2019-20 PGA Tour Season – Page 2

Farmers Insurance Open odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the golf betting odds to win the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.

Tiger Woods‘ hunt for a record 83rd career PGA Tour victory is the story of the week heading into the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Tiger makes his 2020 debut in San Diego, Calif., at a course where he already has eight professional victories, as he tries to surpass Sam Snead. Below, we assess the field and make our PGA Tour betting picks for the Farmers Insurance Open.

The key stats for the Farmers Insurance Open are:

Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
Birdies or Better Gained
Good Drives Gained
Proximity from 150-175 Yards
Sand Saves Gained

My model at Fantasy National looks at the most recent 36 rounds for each golfer in the field on courses longer than 7,400 yards.

Farmers Insurance Open – Tier 1

(Photo Credit: Matt Roberts – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET.

Rory McIlroy (+600)

McIlroy’s a heavy betting favorite in his first event of 2020. He won his second-last worldwide event of 2019, the WGC-HSBC Champions in early November. It followed up his 2019 Tour Championship win en route to being named the PGA Tour Player of the Year.

He finished T-5 at this event last year, and enters this week ranked first in the field in both SG: T2G and SG: BS to lead the stat model. Four of the last five winners here came from inside the top 25 of the Official World Golf Ranking. McIlroy ranks second.

Tiger Woods (+1100)

Tiger has owned this course, winning this event seven times along with the 2008 US Open. He’ll be looking to tie Jack Nicklaus’ record of six Masters Tournament wins in April, but first, he can break the tie with Snead. He was T-20 here last year and T-23 in 2018.

Gary Woodland (+2200)

Woodland is discounted among those at the top of the board. The 2019 US Open champ enters the week rank 15th by the OWGR. This venue is much longer than Pebble Beach Golf Links, where he won last year, but it is a US Open course and distance has never been an issue for him. He picked up a T-9 here last year, five months before his major win.

Farmers Insurance Open – Tier 2

Jason Day (+4000)

Day enters the week off of an injury, which forced him to pull out of the Presidents Cup. Before that, he missed the cut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, and he hasn’t won since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. Two of his 12 career victories have come at Torrey Pines, though, and he managed to finish in a tie for fifth last year. He leads the field in Sand Saves Gained.

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Marc Leishman (+5000)

Leish is a bargain in an event where they’re hard to find due to the influx of talent this week. He’s ranked 28th by the OWGR but is only 19th by BetMGM‘s odds. He’s ranked 10th in the field in SG: BS, and he tied for eighth in 2018.

Farmers Insurance Open – Longshots

(Photo Credit: Joe Maiorana – USA TODAY Sports)

Keith Mitchell (+20000)

If you absolutely hate betting favorites, shoot your shot with Mitchell. One of the longest hitters on Tour, he’s more than up to the task of taming Torrey Pines. He’s third in the field in SG: BS and BoB Gained.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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The American Express odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the sports betting odds to win the 2020 American Express, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.

The PGA Tour is in La Quinta, Calif. this week for The American Express. Tony Finau, Paul Casey, Francesco Molinari and Rickie Fowler highlight those in the field for the event hosted by Phil Mickelson. Below, we look at the best PGA Tour bets to win the 2020 American Express

The event is played on three courses and features a 54-hole cut. All three tracks were designed by Pete Dye and play to a par of 72. The key stats for the week are:

Strokes Gained: Approach
Par 4 Efficiency: 350-400 Yards
Opportunities Gained
Proximity: 100-125 Yards

Pay added attention to golfer success on Dye-designed courses with Bermuda greens.

The American Express – Tier 1

(Photo Credit: Kyle Terada – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 3 a.m. ET.

Sungjae Im (+1800)

Im debuted at this event with a T-12 result last year. He enters the week 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking following last week’s T-21 finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He’s still looking for his first PGA Tour victory and will be one of the more motivated golfers in a rather weak early-season field.

Kevin Kisner (+2800)

Kisner enters the week as the sixth-best golfer in the field by the OWGR measure, but he’s seventh by the odds at BetMGM, representing moderate value for the three-time PGA Tour champ. He made the cut here each of the previous three years, but with a top finish of T-25 (2017). Only four golfers who made the cut last week gained more strokes per round on approach than Kisner’s 0.85.

