Who Might Be Your Best Bet On The PGA TOUR?

Mark Twain is said to have described the game of golf as “a good walk spoiled” and anyone who has spent five shots trying to get out of a bunker might well agree with the sentiment

But for millions of others in the US and beyond, golf is a captivating and addictive sport for both player and spectator alike.

Ever since the US Supreme Court’s historic 2018 decision to allow sports betting, the game has seen more and more sportsbooks offering odds on major tournaments.

For some, it has been quite a surprise that golf fans have taken to betting on the sport so readily. However, the fact that in Colorado, Succession betting odds were really popular suggests that bettors will take every opportunity to try their luck – and golf is a natural choice. So this leads us to the question: which PGA players are bet on the most?

One of the biggest draws for fans is the chance to play on the various events in the PGA Tour. Predominantly held in the US and with other events in countries including the UK, Canada, and Japan it’s where the world’s best golfers compete against in tournaments for big prize money.

The Tour in the news.

In June the PGA Tour hit the headlines by announcing its merger with the controversial LIV Golf putting an end to a number of pending lawsuits, and paving the way for potentially even bigger tournament purses.

For golf fans wanting to their own slice of the action from the Tour it’s a question of which players to back. While previous performance is no guarantee of future success, probably the best strategy is to look at the big winners from the 2022 season.

Unless these players suffer a significant loss of form then they could well show a good return over the season. That said, it is a sport with a habit of throwing up surprise winners, so nothing is ever cast in stone.

The five to watch.

We’ve picked five players who could well reward your faith in them this season and the first of these is Scottie Scheffler. He had an outstanding season in 2022 which saw him being named as the PGA Tour Player of the Year as well as regaining the number one place in the Official World Golf Ranking.

His form has continued this year seeing him win The Players Championship by five clear strokes, the widest margin since Stephen Ames’ 6 stroke win in 2006. In the 2023 PGA Championship his final round 65 was enough to earn him a second place tie and to regain, once again, the number one World Golf ranking.

Alongside Scheffler, the joint favourite for most golf fans who fancy a wager must be the Spaniard Jon Rahm. Last season saw him enjoy victories at both the Mexican and Spanish Open, rounding things off nicely with another win at the DP World Tour Championship, finishing two shots ahead of Tyrell Hatten and Alex Noren.

His success has continued in 2023 with wins at The Sentry Tournament of Champions andThe American Express. But it was his victory in the Masters at Augusta that capped all of these, cementing his place as one of the all-time greats.

The merging of the PGA Tour and Liv Golf also puts the Australian Cameron Smith firmly into contention as a better than good bet. Before defecting to LIV, and earning a reported $5 million in his first four events, he was the player who represented the very best return if you’d backed him in the 17 events he took part in over the 2022 season. This was concluded in the perfect way for him with a win in front of a home crowd at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.

Anyone looking for a longer-odds option could do far worse than putting their money on Max Homa. Judged by the same criteria as Smith, the return for putting $100 on him in each tournament entered, he came second in the 2022 rankings. This was due to wins in the Wells Fargo and Fortinet Championships, both at pretty long odds. So far this season he’s also notched up a win in the Farmers Insurance Open with a six-under final round beating Keegan Bradley.

Last, but not least, Rory McIlroy can’t be discounted. The 36-year-old has had an up and down season, winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and coming a close second in the US Open while also failing to make the cut in the Masters. But, as they say, form is temporary but class is permanent. So, hiccups like this shouldn’t detract from McIlroy’s appeal as a good bet.

So, there you have them, five players who should give you a fair chance of a good return – now they just have to put in the performances to deliver.