How will returning golfer do in his first round at Augusta?

Tiger Woods will make his long awaited return to golf on Thursday, at the US Masters, and Ladbrokes are offering a range of specials on how his first competitive round since November will turn out.

Tiger has been paired with Korean golfer KJ Choi, and 31-year-old American Matt Kuchar in Group 31, and their tee time is 18:42 GMT on Thursday afternoon.

Ladbrokes make Woods 5/4 to shoot the lowest opening round score of the trio, with Kuchar and Choi both 9/4.

Choi is an experienced PGA Tour professional who won’e be fazed by the extra attention, and may well thrive on it. The Korean holds the course record for the lowest front nine score, of 30, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him leading his group at the end of the day.

Tiger won’t be going gung-ho on the opening day, and will be looking for a score of around par, to ease himself back into the competition. Expect to see a lot of irons from tees, and a score card consisting mostly of pars. It is 11/10 that he shoots a round of 73 or above, thus finishing the day over par, and that looks fairly likely.

Woods shouldn’t miss the cut in Augusta, as he is too much of a professional to allow that to happen, so ignore the 5/1 about that happening, although 1/9 that he is still in the tournament when the third round commences is too short to back seriously.

For those who fancy the world’s number one golfer to answer his critics in style, it is 100/1 that Tiger gets a whole in one this week, and 6/1 that he wins the season’s first major.

Recommendations

Tiger Woods First Round Score – 73 or over (11/10, Ladbrokes)
Opening Round 3 Ball Winner – KJ Choi (9/4, Ladbrokes)