by Pinnacle Sportsbook - 03/09/2006
Last weekend Tiger Woods continued his hot start to the season by conquering the "Blue Monster" at Doral in the Ford Championship. With three wins in five events this year, sports fans everywhere are wondering if Tiger will tame the field and capture the elusive Grand Slam this year by holding all four modern major championships simultaneously. Despite immense odds against him, nearly 43% of bets at Pinnacle Sportsbook believe Woods will make history by capturing all four major titles in 2006.
The Internet's largest sports betting site, Pinnacle Sportsbook originally released odds on the number of major championships won by Tiger Woods in 2006 before his first tournament in January. Wagering initially opened with Woods as an 80/1 long shot to complete the Grand Slam, but since then bettors have heavily backed Tiger, dropping the odds on winning all four majors to 45/1. The odds on Woods falling just one title short of making history have shortened from 18/1 to 10/1 after nearly 25% of all bets accepted at Pinnacle Sportsbook back Tiger winning three majors this year.
"With over two thirds of all wagers placed on Woods winning at least three majors this year, it's clear that bettors don't put anything out of Tiger's reach," said Simon Noble of Pinnacle Sportsbook. "Although he'll certainly be a clear favorite in each leg of the Grand Slam, both history and the odds are against Tiger Woods achieving golf immortality by capturing all four majors this year for a Tiger Slam."
Despite being a more likely scenario and the oddsmaker's favorite, only 9% of wagers back Woods to finish the season with only one major under his belt (8/5). Even though the chance that Woods closes the PGA season major-less has the second best odds at 2/1, only 6% of bettors believe Tiger will go winless in the four Grand Slam events. Meanwhile, the odds that Tiger Woods will win two of golf's major championships this season currently stands at 3/1 odds while garnering 17% of bets placed to date.
For more information and a complete list of odds, please visit Pinnacle Sportsbook.