Recap of last weeks bets
| Market | Selection | Result |
| To Win | Brendon Todd | Lost |
| Top Ten Finish | Patrick Rodgers | Lost |
| Top 20 Finish | Hayden Buckley | Lost |
| Will There Be a Playoff | Yes | Lost |
| Top 40 Finish | Scott Stallings | Won |
Profit/Loss (This week) – Loss of $21 to a $10 Stake
Profit/Loss (Overall) – Loss of $268 to a $10 Stake
On to this week’s event.
Though the PGA Tour season is officially over for 2021, there are still a few unofficial money events to attend before the year ends. We’ll be in Florida for the QBE Shootout next week, but first, we’ll be in the Bahamas for the Hero World Challenge at the magnificent Albany Golf Course. An event with an elite 20-man field that, although not contributing towards the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, still offers world ranking points.
The World Challenge had been held every year since its inception in 2000 until 2019, with the 2020 edition being canceled owing to the pandemic. Until 2013, the host venue was Sherwood Country Club in California, but since 2015, Albany has been the only option. Albany Golf Course is a 7309-yard par 72 course designed by Ernie Els. There are five par 5s and two drivable par 4s on the course, which provides plenty of risk/reward possibilities and encourages players to play aggressive golf. It makes sense to provide a fun and not too intense course for an event that borders on an exhibition.
While Tiger Woods will not be playing in his tournament this week, his hosting duties may allow him to make a much-anticipated comeback to the course after his horrible accident in February. However, with Tiger out of the picture, this limited field event is reserved for the best of the best, making it difficult to predict a winner.
Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019), Jordan Spieth (2015), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018), and Henrik Stenson are among the 20 players in this year’s field (2013). The highest-ranked player in the lineup is World #2 Collin Morikawa, who is coming off a victory at the DP World Tour Championship.
On to our picks for this year…
To Win
Collin Morikawa +800
Whenever I faced a baron run of results last season, I turned to this man who managed to get me out of trouble more often than not, and I’m hoping he can do that again this week. Morikawa has started the season in unbelievable fashion, and the duel between him and Rory appears to be one to savor, which could go on for many years to come. Collin has played two events on the PGA Tour this season and finished as the runner-up at the CJ Cup (behind McIlroy), and then he took seventh at the Zozo Championship more recently. This event has often been one by the player in the best form (baring Henrik Stenson), and Morikawa has arguably that. He hasn’t been as accurate off the tee as we are used to seeing him but isn’t that a scary thought for his opponents? He is playing so well, and there is plenty of room to improve. His short game around the green could be better, but with arguably the best approach play in the world right now, this doesn’t become a factor very often. He is reliable with the putter and will want to lay down a marker in this elite field of players.
First Round Match Bet – Scheffler vs. Burns
Sam Burns -115
With some of the field treating this event as nothing more than an exhibition, this is a chance for rookie Sam Burns to etch his name into the history books while battling against some of the biggest names in golf. With three top-ten finishes this season, Burns finds himself currently in second place in the FedEx standings. While this isn’t a ranking event, it highlights how well Burns is playing this season. Scheffler has played plenty of golf this season, and while he has played very well, by the looks of things two weeks ago at the RSM Classic, he is possibly starting to wind down. Lastly, Burns tends to start much better than Scheffler, which is the icing on the cake for our selection. Burns is averaging 67 for his first-round performances this season, and Scheffler is averaging 68.
Hey Guys
My name is Dean, AKA The Stat Man. I am a Sports Betting Analyst who uses math, algorithms, probability and logic to create my posts. I specialize in many sports, with Golf being the primary focus. You can find a lot of my work on various websites but the best content is found here on Beer Life.
I live in the UK, on the outskirts of London but my background and heritage is Irish. I'm an avid Manchester United fan who sees following them as a religion. Sport is pretty much my life, as I live and breathe it daily. If there is something I don't know it's probably not worth knowing as I have over 20 years industry experience and insight.
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