PGA Championship 2019 Odds: Tiger Woods Opens as Favorite After Masters Win

Fresh off his Masters victory, Tiger Woods opened as the golfer to beat at the 2019 PGA Championship.

Woods is a +900 (bet $100 to win $900) favorite to win the tournament, which tees off May 19 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. Dustin Johnson (+1000), Rory McIlroy (+1200), Brooks Koepka (+1300) and Justin Thomas (+1400) round out the top five.

Just under 11 years after his most recent major triumph, Woods sat atop the leaderboard at Augusta National Golf Club when the Masters drew to a close Sunday. At 13 under, he was one stroke better than Johnson, Koepka and Xander Schauffele.

The result proved to be the worst-case scenario for some oddsmakers.

According to ESPN.com's David Purdum, William Hill U.S. sportsbook paid out $1.19 million to a bettor who had placed $85,000 on Woods winning. Jeff Sherman, the vice president of risk for the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, also told Purdum he was unable to remember another year in which his employer lost money on the Masters outcome.

Sportsbooks will want to avoid a similar financial disaster in the aftermath of the PGA Championship.

And that's to say nothing of Woods' performance dating back to the end of last season. He tied for sixth in The Open Championship, placed second in the PGA Championship and won the Tour Championship in 2018.

Although Woods is no longer the dominant force he was more than a decade ago, he remains one of the best golfers in the world.

If history is any indicator, he'll be a threat going into the final day of the 2019 PGA Championship. Bethpage Black has hosted major tournaments on two occasions. Woods won the U.S. Open there in 2002 and then tied for sixth when the event returned in 2009.