Overall, it wasn’t a strong week for us. We had a single opportunity in Japan, where Mikiya Akutsu — a 125/1 underdog at the time — was tied with four holes to go but ultimately finished second. Aside from that, no one else was really in the mix.
Now, with the first playoff event this week, the PGA Tour season starts to wind down.
FedEx St. Jude Championship
Best Bet: Viktor Hovland +3500 DraftKings
It hasn’t been the best year for Viktor Hovland, but I’m going to take a chance on him in this spot.
Overall, his ball striking has been outstanding this season, but his short game has faced some challenges.
Since I don’t have any strong insights for this tournament, I’m inclined to support raw talent at a higher value than usual.
Other Bets: Sungjae Im +4500, Sam Burns +5000
D+D Czech Masters
Best Bet: Antoine Rozner +3500 Bet365
The DP World Tour is back for the first time in a month and heads to a new course in the Czech Republic.
We don’t have much information about it, but at 7,600 yards, it seems to be a long course, so I’ll favor the big hitters here.
Antoine Rozner caught my eye this week. He’s been in good form recently, finishing 26th at the Scottish Open and fifth in Italy. He has above-average driving distance to tackle this course, and his approach game was sharp in those last two events.
This isn’t the strongest field, so I like the value of betting on someone who has performed well throughout most of the season on this tour.
Other Bets: Andy Sullivan +5500, Tom Lewis +9000, Jens Dantorp +20000
LIV Greenbrier
Best Bet: Sebastian Munoz +4000 BetMGM
LIV heads back to Greenbrier again this year after Bryson DeChambeau shot a 58 to win here last season.
I’ll go further down the list to Sebastian Munoz, who has a strong history on this course. Last year, he finished 12th in LIV and also secured a third and seventh place in two PGA Tour appearances here.
While Munoz’s results this season haven’t been particularly standout, he’s been consistently solid. He’s gained strokes in each of his last five events on this tour.
Other Bets: Matthew Wolff +3500, Harold Varner III +8000
Rogers Charity Classic
Best Bet: Thongchai Jaidee +2500 BetRivers
The Champions Tour takes us north of the border to Calgary for one of its regular stops.
This has been a course that leans toward good iron players in the past, so that’s what leads me to Thongchai Jaidee this week.
He ranks 2nd on tour in GIR and has a good history here. He was second a year ago and 16th in his debut.
His form has been hit-and-miss but has a couple of top 10s in his last four starts, including a fifth at the U.S. Senior Open.
Other Bets: Ricardo Gonzalez +11000, Scott Dunlap +27500
Magnit Championship
Best Bet: Ryan Gerard +5500 BetRivers
The Korn Ferry Tour makes a stop in New Jersey this week.
It’s a relatively new event, making its debut last season. So we don’t have a lot of history here.
I’ll go with Ryan Gerard, whose price dropped after a missed cut last week. Before that though, he’d been one of the best players on tour.
He had finished inside the top 25 in six straight events and had a win back in June. So it feels like an overreaction from his first bad week in over two months.
Other Bets: Seung-Yul Noh +5500, Danny Walker +6600, William Moll +14000
Finnish Challenge
Best Bet: Andreas Halvorsen +4000 BetRivers
We’ll close here with the Challenge Tour’s annual stop in Finland.
I tend to favor Scandinavian players for this event, and Andreas Halvorsen stands out to me. The Norwegian has already secured a win this season, and although his form has been a bit uneven, he’s demonstrated strong potential with three top-10 finishes in his last six starts.
Other Bets: Velten Meyer +4500, Michael Hirmer +5000, Jeremy Freiburghaus +8000
