2009 WGC Bridgestone Invitational Betting Odds & Predictions

If you did any golf betting on Tiger Woods last week it wasn’t looking good for you in the early going. However, Woods rallied for the win at the Buick Open, giving him some momentum for this week’s marquee event, the 2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron. And here’s a surprise: Woods is the tourney favorite.

The world’s top-ranked player shot an opening-round 71 at the Buick Open at Warwick Hills last week, but followed up with rounds of 63, 65, and 69 to win the tournament by three strokes over Roland Thatcher, Greg Chalmers, and John Senden. Y.E. Yang was four shots back in fifth place at a tourney that didn’t feature most of golf’s best players.

That won’t be the case again this week, with Woods headlining a field that also will include the returning Phil Mickelson, defending champion Vijay Singh, former champ Stewart Cink, and the rest of golf’s elite players. Woods has won this event six times in the past, grouping his wins together from 1999 to 2001, and from 2005 to 2007. Singh was the winner last year with Woods out due to injury. Cink was the champion back in 2004, Darren Clarke grabbed the trophy in 2003, and Craig Parry won the event in 2002.

Despite the strong field Woods is still listed as a huge favorite to win the event on the BetUS golf odds; Tiger is pegged at +160, with Mickelson the closest to him on the list at +1400. Lefty will be returning to the course for the first time in six weeks, as he took some time off to be with his wife. Mickelson finished two strokes back of Singh at this tournament last year, and he won the event when it was the World Series of Golf in ’96.

Following those two on the odds list are Retief Goosen (+2000), Jim Furyk (+2500), Anthony Kim (+3000), Paul Casey (+3000), Hunter Mahan (+3000), Lee Westwood (+3000), Steve Stricker (+3000), and Sergio Garcia (+3000). Singh and Cink are both pegged at +3500 odds for this week, while Clarke is a long shot to win at +12500 odds.

You can also hedge your bets by wagering on golfers to finish in the Top 4 at this week’s WGC event. Woods tops that list as well, of course, at -250, with Mickelson at +350, Goosen at +400, and Furyk at +500. Each of Kim, Casey, Mahan, Westwood, Stricker, and Garcia are pegged at +600 odds to finish in the Top 4 at this week’s event.

The lines for Top 10 finishes follow most of the same order, with Woods at -700, Mickeslon at +125, Goosen at +175, and Furyk following them on the list at +225 odds.

If you prefer matchups, you can take Woods at -400 to beat Mickelson at the event; Lefty is listed at +300 to get the best of the world’s top player. Furyk is a -125 favorite to beat Kim (-105), with Stricker (-125) favored over Casey (-105), Mahan (-125) favored over Cink (-105), and Geoff Ogilvy (-125) favored over Henrik Stenson (-105). You can also get Luke Donald at -165 to finish ahead of Padraig Harrington (+135) this weekend.

Finally, if you want to take Woods out of the equation you can get Mickelson as the +500 favorite to finish ahead of all other Americans – other than Woods. Furyk and Kim are in second on that prop bet at +800, with Mahan and Stricker back of them at +900. Check the BetUS golf lines section for all the betting odds on the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.