Legendary golfer Tiger Woods is among the top storylines for the 88th Masters Tournament, which kicked off Thursday, April 11, 2024.
Woods has won the tournament five times and could tie a record with a win over the weekend, while another record is also within his reach.
What Happened: Woods made the cut at the 2023 Masters Tournament before withdrawing due to injury.
With the cut, Woods tied a Masters record successfully making the cut after the first two days in 23 consecutive Masters Tournaments he competed in. Tied for the record with Woods are Fred Couples and Gary Player.
The 2024 Masters Tournament gives Woods a chance to break the record if he makes the cut after Friday's second round.
Heading into the tournament, betting odds from sportsbook DraftKings Inc DKNG listed the odds at -115 that Woods would make the cut.
On Thursday, Benzinga polled its users to ask whether they thought Woods would make the cut at the 2024 Masters and break the record. The poll was closed at 4:30 p.m. ET shortly after Woods' scheduled tee time of 3:54 p.m. ET for the first round.
Here were the results:
61% Yes
39% No
The majority of Benzinga users think Woods will make the cut at the 2024 Masters Tournament and break the record.
On Thursday, Woods shot -1 through 13 holes of the first round before the tournament was suspended due to darkness. On Friday morning, Woods was back at it and completed the first round with a score of +1, tied for 35th place.
Woods has competed in 25 Masters Tournaments with five wins (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019). A sixth win in 2024 would tie Woods with Jack Nicklaus at six Masters championships.
The golfer hasn't won since the 2019 tournament and has only ranked in the top 10 three times over his last 10 times at the tournament.
Related Link: EXCLUSIVE: Tiger Woods 2024 Return To Golf ‘Good For Everyone,’ DraftKings CEO Says
What's Next: Woods entered the 2024 Masters Tournament with his worst odds ever to win, with sportsbooks offering the legendary golfer at more than 100-to-1 odds. At DraftKings, Woods was offered at +14,000, paying out a potential profit of $140 for anyone who bet $1 on the golfer if he is victorious.
Woods was previously the favorite by sportsbooks for 15 years from 1997 to 2013. Odds for Woods to win were as low as +130 at the start of the 2008 tournament and were listed at +150 for several of the years during his peak years at the tournament.
After the strong play on Thursday and early Friday, the odds for Woods to win and finish in the top 20 had improved. Here are the new odds from DraftKings, with the old odds in parentheses.
Win: +10,000 (+14,000)
Top 5: +1,800 (+2,200)
Top 10: +600 (+900)
Top 20: +200 (+330)
Odds to make the cut are not currently offered at the sportsbook. For the Masters, the top 50 golfers by score, including ties, make the cut to the final two days.
The 2024 Masters Tournament comes after Woods began a new partnership with TaylorMade after ending a long-running apparel partnership and sponsorship with Nike Inc NKE.
Television coverage for the 2024 Masters Tournament belongs to ESPN, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Co DIS and CBS, which is a unit of Paramount Global PARAPARAA.
ESPN will broadcast the 2024 Masters Tournament main coverage on Thursday and Friday with CBS airing the main coverage on Saturday and Sunday. Streaming platforms ESPN+ and Paramount+ also have limited coverage of all four days, with specific holes and groups of golfers covered.
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Photo: KA Sports Photos via Wikimedia Commons
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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