We don’t have a PGA Tour event this week, but we can still take a look at some golf action because the Olympics Men’s Golf Tournament begins on Wednesday night in the United States and Thursday morning in Japan. Representatives from around the world will attempt to take home gold, silver, and bronze for their respective countries after four days of play at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

We’ve already seen some pretty big golf news, as Jon Rahm once again tested positive for COVID-19 and so did Bryson DeChambeau, so Team Spain and Team USA have both lost key players.

This is not a team event, it is an individual event, as the players will play four days worth of stroke play to determine the podium.

Odds come from BetOnline Sportsbook, where you can get a 50% Deposit Match Bonus up to $1000 if you sign up through us at BangTheBook.

BETTING ODDS FOR THE 2020 MEN’S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

Collin Morikawa	+750
Xander Schauffele	+900
Justin Thomas	+1000
Viktor Hovland	+1000
Hideki Matsuyama	+1200
Rory McIlroy	+1200
Paul Casey	+1600
Patrick Reed	+2000
Cameron Smith	+2200
Shane Lowry	+2200
Abraham Ancer	+2500
Joaquin Niemann	+2500
Sungjae Im	+2500
Corey Conners	+2800
Tommy Fleetwood	+2800
Marc Leishman	+3500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout	+4000
Si Woo Kim	+4000
Garrick Higgo	+5000
Guido Migliozzi	+6000
Alex Noren	+6600
Carlos Ortiz	+6600
Jhonattan Vegas	+6600
Mackenzie Hughes	+6600
Thomas Pieters	+7000
Thomas Detry	+7500
Guillermo Mito Pereira	+8000
Antoine Rozner	+9000
Matthias Schwab	+9000
Sebastian Munoz	+9000
Rikuya Hoshino	+10000
Anriban Lahiri	+12500
C.T. Pan	+12500
Henrik Norlander	+12500
Rasmus Hojgaard	+12500
Ryan Fox	+12500
Adri Arnaus	+15000
Sepp Straka	+15000
Ashun Wu	+20000
Carl Yuan	+20000
Jazz Janewattananond	+20000
Joachim B Hansen	+20000
Jorge Campillo	+20000
Kalle Samooja	+20000
Maximillian Kieffer	+20000
Romain Langasque	+20000
Rory Sabbatini	+20000
Sami Valimaki	+20000
Adrian Meronk	+25000
Fabrizio Zanotti	+25000
Hurly Long	+25000
Renato Paratore	+25000
Scott Vincent	+25000
Gavin Green	+30000
Kristian Krogh Johannessen	+30000
Rafael Campos	+30000
Gunn Charoenkul	+40000
Juvic Pagunsan	+40000
Ondrej Lieser	+50000
Udayan Mane	+50000

The Field

We lost a couple of the favorites in Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, but there are still a lot of recognizable names on the betting board. The Open Champion Collin Morikawa is the favorite at +750 and what a treat it would be for Morikawa, who is of Japanese descent, to win gold.

Xander Schauffele is always around the leaderboard on the PGA Tour, but hasn’t finished off many events. He’s still the second favorite at +900, ahead of Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland at +1000. There is a lot of pressure on Hideki Matsuyama, though probably not as much as if spectators were on hand. He’s +1200 along with Rory McIlroy.

There are a lot of recognizable names in here, including some interesting long shots, like Alex Noren at 66/1 and C.T. Pan at 125/1.

Kasumigaseki Country Club Profile

Obviously this is the first exposure to this course for most guys. Some of the Asian players may have played there, including Matsuyama and Japan’s other entrant, Rikuyo Hoshino. Matsuyama actually won an Asia-Pacific Amateur event here back in 2010 and also the Japan Junior in 2009. For the most part, guys are taking their practice rounds this week and that is about it.

The golf course is about 90 minutes from Olympic Village, so a lot of players have probably made accommodations out by the course and are tried to get as many rounds in as possible.

The course has bentgrass greens and zoysia everywhere else. A tropical storm is coming, so the course is going to likely get some wind and water heading into the weekend. Zoysia grass can take a lot of water, but the fairways probably won’t have a ton of roll this weekend. Players are obviously very familiar with bentgrass greens.

It is a Tom Fazio re-design and some have likened the course to Quail Hollow. Others say it feels like Monterey Peninsula, which is used during the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It will measure around 7,500 yards and bunkers and trees are the primary defense mechanisms for the course.

Recent Form

Course form seems irrelevant because Hideki is the only player with a lot of it there. Certainly Collin Morikawa tops that list with his win at Royal St. George’s in The Open Championship. Garrick Higgo won the Palmetto Championship and had a couple of Korn Ferry Tour wins prior to that. He is +5000 and has missed four of his last five cuts.

Xander Schauffele was 26th at The Open and has four top-15 finishes in his last five events otherwise. Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, so he may be a guy to watch this week at +1200. Recently, he’s been kind of all over the place, but that seems to be a course comp a lot of people like this week.

Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry were both 12th at The Open. Hovland also had a European Tour win a few weeks prior. Mackenzie Hughes was a solid sixth in The Open as he represents Canada this week. Abraham Ancer did not play well at The Open, but was in the top 15 in four of six previous events. Sebastian Munoz has a couple of recent top-five finishes.

Olympics Golf Picks

This is certainly a tricky handicap with no prior data and not much truly known about one of Japan’s most exclusive golf clubs. Consider that Marcus Fraser was the 36-hole leader in 2016 down in Rio. It was a weaker field with a lot of dislike for the course, but still. Fraser would ultimately finish fifth behind Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, and Thomas Pieters.

Tommy Fleetwood is +2800 and he seems to really be taking to the whole vibe and environment. He’s a big hitter and a strong player to be priced that low.