The American Express – Tier 2

(Photo Credit: Butch Dill – USA TODAY Sports)

Chez Reavie (+6000)

Reavie’s coming off a missed cut last week in Hawaii, but he made the weekend each of the last four years in La Quinta. His best finish was a T-12 in 2017. The 37th-ranked golfer in the world ranks third in the field in Opportunities Gained on Pete Dye courses with Bermuda greens.

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Bud Cauley (+6600)

Cauley leads this week’s field with 2.01 strokes gained per round over seven rounds played on the Stadium Course in La Quinta, according to Data Golf. He missed the cut last week in his first event since a T-9 finish at the Houston Open. He was T-3 here in 2017 with T-14 finishes in 2016 and 2018 before missing the weekend last year.

The American Express – Longshots

Cameron Davis (+10000)

Davis finished T-9 at 7-under par in Hawaii last week. It was a Saturday round of 71 which was the difference for the 36-hole co-leader. He averaged 0.85 strokes gained per round on approach, but it was his 2.00 SG per round tee-to-green which had him contending. Davis finished T-28 here a year ago.

Doc Redman (+12500)

Redman’s worth a roll of the dice as our deepest shot for the week with a $10 bet returning a profit of $1,250 with a tournament win. He missed the cut last week for his third MC in nine events to begin the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, but his runner-up finish at last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic was in a much stronger field than the one slated to tee off this week.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Sony Open odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.

This week’s Sony Open in Hawaii sees the PGA Tour’s first full-field event since the RSM Classic in late November. The 7,044-yard, par-70 Waialae Country Club hosts the tournament yet again in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The key stats for this week are:

Strokes Gained: Approach
Bogey Avoidance
Good Drives Gained
Eagles Gained
Strokes Gained: Par 4s

My model at Fantasy National is set to the most recent 36 rounds for each golfer in the field played on par-70 courses under 7,200 yards in length and featuring Bermuda grass greens.

Sony Open – Tier 1

(Photo Credit: Adam Hagy – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. ET.

Webb Simpson (+1200)

Simpson leads my stat model and is the best in the field in both SG: Approach and SG: Par 4s. He’s third in the field with an Official World Golf Ranking of No. 12, and he shares the second-best odds with Patrick Reed. The five-time PGA Tour champ didn’t play here last year, but he was T-4 in 2018 and T-13 each of the three previous three years.

Marc Leishman (+4500)

Leishman tied for third here a year ago, and he hasn’t finished worse than T-47 in any of his last five tries. He ranks seventh in the field by the OWGR measure, but he’s 13th by the odds at BetMGM. He’s a good value pick following last year’s top finish and a solo third at the Safeway Open in September early in his 2019-20 campaign.

Sony Open – Tier 2

J.T. Poston (+5000)

Poston is coming off a T-11 finish in the 30-man field at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. He has missed just one cut in nine events since vaulting into the top 100 of the OWGR with his first career win at last season’s Wyndham Championship. He leads the field in Bogey Avoidance, and he ranks seventh in Good Drives Gained and fourth in SG: Par 4s.

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Rory Sabbatini (+8000)

Sabbatini is one of many in the field returning to competitive play for the first time since the RSM Classic. He’s coming off a 2019 calendar year in which he had six top 10s against just four missed cuts for his most successful season since his last PGA Tour win in 2011 at The Honda Classic. This is a similarly short venue, and he’s made the cut in four of his last five appearances with a T-6 result in 2015.

Sony Open – Longshots

(Photo Credit: John David Mercer – USA TODAY Sports)

Luke List (+15000)

List didn’t play this event last year following a missed cut in 2018, but he did finish T-13 in 2017. He enters the week ranked 145th in the world following three missed cuts to start his 2019-20 season, but he did have two runners-up last year. He also finished second at the 2018 Honda Classic amid a stronger field.

Mackenzie Hughes (+25000)

Hughes isn’t much of a course fit (49th in Eagles Gained and 57th in SG: Approach), but this number is far too high for a former PGA Tour champ. A $1 sprinkle at these odds returns a profit of $250.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Sentry Tournament of Champions odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.

The 2020 portion of the 2019-20 PGA Tour schedule kicks off this week with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. A field of thirty-four features five of the top 10 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The key stats best suited to the 7,518-yard, par-73 venue are:

Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking
Bogey Avoidance
Sand Saves Gained
Good Drives Gained
Proximity 175-200 Yards

My model at Fantasy National looks at the most recent 36 rounds played on courses with Bermuda greens.

