WEEKEND TO DYE FOR
EVENT: Players Championship (Sawgrass)
WHY WE’LL WATCH: The Tour’s “fifth major” showcases a devilish Pete Dye design. Pros hit fades into 16, pray over wedges on 17 and may attempt rope hooks that skirt the water on 18.
KEY DATA: Let’s be honest: Winners come in all shapes, sizes and styles. Sergio Garcia has missed two cuts in 21 starts. Patrick Cantlay has missed two in four starts.
THE FAVS: Jon Rahm (+1200), Collin Morikawa (+1400), defending champion Justin Thomas (+1400), Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Cantlay (+2000)
BOOST: Any Player to Make an Ace at 17 (+290, boosted from +250)
BET TO CONSIDER: Troon Name A Bet: Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland too all finish in the Top 40, +350.
NOTE: Odds as of 2p ET Tuesday
Additionally, PointsBet has partnered with Keith Stewart, the PGA Golf Professional and New Jersey-based ESPN radio host who created the newsletter, “Read the Line.” Here are highlights of Keith’s breakdown:
- The PLAYERS Championship is the most volatile tournament of the year. The average birdie rate over all 18 holes is 19.5%. The bogey or worse rate? 19.9%. Guess that’s why tournament favorite Rory McIlroy’s last three years have been so eventful (missed cut, win, missed cut).
- No winner of this tournament over the past 10 years has finished better than 16th prior to the year they won. Go back 20 years and only three have finished 9th or better the year before their PLAYERS title.
- PointsBet takes tremendous pride in coming up with great bets… and at Read The Line, we love figuring them out! The over under for balls in the water this week is 56.5 on the infamous Par 3 17th. Doesn’t sound like much right? Well, it is. In the last 10 years, an average of only 46.6 have found a watery grave. In fact, the number only went over 56 twice in that time. Combined with predicted damp conditions where the green will hold and it’s time to dunk that under!
- Speaking of the 17th hole, imagine hitting that shot on Sunday with millions of dollars on the line! That’s what the PGA Tour has set up for us. The $20 million dollar purse is the largest tournament payout ever. First place will earn $3.6 million dollars. One bad swing late on Sunday afternoon, and it could cost you a move from 1st to 3rd place or $2.2 million!
To read the entire newsletter, click HERE.