With wind in the forecast, Marc Leishman really comes into play at +3500 as a strong wind player and a guy that can mold and shape the golf ball to the conditions.

Among the short prices, you have to like the way that Viktor Hovland has been playing at +1000. He’s a great iron player, long enough off the tee, and a good putter.

Those are the three players on the list for this week.

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The Palmetto Championship is a one-time replacement to the RBC Canadian Open, but if the course in Gillisonville, South Carolina is received well by the players and the fans, we could see the PGA Tour make a spot for Congaree Golf Club on the calendar.

COVID-19 restrictions prevent the players from heading up to Canada without ample quarantine time, so that opened the door for this new event down in the Palmetto State. Not much is known publicly about Congaree Golf Club, so this will be a new look for the players and also the PGA Tour.

As the last event before the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, we have a few big names, but this is a pretty weak field overall that will play in the heat and humidity of the south and then fly west to San Diego.

Odds are from MyBookie Sportsbook at the bottom of the article for the first Palmetto Championship.

Palmetto Championship Field & Betting Odds

Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are the +800 co-favorites for the Palmetto Championship. DJ isn’t in very good form, but he’s a South Carolina guy and has maybe had some level of exposure to this course. Koepka came out of seemingly nowhere in his third start since knee surgery to finish runner-up at the PGA Championship. It makes sense that he would test his knee and shake off the rust this week.

Tyrrell Hatton, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Tommy Fleetwood are all in the field, ranging from +1600 to +2000. Sungjae Im is also +2000. Otherwise, you’re getting guys like Branden Grace, Harris English, Patton Kizzire, Ian Poulter, Alex Noren, Keith Mitchell, and Garrick Higgo in the 28/1 to 33/1 range.

This will be a tough handicap, especially if you don’t like playing chalk.

Congaree Golf Club Profile

This is a long course that will play as a par 71. It is going to play over 7,650 yards in length and is short one par 5. There are two 500-yard par 4s on the course. It is entirely possible that this week is a trial run for a Presidents Cup down the line, so the course should be at its best.

The aerial views of the course show a lot of different and challenging hole formats. Some holes are tree-lined and pretty narrow. Others are wide open, but with a lot of waste areas with all the dirt and pine of the south. The bunkers are like flat swaths of land, so they don’t have high faces or anything like that.

It will be hot, humid, and probably pretty buggy at the course. There is a chance of rain every day in the forecast. If it happens, the course will play very long. If it doesn’t, fairways will hard and the green complexes will be fast and firm. The weather will play a big role this week.

Yay or Neigh?

Our Horse for Course section usually has past results of players at a given event. This week, we have no course history. This course is about a half hour north of Savannah, GA, so it’s fair to assume that some of the local residents of SC/GA have played here at least a time or two.

There are some Clemson golfers like Doc Redman, Lucas Glover, and Bryson Nimmer that have probably seen the course. Glover has played there a lot.

JT Poston’s swing coach has a lot to do with the charity events at the course as the Director of Golf for the Congaree Foundation. Poston is regarded as a really good putter, but the other parts of his game are major question marks.

The obvious comparisons to make to Congaree would be places like Harbour Town at Hilton Head, Kiawah Island, Sea Island, etc. It has also been described as being a lot like courses in Australia or South Africa.

Recent Form

DJ has not been in very good form. He’s only played one event in the last five weeks and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He’s been outside the top 10 in his last four events. Koepka missed cuts at The Masters and the AT&T Byron Nelson before his stunning runner-up at the PGA.

The top players really aren’t in good form. Ty Hatton was 38th at the PGA, his only event in the last six weeks. Matt Fitzpatrick was 23rd at the PGA and has missed two cuts otherwise, including last week, in the last two months. Sungjae Im has missed three of the last four cuts. Harris English has one finish inside the top 15 in his last four events. Tommy Fleetwood has missed two of the last three cuts. Kevin Kisner missed five cuts in a row before finishing 40th at the Charles Schwab.

How about some good news? Garrick Higgo has two wins and two other top-eight finishes in his last four events, but those weren’t PGA Tour events. Ian Poulter was third two weeks ago and 30th at the PGA Championship. He might be a good look this week.

Charley Hoffman was 57th last week after finishing in the top 20 in six straight events and seven of eight. Branden Grace was fourth last week. Lucas Glover was eighth two weeks ago.

There really aren’t a lot of guys in great form here and this is a pretty weak field.

Palmetto Championship Picks

Lucas Glover gets the call here at 45/1. He had a good season last year from a ball-striking standpoint and seems to be getting into a new form cycle. Glover also knows the course well and has played a lot of similar courses throughout his career down in the southeast.

Rory Sabbatini isn’t in great form, but at +9000, this seems like a decent course fit for him. This course is a lot like flat, drier courses we’ve seen on the European Tour, in Australia, or in South Africa.

It’s a tough handicap. Look to bet some matchups on the weekend.

Coverage of the Palmetto Championship will be on Golf Channel and CBS.

