Thursday, June 14, 2001
Tiger's hot, and they're betting him
By DEAN JUIPE
Las Vegas Sun
Look no further than Las Vegas to see the degree to which Tiger
Woods is dominating golf.
In times past, sports books here would make a tournament favorite
something like 8-1.
But Woods was an unprecedented even-money choice to win the U.S.
Open that began Thursday at Southern Hills in Tulsa. You have
to bet a buck to win a buck, and that, my friends, has always
been regarded as a poor proposition when it comes to the highly
competitive PGA Tour.
There are, after all, 156 players in the Open and every one of
them has a spellbinding ability in this most difficult of sports.
Non-golfers don't always realize it, but the difference between
your everyday 'A' player or your local course's club champion
and a guy who makes his living on the pro tour is immense.
Without exception, tour players are battle hardened and as resilient
to pressure and distraction as humanly possible. They're robotic
in many respects.
But Woods is an anomaly. He defies the commonly held notion that
a golfer cannot will himself to victory, or even turn his game
up a notch upon command.
He's winning most every time he plays — for instance, five
victories in his last six events — and targeting and winning
the tour's four annual majors as if he were the only adult in
the field.
At Southern Hills, he's going for a fifth consecutive victory
in a major event and looking to further endorse the growing belief
that he may very well become the greatest athlete in the history
of sports.
In those last four major wins, Woods is 65 under par — or
45 shots better than anyone else. He also holds or shares the
tournament scoring record in each of the four majors.
At last year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he demoralized his would-be
peers and won by a staggering 15 strokes.
This year has been more of the same, with $4.2 million already
banked in official earnings and a huge lead on the tour's money
list. He's also miles ahead in the World Golf Rankings.
Yet even those breathtaking achievements don't make a man infallible,
as anyone inclined to bet $1 to win $1 on Woods should take into
account. After all, since 1991 no defending U.S. Open champion
has finished better than 40th the following year.
Woods, of course, is apt to finish better than 40th no matter
what he encounters at Southern Hills.
But is betting on him to win under such trying circumstances —
and for such a miniscule return — a worthwhile investment?
From a statistical perspective it's not, for the simple reason
someone else in the field could get hot for four days and do what
Bob May just failed to do last year when he lost to Woods in a
playoff for the PGA Championship.
Yet bettors are spending freely on Woods and the books are tailoring
some wagers in an effort to tempt money to come in on the other
side. A wager where the bettor has a choice of taking Woods or
taking everyone else in the entire field has surfaced around town,
which is just short of unbelievable.
Golf is usually more unpredictable than this, but Woods is almost
to where he's perceived as a sure thing. The tough part in rising
to that level is dealing with the widespread disappointment that
will occur if and when he ever stumbles again.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
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