Sentry Tournament of Champions – Tier 1

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 7:20 p.m. ET.

Patrick Cantlay (+1400)

Cantlay is the fourth-best golfer in attendance by the OWGR measure. His only 2019 win came at the Memorial Tournament, but he preceded it by back-to-back T-3 results and followed it up late in the year with runner-up finishes at the BMW Championship and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He has the most appealing odds of the top golfers in the elite field with a $10 bet returning a profit of $140.

Collin Morikawa (+2200)

Morikawa offers a better return than Cantlay. A rookie in 2019, his first career win came at the Barracuda Championship. He enters the week ranked 65th by the OWGR and most recently finished T-5 at the Japan Tour’s Dunlop Phoenix. He has a great approach game and excels from our key proximity distance this week.

Sentry Tournament of Champions – Tier 2

Corey Conners (+2800)

Conners won’t get the full advantage of his driver this week at a venue with wide, rolling fairways allowing all in attendance to bomb it off the tee, but he will get something of a reprieve from his usual struggles on the greens. Each of the last five TOC champions finished at or below 21-under par, and Conners certainly has the ability to go that low.

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Matt Kuchar (+2800)

Much of Kuchar’s career success has come early in the calendar year. The 24th-ranked golfer in the world won twice last season, at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and the Sony Open in Hawaii. He was also the runner-up at both the RBC Heritage and WGC-Match Play. He ranks second to Conners by my stat model.

Sentry Tournament of Champions – Longshots

Photo Credit: Thomas J. Russo – USA TODAY Sports

Joaquin Niemann (+3000)

Niemann is coming off a Presidents Cup loss as a member of the International team. He gained entry to this event with his first career victory at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier to kick off the 2019-20 PGA Tour campaign, and has been one of the most active golfers early in the season. His strong approach game gives him an advantage on the expansive greens.

Keith Mitchell (+4000)

Mitchell is our longest dart throw at a tournament without a lot of betting value due to the small field of elites. He also earned his first career victory in 2019 at The Honda Classic in early March. He held off World No. 1 Brooks Koepka on Sunday, and showed he can compete in strong fields.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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QBE Shootout odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the 2019 QBE Shootout and which teams of golfers are the best options for the event. Who will win at Tiburon Golf Club?

Twelve two-man teams will compete in the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., this weekend. The 54-hole event runs three days, from Friday through Sunday.

The first round is played under scramble rules, whereby both members of each team will play every shot with the better ball being taken each time. Round 2 consists of greensomes, where both players tee off on each hole and the alternate shot is played from the spot of the better ball.

The final round is played under standard four-ball rules with each golfer playing the hole on their own and the best score being taken.

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The 7,288-yard venue plays as a par 72. The teams compete for a $3.5 million purse, but it is not an official money event and no FedExCup points are awarded.

QBE Shootout – Odds, picks and best bets

Matthew Wolff. (Photo Credit: Rob Kinnan – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET.

Viktor Hovland-Matthew Wolff (+600)

The two combine for just 42 years of age, making them younger than several of the individual golfers in this event. Hovland is expected to be a top contender for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, while Wolff came up just short of the award last year.

Hovland, 22, placed solo fourth at last season’s Wyndham Championship for the best result of his young career. He’s ranked 96th by the Official World Golf Ranking, while Wolff, who got his first career win at the 3M Open last summer, is 117th in the world. Their odds are lower as fan favorites, but the youngsters have the length and putting, and the motivation for the early-career win in an uninspired field.

Charles Howell III-Bubba Watson (+800)

Watson, ranked 44th by the OWGR, is coming off a last-place finish at last week’s Hero World Challenge. Howell, ranked 54th in the world, missed the cut at the RSM Classic as his last event. The two combined for four victories in 2018.

Howell finished tied for third here last year with partner Luke List. Watson was sixth with Harold Varner III.

Charley Hoffman-Kevin Kisner (+1200)

Hoffman also finished T-3 a year ago (with partner Gary Woodland), while Kisner finished last with playing partner Cameron Champ. Kisner tied for seventh at last week’s Hero World Challenge exhibition. The two have plenty of length off the tee, and Kisner, who’s the defending match-play champion, can get hot and carry the team with his putter.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Hero World Challenge odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the 2019 Hero World Challenge and which golfers are the best options for the event. Who will win at Albany?

