Woods installed as Masters favorite March 17, 2010
British bookmakers William Hill installed Tiger Woods as a 4-1 favorite to win the Masters and gave him 25-1 odds of completing a 2010 Grand Slam by winning all four major golf titles.
Woods announced Tuesday that he would return from a layoff of nearly five months after a sex scandal, and the tabloid frenzy that followed, at the year's first major starting April 8 at Augusta National Golf Club.
William Hill made Woods a 4-1 favorite to capture the Masters even without playing a tuneup event, followed by fellow American Phil Mickelson at 6-1 and Irishman Padraig Harrington at 16-1.
Woods, 34, has won 14 major titles, four shy of the all-time record set by Jack Nicklaus. Should Woods complete a Grand Slam sweep of the Masters, British and US Opens and PGA Championship, he would equal that most hallowed of marks.
Aiding Woods in his quest is the fact that three of this year's majors are on courses where Woods has already won majors, his four at Augusta National including his first in 1997 and a 2001 crown to complete the "Tiger Slam" of four in a row, the first three of which came in 2000.
Woods has also won at Pebble Beach, where the US Open will be played in June, and at St. Andrews, where the British Open will be staged in July.
"All the major courses are Tiger's favorites, so despite a terrible beginning we think that 2010 will end up being terrific for Tiger," William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said in a statement.
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