero World Challenge golf tips, free bets and latest odds
TIGER's back! Again! But avoid the temptation to back him for this week's Hero World Challenge, even at attractive-looking odds of 70-1.
Woods has not played competitively since he hobbled out of the third round of the Masters in April with an inflamed heel, and is the rank outsider in the elite 20 man field for the annual event he hosts in the Bahamas.
That 70-1 is far from generous, considering this injury-ravaged Tiger has played just five times in the last three years.
His horrendous car crash in February 2021 effectively wrecked his hopes of really competing at the highest level again, and he will celebrate his 48th birthday on December 30.
So just enjoy the rare sight of seeing him back in action - and try to earn a bit of extra Christmas spending money by picking from the host of current stars teeing it up alongside Woods.
Here are five easy steps for beginners.
1. Choose Your Favourite Sportsbook – there are plenty to choose from and most have their own app or mobile site.
2. Make a Deposit – each sportsbook will walk you through how to connect your bank account to their system including providing a list of all the safeguards they have set up to ensure the safety of your transactions.
3. Claim Your Bonuses – most sportsbooks offers bonuses to first time bettors in the form of free bets.
4. Place Your Bet – now it’s time to navigate through your sportsbook’s odds where they will offer a variety of options including outright winners, or top finishing positions, such as top 10 or 20, or even to make the cut. For the event this week each way odds are generally paid on the top eight players.
5. Collect Your Winnings – If you're successful you will be able to withdraw your winnings once the bet is complete. Some bookmakers offer cashout options on certain bets as well, which is worth keeping an eye on.
Lots of bookmakers have different options for betting on the golf this week, including competitive odds and different place markets.
We like the markets on bet365, including the price boosts on offer pre-event.
Jordan Spieth has been boosted to 25/1, and Matt Fitzpatrick is 18s.
You can also get Tiger Woods at 7/1 for a top five.
The market is headed by world No 1 Scottie Scheffler - a best priced 11-2 - and 9-2 favourite Viktor Hovland, who will be bidding to round off easily the best year of his career by making it a ‘three-peat’ at Albany golf club.
Hovland’s two wins here have both been at the expense of Scheffler, who has not helped his chances of going one better by putting the clubs away since America’s humbling Ryder Cup defeat five weeks ago.
We all saw in Rome that it is not easy to shake off the rust, with most of the Yanks also taking a break between the Tour Championship in August and the shoot-out with Luke Donald’s players, who looked much better prepared.
Unlike Scheffler, world No 4 Hovland has had a run-out since Rome, finishing joint runner-up at the DP World Tour Championship. I will be amazed if he does not finish in front of Scheffler again.
But that 9-2 is a bit skinny for me. And even though Hovland clearly loves this course, the FedEx champion has had a heavy workload this year. So it might be worth taking him on.
Collin Morikawa and Max Homa are both listed at 8-1 and both have shaken off the Ryder Cup blues with impressive victories on foreign soil - Morikawa at the Zozo in Japan and Homa at the Nedbank in South Africa.
Homa did not manage anything better than a 71 on his first visit to Allbany last year - and crashed to a 78 in round two - while Morikawa has finished fifth and sixth in the last two years. He is capable of better, so he looks the one to be on.
Looking at the players further down the betting, Justin Thomascatches the eye at 16-1, especially as he has finished in the top five at the Hero in each of the last three years.
Thomas was a decent fourth behind Homa at the Nedbank. But the former world No 1 was so bad for much of 2023 that it is hard to place too much faith in him
I prefer the chances of US Open champion Wyndham Clark, at around 25-1, although this will be his first appearance at Albany.
But Clark had never seen Los Angeles Country Club either before he saw off Rory McIlroy in June, so he is unlikely to be fazed by another new challenge.
At 35-1, Open runner-up Sepp Straka, one of the European heroes in Rome, also appeals as an each way shot.
He will know more about the course after finishing a respectable tenth in his Hero debut last year. He bounced back from an opening 74 at the DP in Dubai with three successive 68s, so he will not lack confidence.
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