Host Tiger Woods and 17 more of the top golfers in the world are in The Bahamas this week for the Hero World Challenge. The condensed field consists of six of the top 10 golfers from the Official World Golf Ranking, including Woods and defending champ Jon Rahm. It is played at Albany which measures 7,302 yards and plays as a par 72.

The showcase tournament is the final standard stroke-play event on the PGA Tour in 2019. The Presidents Cup and QBE Shootout will run next week. There’ll then be a brief hiatus before the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open kick off the 2020 portion of the schedule in the first two weeks of January from Hawaii.

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The small field and champion pedigree of each of those in attendance means bettors need to adjust their strategies this week. Make fewer, larger wagers while focusing on those at the top of the board. Only three golfers — Bubba Watson, Kevin Kisner and Chez Reavie — have odds greater than +3000. Don’t go chasing higher payouts, as each of the past four champions entered the week ranked inside the top 10 of the OWGR.

Hero World Challenge – Odds, picks and best bets

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Tiger Woods +900

Woods has won this event five times but not since 2011 and never at this venue. He claimed his first victory of the season at the Zozo Championship in Japan in late October but hasn’t played a pro event since. He finished second-to-last here last year, but he has since climbed to No. 7 in the world. Woods has the fourth-best world ranking among those in attendance and is fourth by the odds at BetMGM in a rare case of him not being overpriced as a public favorite.

Xander Schauffele +900

Schauffele enters the week ranked ninth by the OWGR. He most recently finished as the runner-up at the WGC-HSBC Champions following a T-10 at the Zozo Championship. He debuted at this event with a T-8 finish last year. He has been an excellent early-season performer over his young career and looks to stay hot ahead of his defense of the Tournament of Champions next month.

Webb Simpson +1200

Simpson is the second-best putter in this field behind Jordan Spieth (+2500), who will not be winning. He is coming off a solo runner-up finish at the RSM Classic and sits at No. 11 in the world ranking. This is his debut at Albany, but Rahm won in his debut a year ago.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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RSM Classic odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the 2019 RSM Classic and which golfers are the best options for the event. Who will win at Sea Island GC?

The PGA Tour’s final full-field event on the 2019 calendar takes place this week in Glynn County, Ga., at Sea Island Golf Club with the RSM Classic.

The key stats for this week via historical data from Fantasy National are:

Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green
Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Short Game
Strokes Gained: Scrambling
Par 4 Efficiency: 400-450 Yards

My model looks at the most recent 50 rounds for each golfer in the field.

RSM Classic – Tier 1

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET.

Webb Simpson +900

Simpson is the top golfer in the field with a rank of 12th by the Official World Golf Ranking. He finished solo third here last season and finished T-7 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his most recent event. He leads the stat model with top-five ranks in four of the five key stats.

Kevin Kisner +2200

Kisner won at Sea Island in 2015. After missing the cut the following year, he was T-4 in 2017 and T-7 last season. Ranked No. 34 in the world, he’s third in the field in par-4 efficiency from the key distance. He has gained more strokes per round at this venue than anyone other than Simpson (minimum 20 rounds played) since 2010, according to Data Golf.

RSM Classic – Tier 2

Photo Credit: Mark Konezny – USA TODAY Sports

J.T. Poston +5000

Poston missed the cut here each of the last three years, but he’s coming off of a T-24 at the HSBC Champions and T-27 at the Zozo Championship in far stronger fields.

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Brian Stuard +8000

Stuard ranks third by my stat model this week with a top rank of 11th in the field in SG: Around-the-Green. He finished T-23 last week at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and tied for fourth at the Shriners earlier this year.

RSM Classic – Longshots

Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez – USA TODAY Sports

Luke List +10000

List finished in a tie for fourth last season and tied for 13th in the fall of 2016.

Mackenzie Hughes +15000

The 2016 champion missed the cut each of the last two years, but he’s priced near the bottom of the board with a $10 bet returning a profit of $1500. He missed the cut at the OHL Classic the week before his 2016 victory so his current poor form isn’t a huge concern.

2019-20 winners: Joaquin Niemann – A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier (+2800)

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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