The legendary golf icon returns for the first time since February to play at the Memorial Tournament.
Tiger Returns to the PGA Tour Since the COVID-19 Restart
The Memorial Tournament is one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour each summer, and while it’s not technically a Major, it will feel like one on Thursday.
Tiger Woods will once again be on the course as he looks for his 83rd win on tour.
If you’re wondering why Woods decided to make his return to Muirfield Village Golf Club for this year’s Memorial? How about his outstanding track record!
Woods has won over 5 million dollars, won the event five times, and has never missed the cut.
Woods last played in a PGA Tour event for “The Match” when he joined Phil Mickelson, along with NFL greats Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to raise money for COVID-19 relief.
Nine of the top 10 golfers in the world will be playing in the memorial tournament beginning Thursday. This is actually the second consecutive week an event has been played at this course, the first time in PGA history that has occurred.
Muirfield Village is a Jack Nicklaus designed course, and Nicklaus is the all-time leader in Majors wins with 18. Tiger Woods is second with 15.
To learn who the SI Gambling team has their money on, check out their best bets for the Memorial Tournament here.
Daily Coronavirus Update
The U.S. has over 3.4 million cases, and 136,000 deaths.
Oklahoma’s governor Kevin Stitt announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. He’s the first known governor to have become infected with the virus. Oklahoma announced over 990 new cases on Tuesday.
And Walmart announced that it will require all customers to wear a face mask when shopping in Sam’s Clubs and Walmart’s starting on Monday, July 20.
This will include stores in locations where mask-wearing is not being enforced by the state government.
This decision follows Starbucks, which announced Tuesday that it would start requiring facemasks in their locations starting Wednesday.
Best Buy has also announced that it will require shoppers to wear masks and Costco started requiring masks back in May.
The National Retail Federation called on retailers to adopt a nationwide policy to require face masks when shopping.
In a statement, they said,
“We hope today’s announcement by Walmart – the world’s largest retailer – that it will be enforcing a policy requiring customers to wear a mask to shop in their stores is a tipping point in this public health debate. Workers serving customers should not have to make a critical decision as to whether they should risk exposure to infection or lose their jobs because a minority of people refuse to wear masks in order to help stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.”
The association praised Walmart, Starbucks, Best Buy, Apple, BJ’s Wholesale and Qurate for requiring masks.
Sports Betting Revenue Climbing in June for New Jersey
With the spread of COVID-19 continuing to keep sportsbooks and casinos closed around the country, we may be seeing more positive news when it comes to gaming numbers.
According to Legal Sports Report, New Jersey sports betting operators saw their handle reach $165 million dollars in the month of June. That’s 40 percent higher than May, and more than triple their total in April.
With no football, baseball, or hockey to bet on, the bulk of the betting dollars came in on sports like the PGA Tour, NASCAR, and international soccer.
Assuming sports are fully back with the NBA, NHL and MLB at the end of the month, those numbers should continue to climb in New Jersey as well as other states with legalized sports betting.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards has signed a bill to establish the daily fantasy sports tax rate. Voters in the state chose to legalize daily fantasy sports back in 2018, so while it’s taken almost two years to go through, this likely opens up the market for publicly traded companies like DraftKings and FanDuel to operate ahead of the 2020 NFL season.
A Look at Gambling Stocks
DraftKings is up 7% in intraday trading and is up 109% in the past three months. It went public back in late April.
Penn is up 15% in intraday trading to $33 a share. It’s up over 141% in the past three months.
MGM is up 10% to $17 a share. It’s up 23% in the past three months.
And, finally, Wynn is up 6% to $84 a share in intraday trading. It’s up 17.9% in the past three months
The Street's Katherine Ross contributed to this report.