Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson already have $9 million on the line in their winner-take-all match this Friday in Las Vegas. But viewers were promised that there would be some side action during the event, and details of some of the additional bets that will play out started to emerge during a press conference on Tuesday.
During the news conference at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Mickelson said he felt great about the first hole – so great, in fact, that he was willing to put up money on his performance right out of the gate.
A $200K Birdie Bet
“I feel like the first hole is a great hole for me,” Mickelson said. “In fact, I’m willing to risk $100,000 that says I birdie the first hole. So that’s how good I feel heading into the match.”
Mickelson told Woods that he was under no obligation to take the bet, but after some back and forth, Woods rose to the challenge.
“Double it,” Woods said, turning the first hole challenge for Phil into a $200,000 bet between the legendary golfers.
The interaction came off a bit forced, and it’s likely that it was prompted more by a desire to give potential viewers a reason to put up $19.99 to watch the match on pay-per-view rather than any particular desire to prove something with a wager that – while worth more than a year’s salary for the vast majority of Americans – isn’t all that impactful to either Tiger or Phil.
Betting Interest High in Las Vegas
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of gambling interest in the match, particularly in Las Vegas, where bettors will be able to follow the action for free at most sportsbooks. At the moment, Woods is a -190 favorite to win the match at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, while Mickelson can be backed at +160.
Those odds seem to be enticing plenty of action already, with some sportsbook officials expecting even more before and during the match.
“We had a couple customers ask if they can make a six-figure bet on it,” MGM Resorts sportsbook director Jay Rood told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We’re booking it kind of like a heavyweight fight…I think we’ll see quite a bit of late money Friday.”
Rood told the Review-Journal that MGM is offering a variety of prop bets on the match, including in-play wagering on various outcomes on individual holes, such as closest-to-the-pin and longest drive contests. The Westgate is offering a range of prop bets as well, including Super Bowl style questions like which total will be higher: the number of goals scored in Friday’s game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Calgary Flames (-200) or the number of holes won by Woods (+170).
Rood said that while he’s not too worried about the action in general – though he noted that the public money is on Woods – there is one prop bet that will have him worried until the match ends.
“The only thing I’m going to be sweating is no hole-in-one,” he told the Review-Journal. “By the time this tees off, that will be a significant six-figure decision.”