Tiger Woods has slipped from being the oddsmakers’ favorite to don his fifth green jacket this week at Augusta National, but Rory McIlroy, for one, believes the four-time Masters winner could very well prevail come Sunday night.
Rory McIlroy likes Tiger Woods’ chances of winning the Masters
A healthy, in-form Woods is ‘dangerous at any golf tournament … even more so’ at Augusta, says McIlroy.
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“He’s got a great chance,” McIlroy told reporters Tuesday about whether Woods has a chance to outscore himself, the other young guns, and even Phil Mickelson in the men’s first major of the season. “Look at how he’s played the last few weeks.”
To recap, Woods, following his fourth back surgery since March 2014, returned to competition in February at Torrey Pines and finished in the top five in his last two events, the Valspar Championship (T2) and the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T5).
Those results caused gamblers to shell out some serious coinage betting on Woods to come out on top in this Masters. Since then, though, they have downgraded his chances (tied with McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, and Justin Rose at 12/1 at Golfodds.com), guessing Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas (10/1) are more likely to triumph.
McIlroy is not so sure, noting that, while Woods has not played the Masters since 2015, when he earned a T17, McIlroy said his boyhood idol has a certain familiarity with the iconic Georgia track.
“He’s had four wins here. In 2010, he hadn’t played in a few months and this was his first start back and finished fourth,” said McIlroy, who is in search of his first victory at Augusta, a win that would complete his career grand slam. “He’s very comfortable around this golf course and his game is right there.”
McIlroy observed Woods had his speed back, which, on a “big golf course” that may play even longer this week if the forecasts predicting rain are correct, should enable him to “get around this place without any fears of it being too long or not having enough speed or power.
“Any time Tiger Woods is healthy and in this sort of form, he’s dangerous at any golf tournament,” McIlroy concluded. “Given his history here, I think even more so.”
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