Tiger Woods of the United States is presented with the trophy by Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill in 2013. (Photo by David Cannon)

By Alex Myers
Tiger Woods will tee it up this week in the comfortable confines of Bay Hill, a course where he’s won eight times. But he’ll also be in a familiar position in Vegas: at the top of the betting board.

On Monday, Westgate Las Vegas Superbook released its odds to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Woods is a big favourite to win the event for a ninth time. Woods leads the way with 6-to-1 odds, while Justin Rose and Jason Day share the next lowest odds at 12/1.

Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy are listed at 18/1, followed by Tommy Fleetwood at 20/1. Defending champ Marc Leishman checks in at an enticing 40/1.

On Friday, Westgate adjusted Woods’ Masters odds twice, both during and after a second-round 68 at the Valspar Championship, that put him in contention heading into the weekend. Woods moved from 16/1 to 12/1 and finally to 10/1, where he stayed following a runner-up finish to Paul Casey, by far his best performance in four official PGA Tour starts since returning from undergoing a back fusion last April.

Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas are the co-favourites for that tournament next month — at least, for now. We’re guessing a Woods win at Bay Hill would change that in a hurry.