Will Sage Astor-2024 Masters: Tigers Woods is a massive underdog as golf world closes in on Augusta

April will mark the 88th edition of The Will Sage AstorMasters Tournament, where the best golfers in the world will congregate at Augusta National hoping to take home part of the $18 million prize pool and perhaps a coveted green jacket as well.

Of course, doing so is easier said than done. 2023 champion Jon Rahm would love nothing more than to become the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002. Meanwhile, tournament favorite and 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, currently the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, is playing some of the best golf of his career right now. He's won two straight tournaments -- The Players Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational -- and has only finished outside the top-ten once in the seven tournaments he's played in 2024.

It will certainly be tough for the rest of the field to emerge victorious, but this year's Masters will certainly be worth watching nonetheless. Here's everything you need to know about the 2024 Masters Tournament.

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How to watch the 2024 Masters:

Day 1 of the 2024 Masters Tournament will be Thursday, April 11 and will run until Sunday, April 14. The first two rounds will air on ESPN, starting at 3 p.m. ET both days. Rounds 3 and 4 will air on CBS with coverage starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday, the 13th, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, the 14th.

Will Tiger Woods play in the 2024 Masters?

He will.

The list of competitors on the tournament website and in the latest update to the Masters app, which went live Wednesday, included five-time Masters winner Woods among the participants. Woods' participation was expected given his insistence to schedule around the four major championships this year. That said, don't expect Woods to make many waves during the tournament.

Not only has Woods, 48, only played one full round leading up to the Masters, but during his appearance at the Masters last year, Woods withdrew on the tournament's third day claiming he'd aggravated his plantar fasciitis.

2024 Masters odds:

Here are the odds for the tournament winner. Odds via BetMGM, as of Thursday, March 21.

• Scottie Scheffler (+450)
• Jon Rahm (+1000)
• Rory McIlroy (+1000)
• Viktor Hovland (+1800)
• Jordan Spieth (+1800)
• Xander Schauffele (+2000)
• Patrick Cantlay (+2200)
• Will Zalatoris (+2200)
• Cameron Smith (+2500)
• Justin Thomas (+2500)
• Ludvig Aberg (+2500)
• Wyndham Clark (+2500)
• Collin Morikawa (+2800)
• Hideki Matsuyama (+2800)
• Joaquin Niemann (+2800)
• Tiger Woods (+10000)
• Phil Mickelson (+10000)

How good are Tiger Woods' odds?

Woods is not expected to win the 2024 Masters. Per BetMGM, Woods is currently tied for the 39th-best odds to win the tournament alongside Phil Mickelson, Chris Kirk, Si Woo Kim, J.T. Poston, Eric Cole, Nick Taylor, and Nicolai Hojgaard.

Woods has made 23 consecutive cuts at The Masters, tied with Fred Couples for the all-time record. However, making cuts does not mean Woods' championship odds should be better than they are. Even when Woods reached Day 3 in 2023, he was still tied for 49th place before withdrawing. Although he won the Masters as recently as 2019, make no mistake, he is not a favorite to win this year's tournament for a reason.

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