GET A 100% DEPOSIT MATCH BONUS FROM MYBOOKIE SPORTSBOOK

DUSTIN JOHNSON	+800
BROOKS KOEPKA	+800
TYRRELL HATTON	+1600
MATT FITZPATRICK	+1800
TOMMY FLEETWOOD	+2000
SUNGJAE IM	+2000
BRANDEN GRACE	+2800
HARRIS ENGLISH	+2800
PATTON KIZZIRE	+3300
IAN POULTER	+3300
ALEX NOREN	+3300
KEITH MITCHELL	+3300
GARRICK HIGGO	+3300
BRANDT SNEDEKER	+4500
LUCAS GLOVER	+4500
HAROLD VARNER III	+5000
JHONATTAN VEGAS	+5000
RUSSELL KNOX	+6000
KEVIN KISNER	+6000
BEN MARTIN	+6000
C.T. PAN	+6000
DANNY WILLETT	+6000
RAFAEL CABRERA BELLO	+6600
DOC REDMAN	+6600
MARTIN LAIRD	+6600
PAT PEREZ	+6600
SCOTT STALLINGS	+7000
LUKE LIST	+7500
VINCENT WHALEY	+7500
MATTHEW NESMITH	+8000
ERIK VAN ROOYEN	+8000
CAMILO VILLEGAS	+8000
RORY SABBATINI	+9000
BO HOAG	+9000
SEPP STRAKA	+10000
SEAMUS POWER	+10000
BYEONG-HUN AN	+10000
RICHY WERENSKI	+11000
DAVID LIPSKY	+11000
SCOTT PIERCY	+11000
JASON DUFNER	+11000
PATRICK RODGERS	+11000
TOM LEWIS	+12500
WILCO NIENABER	+12500
SUNG KANG	+12500
J.T. POSTON	+12500
HANK LEBIODA	+12500
PETER UIHLEIN	+12500
ADAM SCHENK	+12500
BRIAN STUARD	+12500
BRONSON BURGOON	+12500
JOHN PAK	+12500
SATOSHI KODAIRA	+12500
BRICE GARNETT	+12500
DAVID THOMPSON	+14000
PADRAIG HARRINGTON	+14000
NATE LASHLEY	+14000
ANDREW PUTNAM	+14000
VAUGHN TAYLOR	+15000
JOSEPH BRAMLETT	+15000
JAMES HAHN	+15000
NICK TAYLOR	+15000
HENRIK NORLANDER	+15000
JOHN HUH	+16000
KEVIN CHAPPELL	+16000
ROBBY SHELTON	+16000
DANNY LEE	+17500
MARK HUBBARD	+17500
KRAMER HICKOK	+17500
J.J. SPAUN	+17500
ROGER SLOAN	+17500
CHASE SEIFFERT	+17500
SAM RYDER	+20000
COLE HAMMER	+20000
CAMERON PERCY	+20000
LUKE DONALD	+20000
TYLER MCCUMBER	+20000
TED POTTER JR	+20000
CHESSON HADLEY	+20000
SEAN OHAIR	+20000
ANIRBAN LAHIRI	+20000
BEAU HOSSLER	+20000
XINJUN ZHANG	+22500
CHEZ REAVIE	+22500
SCOTT BROWN	+22500
MICHAEL GLIGIC	+22500
RAFAEL CAMPOS	+25000
J.B. HOLMES	+25000
WILL GORDON	+25000
WES ROACH	+25000
D.J. TRAHAN	+25000
ROB OPPENHEIM	+27500
PETER MALNATI	+27500
GRAYSON MURRAY	+27500
TYLER DUNCAN	+30000
AARON BADDELEY	+30000
ROBERTO CASTRO	+30000
FABIAN GOMEZ	+30000
KIRADECH APHIBARNRAT	+30000
BRIAN GAY	+30000
JOSH TEATER	+30000
KRIS VENTURA	+30000
NELSON LEDESMA	+30000
RYAN ARMOUR	+30000
HUDSON SWAFFORD	+30000
BO VAN PELT	+30000
DAVID LINGMERTH	+35000
KEVIN TWAY	+35000
AUSTIN COOK	+35000
BRYSON NIMMER	+35000
DAVID HEARN	+35000
JOHNSON WAGNER	+35000
ZACK SUCHER	+35000
MARK ANDERSON	+40000
SCOTT HARRINGTON	+40000
LUCAS BJERREGAARD	+40000
GREG CHALMERS	+40000
RHEIN GIBSON	+40000
RYAN BREHM	+40000
JONAS BLIXT	+50000
RYAN BLAUM	+50000
BILL HAAS	+50000
ANDRES ROMERO	+50000
SEBASTIAN CAPPELEN	+50000
SHAWN STEFANI	+50000
CODY BLICK	+60000
JONATHAN BYRD	+60000
HUNTER MAHAN	+60000
NICK WATNEY	+75000
MICHAEL GELLERMAN	+75000
SMYLIE KAUFMAN	+75000
GEORGE MCNEILL	+75000
BEN TAYLOR	+75000
ARJUN ATWAL	+75000
MICHAEL KIM	+75000
KEVIN STADLER	+75000
JIM KNOUS	+100000
ROBERT GARRIGUS	+100000
DEREK ERNST	+100000
WILLIAM MCGIRT	+100000
D.A. POINTS	+100000
MATT EVERY	+100000
CHARLIE BELJAN	+100000
BRANT PEAPER	+100000
BROC EVERETT	+100000
CHRIS BAKER	+100000
TAIN LEE	+100000
DOMINIC BOZZELLI	+100000
MARTIN TRAINER	+100000
RICKY BARNES	+100000
RICHARD JOHNSON	+150000
JOHN ROLLINS	+150000
PARKER MCLACHLIN	+150000
KELLY MITCHUM	+150000
J.J. HENRY	+150000
HARRISON FRAZAR	+150000

 

Golf’s second major of the 2021 calendar year will take place this week on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Up to 10,000 spectators per day will be allowed on the grounds and it will be great to hear the roars for big putts and big moments. We should have a lot of them as well.

Collin Morikawa is the reigning PGA Championship winner from last August’s event at TPC Harding Park, a tournament that was moved from May to August because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s tournament is going off as scheduled and will be the most attended of the PGA Tour events thus far.

