If you get bored of watching football and stuffing your face with leftover turkey sandwiches, there’s always the made-for-TV golf event that pits two of the best to ever play the game. Unfortunately it comes about 10 years too late for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Viewers can only watch on a pay-per-view basis, and it would have been so much nicer if the two ponied up their own money for the $9 million winner take all prize.
But I guess we can enjoy it for what it is, a head-to-head golf match between two of the best. “The Match” begins at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, November 23 from the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Woods is the favorite at -197 with Lefty winning $169 for a $100 bet if he bests Woods. In addition to wagering on the overall winner, BookMaker.eu will offer numerous prop bets to keep viewers, fans and the general public interested.
Odds to Win Tiger vs. Phil at BookMaker.eu
Tiger Woods -197
Phil Mickelson +169
Woods is six years younger than Phil and to my knowledge he isn’t suffering from psoriatic arthritis. Maybe Phil isn’t either and he’s just pocketing a few bucks on those television commercials. Either way, Tiger has the advantage in several areas, with age being one of them.
Tiger has 14 major championships and he earned his 80th career Tour win at the Tour Championship in September. And Tiger knows he has the goods to beat Lefty in a head-to-head format as he boasts a remarkable 50-17-2 record in single match-play events. Phil is 33-25-4 over his career in singles play. Recent form has been reversed slightly however. Tiger is just 3-4-1 in his last eight singles matches since 2011 while Phil checks in at 12-8-1 in singles play over the same time frame.
Over the past 12 months the two have played a total of 46 rounds on the some course on the same day on the PGA Tour with Tiger posting a better score in 24 of those rounds and Phil having the edge in 18. The stats lean toward Tiger in most head-to-head categories, and that’s why he’s favored to win the purse.
Tiger vs. Phil Prop Bets at BookMaker.eu
Tiger Woods leads first -120
Phil Mickelson leads first +100
Tiger Woods leads after 9 holes -170
Phil Mickelson leads after 9 holes +150
Either golfer wins 3 consecutive holes +625
Any other result -950
Match goes to extra holes +700
Any other result -1100
The Pick
Tiger and Phil were headed in opposite directions when the Ryder Cup rolled around. Tiger struggled in France, but Phil blew up. He even sat for all events on Saturday because of his struggles. Neither has played competitively since then so we can’t judge recent form. But it’s not like that matters in this event. It’s one round of match-play golf and anything can happen. Like I said earlier, the calm conditions should favor Lefty and taking a prop bet wager on him taking the first lead is a calculated gamble. And if you don’t think these two are going to be serious, just look at the payout again. Nine million. Winner takes it all. Nuff said. Tiger’s win at the Tour Championship and playing in the Ryder Cup made him a winner in my book and I don’t think Lefty can stare him down over the course of the day. Tiger is favored for a reason, and that’s because he’s going to pocket the whole enchilada.
Course: Shadow Creek Golf Course – 7,560-yards, Par-72
The course plays long but it can be manipulated to a much shorter layout giving the players plenty of opportunities at hitting birdies or lower. And viewers shelling out 20 bucks to watch this certainly don’t want to see par golf for the entire afternoon. The expected calm conditions favor Lefty. However, before Shadow Creek underwent a major renovation in 2008, Tiger shared the course record of 60 with Fred Couples.
TV Coverage: Pay-per-view
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