World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will attempt to defend his title at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play event this week. Eight of the world’s top-nine players will be in the field with only Justin Thomas deciding to bypass the tournament. A number of players seem to thrive in match play, including Kevin Kisner who has a win and two runner-up finishes in the last four WGC match play events. Scheffler is listed as the golf betting favorite at BetRivers at odds of +800. Jon Rahm is the second choice in the betting odds at +1100. The other two players listed at less than +2000 are Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay, at odds of +1200 and +1600 respectively. Action on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be round-robin group play with 16 four-man groups. After group play, it is all about single elimination, with two rounds apiece played on Saturday and Sunday to determine the champion. Let’s look at WGC Dell Technologies Match Play picks.
Venue: Austin Country Club is a par 71 that measures 7,108 yards. This will be the seventh time that Austin Country Club will be hosting the WGC-Match Pay event.
Last Year: Scottie Scheffler defeated Kevin Kisner 4 and 3 to win last year’s event. The final was never in doubt, as Scheffler was up by three after six holes and never looked book. Corey Conners defeated Dustin Johnson in the consolation match.
TV Coverage: NBC & Golf Channel
Valspar Championship Odds
Scheffler, Scottie +800
Rahm, Jon +1100
McIlroy, Rory +1200
Cantlay, Patrick +1600
Spieth, Jordan +2000
Homa, Max +2000
Hovland, Viktor +2200
Schauffele, Xander +2200
Morikawa, Collin +2200
Finau, Tony +2500
Hatton, Tyrrell +2800
Day, Jason +3300
Sungjae Im +3300
Zalatoris, Will +3300
Burns, Sam +3500
Young, Cameron +4000
Fitzpatrick, Matthew +4500
Fleetwood, Tommy +4500
Tom Kim +4500
Matsuyama, Hideki +5000
Lowry, Shane +5000
Mitchell, Keith +5000
Conners, Corey +5500
Bradley, Keegan +5500
Fowler, Rickie +6000
Theegala, Sahith +6600
Hoge, Tom +6600
Kirk, Chris +8000
Si Woo Kim +8000
Montgomery, Taylor +8000
Hadwin, Adam +9000
Min Woo Lee +9000
Kitayama, Kurt +9000
Kuchar, Matt +9000
McCarthy, Denny +9000
Horschel, Billy +9000
All other players are listed with odds of +10000 or more
Favorite
Scottie Scheffler +800
The favorite in golf betting has been a losing proposition over the years and it was no different last week when Justin Thomas flopped. If I was ever going to bet a favorite it might be this week, as there is no player who I would rather have right now than Scheffler, but I am still not betting him, simply because he has been cast in the role of the favorite.
Value Picks
Rahm, Jon +1100
Rahm is usually cast in the role of the favorite, but that is not the case this week, so that means he has value. Since this is a match play event you don’t get penalized harshly for mistakes. It is all about making birdies and guess who leads the PGA Tour in Birdies or Better Gained? That is right, it is Rahm. It also helps our cause that Rahm is 3rd in Strokes Gained: Putting Bermudagrass. It would not be a surprised to see Rahm challenge for the title this year.
Cantlay, Patrick +1600
Shots Gained: Off the Tee is a big category this week and the PGA Tour leader in this category is Patrick Cantlay. He should be able put himself in good position to make a lot of birdies. It should be noted, that Scheffler is right behind Cantlay in this category, but as I noted earlier, golf betting favorites don’t win often enough to make them profitable. I’ll take a shot with Cantlay.
Mitchell, Keith +5000
The player who ranks third in Shots Gained: Off the Tee is Mitchell. He has been on leaderboards a lot this year so he won’t be afraid of the pressure and we get some attractive odds. Mitchell also is 5th on the PGA Tour in Birdie or Better Gained. Mitchell is listed at odds of 50-1 and I think he could be in the mix this week.
Conners, Corey +5500
We know that Conners plays well in this event, as he finished third last year and he ranks highly on Strokes Gained: Pete Dye Designs. Conners is second on the PGA Tour in that category and we get a big number on Conners this week.
Hoge, Tom +6600
Do you know who leads the PGA Tour in Shots Gained: Approach? Yes, it is Hoge and he has a lot of value this week. How often do you get a player at big odds who leads a key category? The greens at Austin CC are smaller than Tour average and Hoge should be able to take advantage.
Check out the latest WGC Dell Technologies odds at BetRivers.
