Even before the first ball leaves the tee, this year's Wachovia Championship is guaranteed to have a new champion.

Last year Tiger Woods shot a tournament record 13-under par at Quail Hollow to take home his first Wachovia Championship title. However with Woods sidelined for at least four more weeks after having surgery on his left knee, the world's No. 1-ranked player won't be in North Carolina this week to defend his title.

The absence of Woods leaves the field wide open and also makes Phil Mickelson the tournament favorite at Even though Mickelson is the favorite, he still has quite high odds at +800.

The reason is obviously the top-notch field that is scheduled to turn out for the Wachovia, which includes luminaries such as Masters champ Trevor Immelman, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy and Steve Stricker.

Furyk and Singh have both won this tournament before, with Furyk having lifted the trophy in 2006 and Singh in 2005. The other previous winners include Joey Sindelar in 2004 and David Toms in the inaugural tournament in 2003.

Both Furyk and Singh are still looking for their first PGA Tour win of the season, but they both received high odds at where Furyk is listed at +1600 and Singh comes in at +1400.

Last week on the tour Adam Scott defeated Ryan Moore in a playoff to win the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Both Scott and Moore finished 72 holes seven-under par, which was four strokes better than third-place Bart Bryant.

Both Scott and Moore are scheduled to play in the Wachovia, but only Scott is on the odds list at at +1400.

Golf betting news and the latest Wachovia Championship odds can be found in the golf section here at PointSpread.com. And set your own odds at online sports betting exchange .