Odds will be posted from BetOnline Sportsbook after the body of the article and don’t forget that you can get a 50% Deposit Bonus up to $1,000 from our friends at BetOnline to bet the major or whatever your heart desires.

Betting Odds & The Field

Because this is the Tour’s signature major, it is a little bit more welcoming in terms of the selection criteria. The field is 156 players max and we usually get that or close to it because there are so many ways to gain entry into the field, including wins in past majors, positioning on the Official World Golf Ranking or the PGA Tour Money List, or just by simply being a winner since the last PGA Championship.

With that being said, we have a huge field this week. Recent Wells Fargo Champion Rory McIlroy is the +1200 favorite per BetOnline. Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas are priced at +1400, with Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth at +1600, and with Dustin Johnson, Viktor Hovland, and Collin Morikawa as the others with prices below +3000.

A lot of really strong players are priced in the +4000 to +6000 range here, including Will Zalatoris, Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, and so many more.

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

This is the second time in a decade that Kiawah Island Golf Resort has hosted the PGA Championship. The other year was 2012 and tournament favorite Rory McIlroy won by eight shots at 13-under. It was the largest margin of victory in PGA Championship history.

This course is an absolute monster. It will set the record this week for the longest course to be played in a major ever, supplanting Erin Hills from the 2017 US Open. The course will play over 7,800 yards and wind will undoubtedly be a factor on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, so some holes will play longer than listed, while others will play shorter.

There are six holes listed over 500 yards and not all of them are par 5s. It is a par 72 course, but it could very well be a par 73 or 74 by the distance.

Yay or Neigh?

Looking at course form data is pretty irrelevant here, to be totally honest. The course will play a good bit longer than it did in 2012 and a lot of the guys that are winning golf tournaments or regularly contending are either much different than they were back then or were not in the field at all.

That means we’re really just left to put together a profile of the kind of player we want to side with.

Handicapping Tips & Recent Form

With the immense length of this course, it goes without saying that driving distance will play a huge role. There could be some three-shot holes for the guys that are shorter off the tee just to get to the green. This course is going to play tough, based on the length, but also based on the pin placements. There are likely to be some very hard to get pins.

Along with distance off the tee, proximity on 175+ and 200+ will be huge this week because you’re going to see a lot of long irons or fairway metal shots into the putting surfaces. We could see some carnage at Kiawah to be sure.

As far as some notable recent form guys, keep in mind that a lot of the players at the top of the odds board have played sparingly since The Masters. The Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow was a big draw and there was a better field than expected last week for the AT&T Byron Nelson, but a lot of guys in this field have laid low more often than not.

Sam Burns is in outstanding form. Burns won the Valspar Championship and then finished second this past weekend in the AT&T Byron Nelson. He’s +5000 this week. Another player in good form lately is a much shorter price in Jordan Spieth at +1400, who won the Valero Texas Open. Same with the favorite in Rory McIlroy, who won the Wells Fargo.

Daniel Berger also played extremely well last week with a top-five finish.

PGA Championship Picks

As mentioned, driving distance and proximity to the hole with long irons and fairway metals will be my two most important metrics this week.

Morikawa easily leads the field in proximity to the hole from 175-200. Guys that grade well in that metric or in proximity to the hole from 200-225 are guys like Rahm, Marc Leishman, Hovland, Ryan Palmer, Paul Casey, and Patrick Cantlay.

Rahm is my favorite pick this week at +1400. If The Masters had 18 more holes, Rahm probably would have won.

Another player on my list is Leishman at +6000, who grades well in key metrics here and is also a strong wind player with those expected to be a factor this week.

Lastly, I’ll also take a long shot look at Ryan Palmer at +22500. Palmer hits the ball far and has done really well to get reasonable putts with long approach shots.

Coverage of the PGA Championship will be on ESPN, ESPN+, and CBS this week.

