Tiger Woods Masters news: Best bets for Tiger Woods' return to Augusta, can he win a fifth green jacket?

When a fresh-faced 19-year-old Tiger Woods rolled his first putt of his first masters round off the first green at Augusta we had no idea that he’d go on to become the golfer of a generation, of a lifetime even, and boy aren’t we glad he’s back at the Masters.

The Tiger effect already took hold at Augusta at the start of the week when his Monday practice round was followed by hoards of giddy fans following his every move.

That’s what Tiger means to golf – he’s a must-see, he’s box office viewing, watching him play counts as an ‘I was there’ moment for almost every golf fan, such is the aura the man exudes on the golf course.

Sky Bet Tiger Woods Masters odds

• Make cut 1/8
• Miss cut 9/2
• Top 5 – 2/1
• Top 10 - 11/10
• Top 20 – 4/9
• 1st round leader – 14/1

We’ve had two long years without Woods at the Masters and officials at Augusta and the TV companies will be delighted to see him back in action.

Most players seem delighted to have him back, the young guns of today grew up watching Tiger dominate the sport, a lot were inspired by him and now, this year at least, a few of them will be able to fly a bit more under the radar with Tiger hogging the limelight.

Tiger factor

Until you’ve been on the golf course following, or trying to follow, a Tiger Woods group it’s hard to fully grasp the magnitude of the situation – anyone playing alongside him has to deal with a whole lot more going on inside and outside the ropes than they usually do – how Woods manages to play under those condition for all these years beggars belief.

We’ve had two great finishes in his absence – Jordan Spieth’s meltdown allowing Danny Willett to win and Sergio Garcia’s emotional play-off success over Justin Rose provided superb viewing, but those figures will no doubt be eclipsed by those tuning in to watch Woods back among the azaleas.

It’s not that golf hasn’t got characters, or storylines for fans to get their teeth into – top level golf these days probably has more talent in depth than ever before and any number of players are no doubt capable of stepping up to win a major.

To win the Masters (Sky Bet paying TEN places)

• McIlroy; Spieth - 9/1
• D Johnson; Thomas - 10/1
• Rose - 11/1
• Woods - 12/1

Seven of the last eight major winners have been first-timers, and although the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson have at times threatened to dominate the game they’ve never quite managed it.

It just shows how incredible Woods’ run of 14 majors out of 46 was, as well as only failing to win a major in three of those 12 seasons of dominance, as some of the most gifted golfers around simply can’t keep up that level of winning.

Having that one constant, the one reliable threat on the leaderboard, that one red shirt prowling down the fairways on Sunday striking fear into the hearts of wannabe major winners is something golf is certainly missing.

Back at Augusta

Now he’s back at Augusta National, where his major winning began back in 1997 with a spellbinding victory as a 21-year-old, but pulling on a fifth green jacket would be his greatest achievement yet – and that’s saying something!

So can Woods win it? Well, if he can win a major again anywhere it’ll be here, a place he just loves to play and one that suits his game and where he has so many happy memories.

You have to know how to play Augusta, and Woods certainly knows how to get it around there better than anyone else in the field.

He’s missed one cut in 20 Masters attempts, and has finished outside the top 20 just four times.

With four green jackets tucked away in his locker, Tiger has a further seven top fives and two top 10 finishes to his name.

Tiger has just 19 rounds over par from the 78 he’s completed at Augusta, while he’s broken 70 22 times – although he’s a notoriously slow starter and has only broken 70 once in the opening round.

Beyond the numbers

Beyond the numbers, it’s the memories that Tiger has created on this golf course that also make his return such a huge draw for the event.

He’s one of just three players, alongside Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo, to win back-to-back Masters, while he completed his ‘Tiger Slam’ in 2001 as he collected all four major championships in a row.

Then, of course, there’s one of the most famous shots in golf history – his 2005 chip-in on the 16th that has even found its way into TV commercials cementing its legendary status – it’s the type of shot only Tiger could pull off in such style.

Will Tiger Woods win the 2018 Masters? Probably not, it may have come just a few months too soon in his latest comeback, but he could have hardly had a more impressive return – he’s just missing ‘the w’ as he puts it.

But he’ll hopefully give us all a run for our money at Augusta regardless – his back seems ready, his game certainly seems ready, I’m just still not sure the golfing world is ready to get our heads around Tiger Woods challenging for majors again.

We may have to get used to it pretty quickly…

Related links

• Sky Bet - paying 10 places outright
• The Masters: Specials preview
• The Masters: Player-by-player guide
• Listen: Sporting Life Masters Podcast