I think it’s somewhat of a surprise that Tiger Woods is a 4/1 betting favorite to win the 2010 Masters Tournament. Given the stress that he’s been under, it would be an extraordinarily inhuman feat to be able to pull off such a victory. But there it is.

Phil Mickelson at 9/1, Ernie Els at 10/1 and Steve Stricker at 14/1 are the more conventional star picks, as is Padraig Harrington at 16/1. The superstars are always betting favorites, but in truth, they are not consistent winners. Take a look at the last ten years (counting backward): Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Tiger, Tiger, Vijay Singh. Cabrera, Immelman, Johnson and Weir are the only winners not named Tiger or Phil—and none of them could be considered stars. For heavens sake, the final group last year was Cabrera, Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell.

The complete betting odds for the 2010 Masters are below, courtesy of Bodog, the world’s largest betting destination.

I frequently check the odds for various sporting events at Bodog for advice on the various fantasy sports games that I play. I don’t have time to do all the research myself, but I know that serious bettors do, and that the odds are based on the way the money is flowing. So I rely on the collective wisdom of all those people doing varying degrees of research—crowdsourcing the predictions, if you will. It actually works fairly well for me—I usually average around 70% using this method.

As I visited this morning to check the odds for the Shell Houston Open, I happened to scroll further down on Bodog’s golf page to discover a huge list of betting props centering around Tiger Woods and his return at the 2010 Masters. Apparently some people will bet on anything:

How Many Majors Will Tiger Win in 2010?
Will Tiger lead after Round 1 of the Masters?
Will Tiger Woods Get A Hole in One at the Masters?
Will Tiger Woods make the cut?
What will his first round score be at the Masters?
What color hat will Tiger Woods in round one of the first tournament of his return?
Will Tiger Woods be heckled after addressing the ball and step away during the 2010 Masters?
Will Any sponsor except Nike run a Tiger Woods Commercial?
Where Will Tiger Finish?
What will be Tiger’s lowest scoring round?
Will Tiger ever have the outright lead?
Will Tiger’s opening tee shot land on the fairway?
Will Elin Nordgren be seen on camera at the Masters
Will Tiger wear a different color shirt each day?

I have a few other suggestions:

Will Tiger fling a club?
Will Tiger get caught uttering an obscenity on television?
Will any of Tiger’s paramours show up at the course?
What percentage of the broadcast time will be dedicated to Tiger? (80%+ vs 79% or less)

And more seriously:

Will Tiger par or better on his first hole?

What bets would you like to see as a prop?

Just a thought. Who will be victimized by being forced to play with Tiger in the first two rounds of the Masters. To be fair to the guys who have a realistic chance of winning, I suggest that he be paired with the amateurs. I should think they’d be thrilled—I know I would be.

Tiger has announced that he will return to golf at The Masters. Of course he will. Nothing like a little Tiger media mania to upstage golf’s best tournament.

From his website:

“The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.

“The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been awhile since I last played.

“I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy, and I am continuing my treatment. Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life.

“When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play. I called both Joe Lewis and Arnold Palmer and expressed my regrets for not attending the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I again want to thank them both for their support and their understanding. Those are fantastic tournaments, and I look forward to competing in them again.

“I would also like to thank the Augusta National members and staff for their support. I have deep appreciation for everything that they do to create a wonderful event for the benefit of the game.”

I feel kind of sorry for the guy who wins this year’s Green Jacket (and I’m betting it won’t be Tiger). His name will forever be lost in the mania.

Bodog has published an interesting list of betting odds for the 2010 Masters: Odds For Winning The Masters Without Tiger In The Field. Even more interestingly, there aren’t any odds for the Masters with Tiger IN the field.

Without Tiger, Phil Mickelson is the obvious favorite at 11/2, followed by Padraig Harrington (12/2), Rory McIlroy (14/1), Lee Westwood (14/1), Retief Goosen (16/1), Ernie Els (20/1), Paul Casey (22/1), Jim Furyk (22/1), Sergio Garcia (22/1) and Henrik Stenson (25/1). There’s a strong Euro Tour flavor here.

Here are the current Odds For A 2010 Masters sans Tiger.

Augusta National has announced that Jack Nicklaus will join Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter at The 2010 Masters.

That’s great news, for it continues a tradition of honorary starters that began in 1963. The Masters is about nothing if not tradition.

The first Honorary Starters were Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod. Hutchison started from 1963 to 1973; McLeod until 1976. Byron Nelson did the honors from 1981 - 2001; Gene Sarazen from 1981 - 1999; Sam Snead from 1984 - 2002. Palmer began in 2007.

Billy Payne, Augusta Chairman said: “I am honored that Jack Nicklaus has accepted our invitation. We are delighted and fortunate to have such a great ambassador and icon of our sport take part in this tradition. He has inspired generations of golfers and having Jack join Arnold on the first tee next April will be a special thrill for his many loyal fans around the world.”

“I have had such a long-standing appreciation and love affair with Augusta National and the Masters Tournament, and this honor is a wonderful way for me to say thank you to the many patrons who have supported me over the decades,” Nicklaus said. “I am also delighted to join my longtime friend Arnold on the tee. I have always had great respect for Arnold and his legacy at the Masters, and I did not, in any way, want to infringe on the opportunity for Arnold to have and enjoy this Masters tradition for himself. He is so deserving of this honor, and thus I felt it was his time, not mine. Recently, I was invited by both Augusta National and Arnold to join him on the first tee, and because he enthusiastically supported the invitation, it became an easy decision for me.”

Nicklaus, of course, is the Master of the Masters, with six green jackets. He won at Augusta in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986. Among his many remarkable records is his tie for most runner-up finishes (four) and his record as oldest champion (46 years, 2 months, 23 days) with his win in ’86.

In the wake of Y.E. Yang’s victory at the 2009 PGA Championship, a GolfBlogger reader asked if one Major Championship had produced more “one-hit wonders” than another. That depends, I think upon your definition of a one-hitter—and that’s a very subjective mark. Still, I looked at the last twenty years of major winners, and came up with a list of winners that could fall in that category.

PGA
Shaun Micheel
Rich Beem
Wayne Grady

The Masters
Zach Johnson

US Open
Michael Campbell
Steve Jones

Open Championship
Todd Hamilton
Ben Curtis
Paul Lawrie
Ian Baker Finch

I’m sure I’ll get a lot of arguments about this. All of these men are fine players, and all have more than one tour victory. Still, I’d have to say that the ones on this list didn’t (or have not yet) lived up to the stature of a major championship winner.