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BETTING ODDS FOR THE 2021 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Rory McIlroy	1200
Jon Rahm	1400
Justin Thomas	1400
Bryson DeChambeau	1600
Jordan Spieth	1600
Dustin Johnson	1800
Viktor Hovland	2200
Xander Schauffele	2200
Collin Morikawa	3000
Daniel Berger	3000
Cameron Smith	4000
Hideki Matsuyama	4000
Patrick Cantlay	4000
Patrick Reed	4000
Tony Finau	4000
Webb Simpson	4000
Brooks Koepka	4500
Scottie Scheffler	4500
Tyrrell Hatton	4500
Abraham Ancer	5000
Sam Burns	5000
Marc Leishman	6000
Matthew Fitzpatrick	6000
Will Zalatoris	6000
Corey Conners	6600
Joaquin Niemann	6600
Tommy Fleetwood	7000
Louis Oosthuizen	8000
Paul Casey	8000
Shane Lowry	8000
Sungjae Im	8000
Justin Rose	9000
Matt Wallace	9000
Brian Harman	10000
Charl Schwartzel	10000
Bubba Watson	11000
Emilian Grillo	11000
Si Woo Kim	11000
Adam Scott	12500
Gary Woodland	12500
Jason Day	12500
Jason Kokrak	12500
Sergio Garcia	12500
Harris English	13500
Cameron Tringale	15000
Garrick Higgo	15000
Max Homa	15000
Robert MacIntyre	15000
Russell Henley	15000
Stewart Cink	15000
Alex Noren	17500
Chris Kirk	17500
Lee Westwood	17500
Thomas Pieters	17500
Billy Horschel	20000
Branden Grace	20000
Kyoung Hoon Lee	20000
Matt Kuchar	20000
Rickie Fowler	20000
Carlos Ortiz	22500
Charley Hoffman	22500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout	22500
Matt Jones	22500
Ryan Palmer	22500
Cameron Champ	25000
Ian Poulter	25000
Kevin Na	25000
Victor Perez	25000
Aaron Wise	30000
Cameron Davis	30000
Danny Willett	30000
Francesco Molinari	30000
Harold Varner III	30000
Kevin Streelman	30000
Phil Mickelson	30000
Sebastian Munoz	30000
Bernd Wiesberger	35000
Brendon Todd	35000
Dean Burmester	35000
Dylan Frittelli	35000
Henrik Stenson	35000
Joel Dahmen	35000
John Catlin	35000
Kevin Kisner	35000
Lanto Griffin	35000
Talor Gooch	35000
Zach Johnson	35000
Antoine Rozner	40000
Brendan Steele	40000
Erik Van Rooyen	40000
Mackenzie Hughes	40000
Martin Kaymer	40000
Sam Horsfield	40000
Thomas Detry	40000
Aaron Rai	50000
Adam Hadwin	50000
Adam Long	50000
Andy Sullivan	50000
Brandon Stone	50000
Byeong Hun An	50000
Chan Kim	50000
Chez Reavie	50000
Denny McCarthy	50000
George Coetzee	50000
Harry Higgs	50000
Jason Dufner	50000
Jazz Janewattananond	50000
Jimmy Walker	50000
JT. Poston	50000
Kalle Samooja	50000
Kurt Kitayama	50000
Lucas Herbert	50000
Martin Laird	50000
Maverick McNealy	50000
Rasmus Hojgaard	50000
Richy Werenski	50000
Rikuya Hoshino	50000
Steve Stricker	50000
Takumi Kanaya	50000
Tom Hoge	50000
Tom Lewis	50000
Brain Gay	75000
Daniel van Tonder	75000
Hudson Swafford	75000
Jason Scrivener	75000
Jim Herman	75000
Padraig Harrington	75000
Peter Malnati	75000
Robert Streb	75000
Sami Valimaki	75000
John Daly	100000
Vijay Singh	100000
YE. Yang	100000
Omar Uresti	150000
Alex Beach	250000
Ben Cook	250000
Ben Pollard	250000
Brad Marek	250000
Daniel Balin	250000
Derek Holmes	250000
Frank Bensel	250000
Greg Koch	250000
Joe Summerhays	250000
Larkin Gross	250000
Mark Geddes	250000
Patrick Rada	250000
Peter Ballo	250000
Rich Beem	250000
Rob Labritz	250000
Shaun Micheel	250000
Sonny Skinner	250000
Stuart Smith	250000
Tim Pearce	250000
Tyler Collet	250000

 

The AT&T Byron Nelson will have a new course once again. After being played at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in 2018 and 2019, the PGA Tour players will tee it up at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas for this year’s version of the tournament.

A solid field will be on hand for this tournament, as we only have one week until the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Players want to stay in good shape and those that have been mostly idle since The Masters are looking to get back at it. Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the $8.1 million prize pool for this one, so it should be a good weekend of golf.

We’ll use the odds from MyBookie Sportsbook to break it all down and list them at the bottom of the article.

The Field & Betting Odds

Bryson DeChambeau left the Wells Fargo Championship prematurely and flew back to Texas, presumably to start getting ready for this event. When he found out that he made the cut at Quail Hollow, he flew back. He’s the co-favorite with Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm this week at +1000 per the MyBookie Sportsbook odds.

Jordan Spieth is the clear next choice on the board at +1200, followed by Daniel Berger at +1800. The rest of the field checks in at +2000 or higher, including Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and the return of Brooks Koepka. Scottie Scheffler, Will Zalatoris, Marc Leishman, and Sam Burns are all +2800.

This is definitely a top-heavy field this week at a brand new course, at least as far as PGA Tour events go.

TPC Craig Ranch Breakdown

TPC Craig Ranch, a popular stop for the Korn Ferry Tour, will host its first PGA Tour event and the first of five for the AT&T Byron Nelson. It is a par 72 that checks in just shy of 7,500 yards.

Trinity Forest was flat and wide open. TPC Craig Ranch will not be. It will be narrower in that regard and should provide a good test for the players. Water is in play a lot as Rowlett Creek winds in and around the course. We’ll have bentgrass greens for this one and the players will hit from Zoysia fairways, which is very different from usual. Tom Weiskopf helped design the course.

Tournament officials have gotten approved for 25% capacity on the course, so the roars of the crowd will be heard once again.

Yay or Neigh?

As far as looking for a horse for course, you won’t find one because there has not been a PGA Tour event here. The Web.com finals in 2012 were held on this course. James Hahn finished second at 14-under. Adam Hadwin was third at 13-under. Russell Henley was sixth at 11-under. Luke List tied for 13th. The course played as a par 71 that year.

This course is also part of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Q School, so some of the more recent graduates have probably played the course and are now part of the PGA Tour. Otherwise, we don’t really know much about the course and who will play well here.

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Recent Form

Maybe recent form will be a lot more important then. Some of the guys at top of the odds board either haven’t played much lately or simply haven’t played well. DJ has one top-25 finish in his last five events. Rahm missed the cut last week at Quail Hollow. DeChambeau finished ninth, but played poorly enough on Thursday and Friday to think he wasn’t making the weekend.

Koepka missed the cut at The Masters and that’s his only tournament result since knee surgery. Matsuyama hasn’t teed up since winning the green jacket. Berger hasn’t played in a month, but has three top-20 finishes in his last four events. Fitzpatrick was fourth at the RBC Heritage after The Masters in his most recent event. Scheffler has a couple top-10 finishes over his last five events.

Zalatoris missed the cut last week in North Carolina, where he played his college golf. He’s had a couple lackluster showings since his runner-up at The Masters.

