Who does the journalist, betting analyst or data guru like? Or the caddie or former player? Or the old-school gambler? Gimme the facts, storylines and trends. Gimme that inside-the-ropes look. Gimme your gut feeling.
You bet, bettor.
Welcome to GOLF.com’s new gambling advice column, where we’ve assembled a panel of those aforementioned experts to make three “best bets.” A real-life professional bettor here will then heed that advice, add his acumen and wager his own cash. It’s not unlike what you do through texts and Google searches — except now it’s all in one place.
Our hope is to help you with your own weekly picks, whether those are for a low-stakes office fantasy league, (legal!) big-bucks bets with a sportsbook or through free-to-play Chirp Golf, an app from our parent company that is available in the App Store and at Google Play.
Now, on to some facts, the expert picks, the bettor’s best bets and info on how to bet for free.
The facts
This week’s tournament: RBC Heritage, at Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, S.C.
TV (ET): Thursday, 3-6 p.m., Golf Channel; Friday, 3-6 p.m., Golf Channel; Saturday, 1-3 p.m., Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m., CBS; Sunday, 1-3 p.m., Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m., CBS
Weather (weather.com): Thursday, PM showers, 76 degrees, 11 mph W wind; Friday, mostly cloudy, 70 degrees, 9 mph ENE wind; Saturday, AM showers, 70 degrees, 8 mph E wind; Sunday, showers, 71 degrees, 9 mph NE wind
Defending champion: Webb Simpson
Top 10 in odds (via DraftKings): Webb Simpson, +850; Dustin Johnson, +1,250; Patrick Cantlay, +1,700; Matthew Fitzpatrick, +1,700; Collin Morikawa, +2,100; Tyrrell Hatton, +2,200; Will Zalatoris, +2,200; Daniel Berger, +2,300; Paul Casey, +2,300; Corey Conners, +2,300; Cameron Smith, +2,300
Expert picks
Nick Piastowski, GOLF.com, @nickpia
Bet 1: Abraham Ancer, top 5, +650. Ancer finished second here last year and would have finished in the top 20 at last week’s Masters had it not been for an unfortunate penalty.
Bet 2: Collin Morikawa, top 10, +250. Another bet on a strong iron player.
Bet 3: Si Woo Kim, top 10, +400. As long as he doesn’t have to putt with his 3-wood, we’re good.
Jessica Marksbury, GOLF.com, @Jess_Marksbury
Bet 1: Webb Simpson, top 10, +110. This feels like the surest of sure things. Not only is he the defending champ, Webb has finished in the top 16 in all four of his most recent appearances.
Bet 2: Ian Poulter, top 3 English player, +150. Poulter is coming off a nice week at Augusta (T26) and has played well here in the past — T14 last year, T10 the year before, T7 in 2018. I like this bet.
Bet 3: Abraham Ancer, top 20, +150. Ancer made a run at the title last year and has been juuuust on the outside of the top 20 the past two weeks. This week, he’s a lock!
Brady Kannon, host, Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN), @lasvegasgolfer
Bet 1: Charley Hoffman, top 20, +200. Hoffman has been in excellent form recently and has had both top 10 and top 25 finishes at this course in the past. He plays well at the correlated courses to Harbour Town, and I expect him to have another solid week here in Hilton Head.
Bet 2: Chris Kirk, top 20, +260. Same reasoning here on the Georgia Bulldog — good course form, good current form and plays well at all of the correlated courses.
Bet 3: Matt Kuchar, top 20, +240. Back to the well again with the same handicap. Kuch played well at the Match Play, another Pete Dye course, and has a tremendous track record at Harbour Town. Also note that Kirk and Hoffman did not play at the Masters while Kuchar missed the cut. I prefer players who were not in the thick of it at Augusta to have success this week in South Carolina.
Wes Reynolds, host, Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN), @WesReynolds1
Bet 1: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, top 20, +275. The South African ranks second in this week’s field in scrambling and fifth in SG: Putting over the past 24 rounds.
Bet 2: Sergio Garcia, top European player, +900. Garcia led the field last year in SG: Tee-To-Green en route to finishing fifth. However, he ranked 70th out of 75 players in SG: Putting. Just a bit of improvement on the greens should have him in contention here. He has fared well on Pete Dye designs over the years and at Sedgefield, which has been a strong corollary to Harbour Town.
Bet 3: To be decided by a playoff, yes, +350. Extra holes have been required in five of the past 11 years. Now that the tournament is back in its customary post-Masters date, the course and weather conditions should be back to where they usually are.
Martin de Knijff, Metric Gaming, @mdkentrepreneur
Bet 1: Patrick Cantlay, to-win, +1,700. An abysmal Masters, but perfect fit for RBC.
Bet 2: Christian Bezuidenhout, to-win, +6,200. Superb price for European Tour’s best player tee to green,
Bet 3: Emiliano Grillo, to-win, +7,600. The feisty Argentinian can go very low any day. Good course fit.
Colt Knost, former PGA Tour player and co-host of GOLF’s Subpar and Sirius XM’s Gravy and the Sleaze, @ColtKnost
This week at the RBC Heritage, I’m looking for great iron players and scramblers to shine! Harbour Town has some of the smallest greens on Tour, so iron play is a premium. There will also be plenty of missed greens so I’m looking for guys who are good scramblers. I like these guys to top 10:
Bet 1: Tyrrell Hatton, top 10, +250.
Bet 2: Kevin Na, top 10, +300.
Bet 3: Abraham Ancer, top 10, +300.
John Rathouz, PGA Tour caddie and Caddie Network contributor, @rathouz
Bet 1: Branden Grace, top South African player, +175. Winner here before and has a recent victory in Puerto Rico, as well as a solid showing at Valero. Could catch heat from Bezuidenhout, a fantastic player gaining experience but has yet to break 70 in the U.S. this year. He did place in the top 30 at Harbor Town last year in his only appearance, but the course will play nowhere near the same.
Bet 2: Si Woo Kim, top Asian player, +300. Pete Dye specialist who has contended at Harbor Town before and played well at Augusta last week. No other obvious threats on the board at this golf course, with Sungjae Im slumping and former champ C.T. Pan being quite inconsistent. If Si Woo can somehow keep his head and putter (and/or backup putter) intact, he should cruise.
