It's been a long time coming. Two living legends square off on Friday in a high-stakes, winner-take-all match for $9 million. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who have combined for 19 major titles, will go head-to-head in the first live pay-per-view event in golf history. "The Match" tees off at 3 p.m. ET from Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, and there's already a $200,000 side bet on the first hole. Woods enters Friday's match play event as a -190 favorite in the latest Tiger vs. Phil odds posted by the Westgate LV SuperBook, meaning you would need to risk $190 to win $100, while Mickelson is posted at +160 (risk $100 to win $160). Before you make any Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson picks and predictions, you'll want to hear what the team at SportsLine has to say.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed four of the past eight majors entering the weekend and called Woods' deep run in the PGA Championship despite being a 25-1 long shot.Â
The model has been dead-on in the past couple of weeks as well. It was all over Bryson DeChambeau (12-1) winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, projecting him to finish on top of the leaderboard from the start. It also correctly predicted Brooks Koepka's (9-1) victory at the CJ Cup earlier this season. Anyone who has followed the model is up huge.Â
Now, SportsLine simulated this week's star-studded Tiger vs. Phil match 10,000 times. The model says a key stat makes one side a must-back. You can only see the results over at SportsLine.
The model has factored in Woods' recent surge. He ended last season with his 80th career PGA Tour victory at the Tour Championship, which featured the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings. He also finished sixth or better in five of his last eight starts, which included a second-place showing at the PGA Championship won by Brooks Koepka.
Woods finished last season ranked inside the top 15 in both scoring average (69.350) and birdie average (4.03). He's also proven he's extremely difficult to beat in match play. In fact, he boasts a remarkable 50-17-2 record in heads-up match-play events.
Just because Woods has excelled in match-play events doesn't mean he'll win outright or provide value on the money line on Friday.
Mickelson enters the first live pay-per-view event in golf history having won seven of his past 10 match-play rounds. The five time major champion also finished last season ranked No. 6 on the PGA Tour in birdie average, which will put the pressure on Woods to play extremely well at Shadow Creek.
Plus, the majority of Woods' 50 match-play victories came during his prime. Woods is just 2-5 in his past seven match-play events, which includes losing to Jon Rahm (2&1) at the 2018 Ryder Cup.
The model is honed in on a critical stat that makes one side a must-back. It's sharing what it is, and who to side with, only at SportsLine.
So which golfing legend earns bragging rights and a hefty $9 million prize on Friday? And what critical stat gives one player a huge edge? Visit SportsLine now to see who you can bank on to win Phil vs. Tiger, all from the model that nailed the winners of four golf majors, and find out.