There is a glut of top quality golf across the globe this week, with Rory McIlroy headlining the cast in Florida, the LIV circus heading to Saudi Arabia, and the first women’s Major of the year in Singapore.
It is just as well McIlroy is teeing it up in the Cognizant Classic at The Palm Beaches, a few miles down the road from his luxury home – or the PGA Tour stop would have been totally outshone by the rival offerings.
Jon Rahm, DJ, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest give the LIV Jeddah event a highly competitive feel, while eight of the world’s top ten will be in action at the HSBC Women World Championship.
PGA Tour officials will hope McIlroy can keep their tournament in the news with a second victory in this event, formerly known as the Honda Classic.
But his previous win came way back in 2012. The world No 2 was beaten in a play-off two years later, but clearly fell out of love with the course as this is his first visit since 2018.
Turning the fiendishly difficult par five into an inviting 530 yards par five will certainly play to Rory’s strengths. That offers him genuine eagle chances, let alone birdies.
But the 8-1 favourite was off the pace in two West Coast outings after starting the year with a win in Dubai, so his price looks a bit skinny.
Here are five easy steps for beginners.
1. Choose Your Favourite Sportsbook – there are plenty to choose from and most have their own app or mobile site.
2. Make a Deposit – each sportsbook will walk you through how to connect your bank account to their system including providing a list of all the safeguards they have set up to ensure the safety of your transactions.
3. Claim Your Bonuses – most sportsbooks offers bonuses to first time bettors in the form of free bets.
4. Place Your Bet – now it’s time to navigate through your sportsbook’s odds where they will offer a variety of options including outright winners, or top finishing positions, such as top 10 or 20, or even to make the cut. For the event this week each way odds are generally paid on the top eight players.
5. Collect Your Winnings – If you’re successful you will be able to withdraw your winnings once the bet is complete. Some bookmakers offer cashout options on certain bets as well, which is worth keeping an eye on.
Lots of bookmakers have different options for betting on the golf this week, including competitive odds and different place markets.
We like the markets on bet365, including the price boosts on offer pre-event.
Cameron Young seemed certain to land an overdue first victory in Dubai when he led McIlroy by TEN shots at halfway – only to fade tamely into third.
But unlike McIlroy, Young comes here on the back of a couple of decent West Coast performances – eighth in Phoenix and a top twenty at the Genesis – and at 22-1 he could get his revenge here.
Young has to win some time – doesn’t he?
I was surprised he didn’t do better than a share of 29th on his return to Palm Beaches last year. A sparkling 65 in the final round in 2022 suggested he had learned how to handle this tricky lay-out, which has water in play on FIFTEEN holes.
Young should also make mincemeat of the tenth, and his odds are big enough to make him an attractive each way option.
Keith Mitchell, who won here in 2019, is another player who often flatters to deceive. But there have been signs that another win may be just around the corner.
He also made the top ten here last year, and at a best-priced 40-1, he is also worthy of each way support. His top twenty in Mexico last week was not a bad effort, considering he was three over after three holes in a low scoring affair!
Brandon Wu was a confident each way tip in Mexico, but a poor first round meant he was always playing catch-up as well.
He fired 67-66-69 after that slow start and was just a shot away from earning place money. He was a horse for courses pick, and this is another track where he has played well in the past . He is available at 100-1 with several bookies.
Another outsider worth considering is Matt Wallace, who is a best-priced 110-1 with bet 365.
The Englishman could not put the pedal down after grabbing a share of the halfway lead in Mexico. But that was his most encouraging showing since he was joint runner-up at the DP World Tour Championship
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Jon Rahm is half the price of anyone else in the LIV Jeddah field, at 5-1. He will open his account soon, but there are more tempting alternatives this week.
Dustin Johnson knows what it is like to win in Jeddah and he is a 10-1 shot to add to his victory in Las Vegas last time out. That is certainly worth another roll of the dice!
Talor Gooch, joint runner-up a week ago, is LIV’s most prolific winner. So a best-priced 14-1 is another eye-catcher.
And over in Singapore, the hunt to become the first Major winner of 2024 is wide open. You can get at least 12-1 on any of the top women players in the game.
The two I like here are the rejuvenated Lydia Ko – I can see her having a BIG year – and the fast-improving Ruoning Yin, who is certain to climb higher than her current world No 4 slot.
Yin is widely available at 25-1, and if you want longer odds, the feisty Danielle Kang should give us a run for our money at around 60-1.
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