Let’s talk about some guys that have played well. Sam Burns won his first event at the Valspar Championship and was fourth the week prior when Marc Leishman won the Zurich Classic with teammate Cameron Smith. John Catlin has been playing well on the European Tour with a win and another top-five finish in his last three starts.

Keith Mitchell was third last week at the Wells Fargo and fourth two weeks prior. Charl Schwartzel has three straight top-25 finishes. Peter Uihlein has a win and two other top-10 finishes from his recent play on the European Tour.

Here’s a nugget for you. Sung Kang, the reigning champ of the AT&T Byron Nelson, is actually a member at TPC Craig Ranch, so he knows the course well.

AT&T Byron Nelson Handicap & Picks

This is a big ol’ crapshoot this week, but we can put together a player profile based on what we do know about the course. It’s a pretty long course with some long par 4s. It looks like SG: OTT will be important. We can always default to SG: Approach being important. The bentgrass greens aren’t a huge problem, so we’ll look for ball-strikers and hope they roll it well.

A price I simply cannot ignore is Sung Kang at +35000. He’s not in any kind of recent form, but he’s played well in Texas and is a member here. That has to account for something at a balloon 350/1 number.

As far as more realistic prices, Matthew Fitzpatrick at +2000 tops the list. He’s 10th in SG: Total and in the top 20 in SG: Off-the-Tee. His iron play has been a little iffy, but he’s put extremely well and still ranks 28th in SG: Tee-to-Green.

Another player to look at this week is native Texan Ryan Palmer at +5000. Palmer should have some knowledge of the course and he’s actually top 40 in SG: OTT and SG: Total. He’s in the top 50 in SG: Approach and has been comfortably on the plus side in putting.

Take some chances this week with a new course. A favorite could very well win, especially one like DeChambeau, who can cut down on the length of this course, but there are some long shots that do look compelling to be sure.

Coverage of the AT&T Byron Nelson will be on Golf Channel and CBS.

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ODDS FOR THE 2021 AT&T BYRON NELSON

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU	+1000
DUSTIN JOHNSON	+1000
JON RAHM	+1000
JORDAN SPIETH	+1200
DANIEL BERGER	+1800
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA	+2000
MATT FITZPATRICK	+2000
BROOKS KOEPKA	+2000
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER	+2500
WILL ZALATORIS	+2800
MARC LEISHMAN	+2800
SAM BURNS	+2800
SI WOO KIM	+4000
SERGIO GARCIA	+5000
RYAN PALMER	+5000
JASON DAY	+5500
THOMAS PIETERS	+6000
LUKE LIST	+6000
HARRIS ENGLISH	+6000
CHARL SCHWARTZEL	+6000
LEE WESTWOOD	+6000
MATT KUCHAR	+6000
KEITH MITCHELL	+6600
AARON WISE	+6600
CHARLES HOWELL III	+7500
RUSSELL KNOX	+7500
PETER UIHLEIN	+7500
CARLOS ORTIZ	+8000
TALOR GOOCH	+8000
ALEX NOREN	+8000
CAMERON CHAMP	+8000
RICKIE FOWLER	+8000
ANTOINE ROZNER	+9000
BRANDT SNEDEKER	+10000
JOHN CATLIN	+10000
SEBASTIAN MUNOZ	+11000
CAMILO VILLEGAS	+11000
DOUG GHIM	+11000
JHONATTAN VEGAS	+12500
RYAN MOORE	+12500
SCOTT STALLINGS	+12500
JAMES HAHN	+12500
BEN MARTIN	+12500
DOC REDMAN	+14000
PAT PEREZ	+14000
ERIK VAN ROOYEN	+14000
TOM HOGE	+15000
MARTIN LAIRD	+15000
C.T. PAN	+15000
PATTON KIZZIRE	+15000
KYOUNG HOON LEE	+15000
WYNDHAM CLARK	+16000
SEPP STRAKA	+16000
ADAM SCHENK	+17500
HARRY HIGGS	+17500
PATRICK RODGERS	+17500
SCOTT PIERCY	+17500
RORY SABBATINI	+17500
VAUGHN TAYLOR	+20000
WESLEY BRYAN	+20000
KEVIN CHAPPELL	+20000
NATE LASHLEY	+20000
BRANDON HAGY	+20000
JOHN HUH	+20000
ANDREW PUTNAM	+20000
TOM LEWIS	+20000
BRICE GARNETT	+22500
SAM RYDER	+22500
VINCENT WHALEY	+22500
BRIAN STUARD	+22500
TROY MERRITT	+22500
DANNY LEE	+25000
ANIRBAN LAHIRI	+25000
TYLER MCCUMBER	+25000
SEAMUS POWER	+25000
SEAN OHAIR	+25000
PIERCESON COODY	+25000
COLE HAMMER	+27500
TED POTTER JR	+27500
CHESSON HADLEY	+27500
ROGER SLOAN	+27500
ROBERT STREB	+27500
ROBERTO CASTRO	+30000
BEAU HOSSLER	+30000
HANK LEBIODA	+30000
JOSEPH BRAMLETT	+30000
KRAMER HICKOK	+30000
JJ SPAUN	+30000
JOSH TEATER	+30000
MICHAEL GLIGIC	+30000
JIMMY WALKER	+30000
ANDREW LANDRY	+30000
SATOSHI KODAIRA	+30000
J B HOLMES	+30000
WES ROACH	+30000
WILL GORDON	+30000
RAFAEL CABRERA BELLO	+30000
PADRAIG HARRINGTON	+30000
CAMERON PERCY	+35000
BRONSON BURGOON	+35000
SUNG KANG	+35000
BO VAN PELT	+35000
JAMIE LOVEMARK	+35000
TYLER DUNCAN	+35000
BO HOAG	+35000
GRAYSON MURRAY	+35000
SHAWN STEFANI	+40000
RYAN BLAUM	+40000
HUDSON SWAFFORD	+40000
NELSON LEDESMA	+40000
MARK HUBBARD	+40000
LUKE DONALD	+40000
AARON BADDELEY	+40000
DAVID HEARN	+40000
JONAS BLIXT	+40000
SCOTT BROWN	+40000
RAFAEL CAMPOS	+40000
KRISTOFFER VENTURA	+40000
TYLER STRAFACI	+40000
TIM WILKINSON	+40000
JOHNSON WAGNER	+40000
D J TRAHAN	+40000
AUSTIN COOK	+40000
RYAN ARMOUR	+50000
RHEIN GIBSON	+50000
ZACK SUCHER	+50000
RYAN BREHM	+50000
KIRADECH APHIBARNRAT	+50000
SCOTT HARRINGTON	+50000
KEVIN TWAY	+60000
SEBASTIAN CAPPELEN	+60000
KJ CHOI	+60000
RYAN LUMSDEN	+60000
BILL HAAS	+60000
ROB OPPENHEIM	+60000
HUNTER MAHAN	+75000
NICK WATNEY	+75000
KELLY KRAFT	+75000
FABIAN GOMEZ	+75000
MICHAEL KIM	+100000
KEVIN STADLER	+100000
MICHAEL GELLERMAN	+100000
BEN TAYLOR	+100000
MARK ANDERSON	+100000
XINJUN ZHANG	+100000
JOHN SENDEN	+100000
MATT EVERY	+150000
J J HENRY	+150000
MARTIN TRAINER	+150000
DOMINIC BOZZELLI	+150000
CHRIS BAKER	+200000
SHANE PEARCE	+250000

