Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, where we share our favorite bets for the upcoming action. This time around, it’s the Shriner’s Children’s Open, which gets underway Thursday at TPC Summerlin, in Las Vegas. Along with our recommended plays, you’ll also see data from Chirp, a free-to-play mobile platform that features a range of games with enticing prizes, giving fans all kinds of ways to engage in the action without risking any money.
Are you taking Lexi Thompson?
Thompson herself will be taking a page from the playbook of the likes of Michelle Wie and Annika Sorenstam when she becomes the latest top female player to compete against the men in a PGA Tour event.
The occasion is this week’s Shriner’s Children’s Open, at TPC Summerlin, in Las Vegas, where the LPGA star received a sponsor’s exemption into the field and where bookmakers have her listed at +200,000 to win.
At those long odds, a $10 wager would pay $20,000. That’s fun to think about, but it also would amount to throwing money down the drain, because Thompson probably won’t win this thing.
Someone is, though. We have three players in mind: a favorite, a contender and a long shot. See below for our picks, along with our play on a Thompson-related proposition bet.
Favorite
Ludvig Aberg, +1,200
Since turning pro in June, the big-hitting Swede has followed a trajectory as soaring as his drives, with a win on the DP World Tour, a two-point showing in the Ryder Cup, and a T2 finish at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, where he fell short in a five-man playoff. All signs point toward a PGA Tour win sooner or later. We’re taking him as soon as this week.
Contender
Mark Hubbard, +5,000
Coming off a strong but quiet season in which he netted six top 10s and pushed his way into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Hubbard still qualifies as a sleeper. Last week, in Mississippi, he fell one shot shy of a five-man playoff, so he’s in good form heading into an event where he finished inside the top 25 last year. Small money says this sleeper stirs in the Las Vegas desert and nets his first PGA Tour win.
Long shot
Davis Riley, +10,000
Having watched him miss the cut last week, bettors likely saw good reason to short Riley. Sure enough, he comes in at long odds — too long, in our opinion, for a player with a swing so pure.
Lexi Thompson prop
First-round score, over 77.5
Under ordinary circumstances, Thompson has the game to tear up TPC Summerlin, a cupcake of a venue by professional-golf standards. But these circumstances are anything but ordinary. The spotlight will be bright, with all eyeballs on Lexi in what is otherwise a low-wattage event. Though Thompson’s game has shown signs of life of late, she has not been at her best in high-pressure moments. We’re wagering that the intensity of the atmosphere will lead to a few stumbles out of the gate.
Who Chirp users like this week
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