The PGA Tour remains an opportunistic roller coaster for West Virginia gamblers.
Recent tournament highlights emphasize that trend before the Charles Schwab Challenge, running Thursday-Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Justin Thomas just won the PGA Championship, rewarding Mountain State bettors who had taken his fifth-place finish in the Byron Nelson two weeks ago as a sign that he was coming on.
Thomas opens as the +800 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook WV to produce a rare repeat victory on the circuit. He’s also +190 to finish in the top five and -110 for the top 10.
He comes off a playoff victory over Will Zalatoris. And that’s another angle.
Remember Zalatoris? He missed the cut at the Byron Nelson. And here he was nearly capturing the PGA Championship one week later.
It was a wagering leap of faith to back him in the top five last week, but some West Virginia patrons did and were rewarded.
That brings us to Scottie Scheffler. Can he do a Zalatoris impression this week?
Charles Schwab Challenge odds at WV sportsbooks
The WV sportsbooks think so.
Scheffler, who DraftKings has as the second favorite at +1000, also is +260 for a top-five and +120 for a top-10 finish.
Scheffler won the Masters this year. He captured an unreal four of six tournaments. He’s the top player in the world in 2022. And he missed the cut last week.
Go figure. He shot six over par in two rounds, showing that even a Green Jacket can’t guarantee success. That makes him a rebound candidate.
Who gets hot and who doesn’t? Who has the blade; whose birdie putts lip out?
So much depends on the small momentum builders of the game.
Jordan Spieth, who had a strong PGA tournament, is +1200 to win, +300 for the top five, and +140 for the top 10.
Collin Morikawa is +1200 to win, and +275 and +140 for respective top-five and top-10 finishes.
Viktor Hovland reflects price opportunity at +2000 to win, +450 for the top five, and +190 for the top 10.
As always, there is substantial betting value throughout the board.
Abraham Ancer, for example, enters off of some quality play, including a ninth-place finish at the PGA Championship.
His odds are +4000 to win, +350 for a top-10 finish, and +160 for a top-20 finish.
Bryson DeChambeau is worth tracking even if bettors think his odds of +10000 indicate he’s too remote. DeChambeau tried to tee it up at the PGA Championship but withdrew on the eve of the tourney because his hand wasn’t fully recovered from surgery in April.
It’s not likely that he would obtain top form immediately, but eventually, he’ll resume his stature among the world’s top players.
Jason Kokrak returns to defend his 2021 title. He comes off a 60th place finish in the PGA Championship and isn’t playing his best golf right now, but returns to where he won last year.
Kokrak’s odds have been listed at anywhere from +4000 to +4800 at different sportsbooks. He has finished in the top 20 in two of his last five attempts.
How to watch the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Saturday: 2-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Sunday: 1-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2-6 p.m. (CBS)
Analyzing Colonial Country Club
The first two holes represent scoring opportunities, while the next three are difficult challenges named “The Horrible Horseshoe,” the toughest three-hole stretch on the Colonial course.
Bettors will keep this in mind regarding next-hole bets about potential birdies and bogeys.
The first hole is a par 5, reachable in two shots provided players can avoid the array of bunkers surrounding the green. This is an excellent scoring opportunity, with 43% of the scores recorded at par and 48% bogey, according to recent statistics.
Hole No. 2 is a par 4, also with far more birdies than bogeys.
That changes on the third hole. It is a difficult-to-reach par 4, with a dogleg. The percentage of bogies is more than double that of birdies on this hole.
See if the books view this the same way on the betting odds. Even with that said, the hole has yielded about 250% more pars than bogeys, and par is the normal score, but this has one of the highest bogey probabilities on the course.
The fourth and fifth holes also have substantially more bogeys than birdies.
Scheffler odds shopping
Scottie Scheffler’s backers will like his odds at BetMGM WV Sportsbook, where he opened at +1200. That’s 20% value-added over other books and a no-brainer play for Scheffler supporters.
Caesars WV also has +300 for a playoff, which did happen last week. The margin of victory stemming from one shot to four or more ranges from +250 for a one-shot difference to +330 for a difference of four or more strokes.