 

Take your shirt off and twist it around your head like a helicopter because the PGA Tour is headed to North Carolina. The Wells Fargo Championship is this weekend’s event at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. This is a popular course and a popular event, so we have a good field on hand for this one with a prize purse of $8.1 million.

This was one of many tournaments canceled because of COVID-19 during the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, but the players are happy to be back and we’re happy to have a good event to preview with odds from BetAnySports.eu. Full odds are listed below the article.

The Field & Betting Odds

Justin Thomas headlines a field that stands out relative to some of the last few tournaments that we’ve had since The Masters. Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Webb Simpson, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, Will Zalatoris, Tony Finau, and Corey Conners are just some of the names in play this week.

Those are also the top guys on the board by price, ranging from +985 on Thomas to +2800 on Reed, Zalatoris, Finau, and Conners. Rahm is +1100, with BDC at +1400, Rory at +1600, and Schauffele at +1800. Rory is a two-time winner here, but his most recent victory came back in 2015. He’s been pretty snakebitten around the globe his last couple of years on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour.

Reigning champ Max Homa is priced at +3300 after playing well last week at the Valspar Championship. Past winners Brian Harman (2017) and Jason Day (2018) are both priced at +4000.

The Course

Quail Hollow Club will host the 2022 Presidents Cup, so next year’s tournament will head to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. The only other year Quail Hollow hasn’t hosted this event was 2017 when Eagle Point Golf Club held it because the PGA Championship was played on this track.

This is a big, long course checking in at more than 7,500 yards with a par 71. You can tell how much golfers and tournament officials love this course with how it will host the Presidents Cup and then another PGA Championship in 2025.

Players can score well here, despite the par 72, but the winning score tends to be somewhere around 12-under par. When Rory won in 2015, his 21-under and seven-stroke win were easily course records. Nobody had ever shot better than 16-under or won by more than five shots.

There are a handful of 500-yard par 4s here to contend with and players are missing that extra par 5, so it could definitely be tough for scoring.

Putting and driving distance are big keys here. Strokes gained approach is also more important here than other places. Driving accuracy is of average importance, at least according to the Course Fit Tool at DataGolf. Guys that hit it a long way and roll the rock well seem to be the types you want to focus on this week.

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Yay or Neigh?

This is our Course Form section, where we look at the guys that have played well in the past. As mentioned, Max Homa, Jason Day, Brian Harman, and Rory McIlroy are all past winners here. Rory also has a runner-up, a fourth, and three other top-10 finishes to his name. Day has never finished outside the top 25 in his five starts with a win and two ninth-place finishes.

Rickie Fowler is a past winner here at +6600. His game is nowhere near what we’ve seen in the past, but he does have five top-six finishes here, including a fourth back in 2019.

Speaking of that kind of player, Phil Mickelson has six top-five finishes here since 2009, but he’s lined at +15000 based on his recent form.

Patrick Reed has a couple top-10 finishes at Quail Hollow, with a runner-up in the 2017 PGA Championship and then an eighth here in 2018. He finished 28th in 2019. Webb Simpson has a couple top-five finishes here, but hasn’t played quite as well as you would expect for a Carolina event. He was 18th in 2019.

A few players, like Paul Casey and Justin Rose, have played really well here, but are not in the field.

Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship on this course in 2017.

Recent Form Data

We’ll run through some of these guys alphabetically to find some players in good form.

This course doesn’t really fit Keegan Bradley, but last week’s runner-up at the Valspar has played well and grades well in several stats, including SG: Approach this season. This would be a good course fit for Corey Conners, who has a couple top-10 finishes over his last four starts, including a T-8 at The Masters. Conners is having a big year and his +2800 price looks good.

Lucas Glover, a past winner here back in 2011, was fourth at the Valero Texas Open and is on a nice run of made cuts. He was just barely inside the top 50 last week at the Valspar, though. Russell Henley is another guy that has been a little up and down. He was third at the Honda Classic and ninth at the RBC Heritage, but missed the cut last week at Innisbrook.

