Is Tiger the Favorite at Augusta?

When we found out a few days ago that Tiger Woods would make his return to golf at Augusta National to play in the Masters, all the speculation started turning towards whether Tiger could actually win this thing. For a guy that hasn’t played golf in quite a while, it was pretty interesting to see those comments. But this is Tiger Woods we’re talking about. Could he actually do it?

Let’s be honest. If it were anyone else that we were talking about, this wouldn’t even be a discussion. When a professional golfer hasn’t played competitive golf in over five months or so, we would be crazy to even think that they could step right in and be a difference maker on the course. However, again, this is Tiger Woods we’re talking about. The greatest player in the world tends to get the benefit of the doubt a little more than the average golfer on tour.

But for Tiger to win at the Masters, he’s going to need an absolutely fantastic performance. It could probably go one of two ways. Either Tiger comes back and makes a run in the first few days to be towards the top of the leaderboard before the rust takes over in the final two rounds. Or he could go out and play great golf all four days, and at least be a position to win the tournament on Sunday. You would expect him to come out with a chip on his shoulder and be as determined as ever, so I wouldn’t put it past him to win this thing. But again, even though it’s Tiger, it’s still a long shot in my opinion.

This past season made it evident. We all remember the Y.E. Yang victory over Woods at the PGA Championship. That showed that Tiger could be beat on the course. And then when all the off-course stuff started unfolding, we realized that Tiger was vulnerable off the course as well. If I were betting on this tournament, I just couldn’t bet on Tiger to win it. Although I certainly want him to win it, I don’t think that he will. If Tiger doesn’t win it though, who will?

Guys like Camilo Villegas and Paul Casey are off to hot starts this season, and could certainly be seen as a few guys who could do some damage at Augusta. When people go to place their bets on this tournament though, you think they’ll favor Villegas or Casey over Tiger Woods? I don’t think so. But again, I just don’t think it’s smart to put Woods at the top right now. If after the first round we can tell that he’s a man on a mission, then that’ll be where some opinions are changed.

For now though, I’ll stick to picking against Woods at Augusta. But history shows that picking against Tiger could be a mistake.