Both Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele had top-five finishes at The Masters, the only event each guy has played over the last few weeks.

Camil Villegas has four top-25 finishes inn his last four events. He’s been swinging it really well, though you worry about the length of this course for him.

Wells Fargo Championship Picks

Of the short prices, Xander Schauffele is the guy at 18/1. Schauffele is top 25 in driving distance, third in SG: Total, and also in the top 10 in SG: Putting. Those are all key attributes at Quail Hollow.

Joaquin Niemann looks like a good bet at +3500. Niemann was eighth last week at the Valspar and ranks eighth in driving distance, eighth in SG: Total, and he’s a solid 37th in SG: Putting after last week’s good showing at Innisbrook.

I wouldn’t go too far down the board here with the quality of this field and the toughness of this course. Pick some of the sub-50/1 guys, maybe one long shot, but keep it with the big names this week.

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ODDS FOR THE 2021 WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP

Justin Thomas	+985
Jon Rahm	+1100
Bryson DeChambeau	+1400
Rory McIlroy	+1600
Xander Schauffele	+1800
Viktor Hovland	+2000
Webb Simpson	+2000
Patrick Cantlay	+2500
Patrick Reed	+2800
Will Zalatoris	+2800
Tony Finau	+2800
Corey Conners	+2800
Sungjae Im	+3300
Max Homa	+3300
Joaquin Niemann	+3500
Abraham Ancer	+3500
Brian Harman	+4000
Jason Day	+4000
Cameron Tringale	+4000
Russell Henley	+4500
Shane Lowry	+4500
Tommy Fleetwood	+5500
Bubba Watson	+5500
Keegan Bradley	+5500
Stewart Cink	+6000
Rickie Fowler	+6600
Matt Wallace	+6600
Harold Varner III	+6600
Harris English	+6600
Emiliano Grillo	+6600
Lucas Glover	+7000
Brendan Steele	+8000
Brendon Todd	+8000
Kevin Streelman	+8500
Matt Jones	+9000
Joel Dahmen	+10000
Gary Woodland	+10000
Cameron Davis	+10000
Talor Gooch	+10000
Francesco Molinari	+11500
Denny McCarthy	+12500
Ian Poulter	+12500
Charl Schwartzel	+12500
Keith Mitchell	+12500
Matthew NeSmith	+12500
Maverick McNealy	+12500
Lanto Griffin	+12500
Russell Knox	+12500
Ryan Moore	+12500
Sebastian Munoz	+12500
Aaron Wise	+12500
Carlos Ortiz	+13500
Camilo Villegas	+15000
Erik Van Rooyen	+15000
Kyle Stanley	+15000
Mackenzie Hughes	+15000
Jhonattan Vegas	+15000
Sepp Straka	+15000
Phil Mickelson	+15000
Michael Thompson	+15000
Patton Kizzire	+15000
Zach Johnson	+15000
Adam Hadwin	+15000
Vaughn Taylor	+17500
Tom Hoge	+17500
Tom Lewis	+17500
Pat Perez	+17500
Rory Sabbatini	+17500
J.T. Poston	+17500
Luke List	+17500
Harry Higgs	+17500
Henrik Norlander	+20000
Doc Redman	+20000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee	+20000
Jason Dufner	+20000
John Huh	+20000
Sam Ryder	+20000
Scott Stallings	+20000
Richy Werenski	+20000
Troy Merritt	+20000
Wyndham Clark	+20000
Adam Long	+20000
Adam Schenk	+20000
Chez Reavie	+22500
Chase Seiffert	+25000
Danny Lee	+25000
Byeong Hun An	+25000
C.T. Pan	+25000
Patrick Rodgers	+25000
Nate Lashley	+25000
Nick Taylor	+25000
Andrew Putnam	+25000
Brice Garnett	+25000
Rafa Cabrera-Bello	+27500
Tyler McCumber	+27500
J.B. Holmes	+27500
Cameron Percy	+30000
Chesson Hadley	+30000
Mark Hubbard	+30000
Will Gordon	+30000
Tyler Duncan	+30000
Robert Streb	+30000
Roger Sloan	+30000
Bronson Burgoon	+30000
Brian Stuard	+30000
Brandon Hagy	+30000
Ben Martin	+30000
Akshay Bhatia	+30000
Bo Hoag	+35000
Scott Brown	+35000
Scott Piercy	+35000
Ryan Armour	+35000
Ted Potter, Jr.	+35000
Vincent Whaley	+35000
Jamie Lovemark	+35000
Kris Ventura	+37500
Joseph Bramlett	+37500
Jimmy Walker	+37500
Hank Lebioda	+40000
Sung Kang	+40000
Michael Gligic	+40000
Peter Malnati	+40000
Bo Van Pelt	+40000
Austin Cook	+40000
Beau Hossler	+40000
Bill Haas	+50000
Rafael Campos	+50000
Ryan Brehm	+50000
Satoshi Kodaira	+50000
Robby Shelton	+50000
Scott Harrington	+50000
Sean O’Hair	+50000
Seung-Yul Noh	+50000
Grayson Murray	+50000
David Hearn	+50000
Jonas Blixt	+50000
K.J. Choi	+50000
Johnson Wagner	+50000
Jim Herman	+50000
Kramer Hickok	+50000
Luke Donald	+50000
Rob Oppenheim	+55000
Kevin Tway	+65000
Kelly Kraft	+65000
Xinjun Zhang	+75000
Michael Kim	+100000
Martin Trainer	+100000
Cory Schneider	+100000
D.A. Points	+100000
Hunter Mahan	+100000