The Genesis Invitational
But first...how about Scottie Scheffler?!
(Scottie Too Hottie - your Waste Management Phoenix Open 2022 Winner)
The Degenerate cashes a +2500 winner in our first golf betting newsletter of 2022. Gotta love it! Hopefully we didn’t peak too early, because this weekends tournament is LOADED, and boy do we love our picks. 33 of the top 50 golfers in the world are set to tee off this weekend, including the top 10.
The Genesis Invitational is held at the Riviera Country Club in Palisades, California. It’s the last west coast tourney before heading to Florida. Last years finish was epic. Max Homa missed a 2 foot putt on 18 which landed him in a playoff against Tony Finau. Homa eventually won and cashed as a 66/1 long shot.
Speaking of long shots - this has been the year for them. We have yet to see a heavy favorite cash in 2022. Scottie at 25/1 was the closest. Before him, it’s been Hoge 70/1, List 80/1 and Swafford 125/1. We’re not huge fans of the “it’s due” betting strategy, but obviously it was the reason we played Scottie and that worked out quite well. It certainly feels like a big name is due to be victorious on Sunday. With that said, we’re focusing on some of the top dogs this weekend and will be a little heavy on the horses with our picks. The one edge we like here is familiarity and recent success at this course. 3 of the last 4 winners finished in the top 10 the year prior. We’ll point out which of our picks fit this trend.
Horses:
John Rahm +1000 — It’s been a while since the books have offered Rahm at a double digit number. This guy has been feared by Vegas and is so due to for a W.
That’s exactly how we feel. The Rahminator finished 5th last year, so not only does he fit the trend mentioned above, but now you’re getting him at his best number in months. Don’t pass on the machine that is John Rahm.
Dustin Johnson +1600 — When he’s locked in, DJ is dangerous. He hasn’t won since the 2020 Masters and we feel like he’s ready to go low. Also a trend fitter as he finished T8 last year despite shooting +1 on the final round.
Colin Morikawa +1800 — This is my (Brandon’s) favorite golfer, and I truly believe he’s the best on the planet. There is going to be a year (or maybe a few) where Morikawa goes on a Tiger-like run. Only concern? He’s the trendy pick. Per MGM Sportsbook he’s taking 8.5% of the bets and 11.8% of the handle, which is the most of any golfer.
Solids:
Sam Burns +3500 — Truthfully, this might be the best bet on the board. Sam was the leader at Riviera last year in the first 3 rounds, and then fell apart on Sunday. He had a 4 shot lead going into the back 9 before the collapse. Burns ended up finishing 3rd and in our opinion holds the best value this weekend.
Sungaje Im +4000 — Kawa might be my favorite golfer, but Sungjae is the Degenerates favorite golfer. He took last weekend off, so expect our sweet Sungjae to be well rested and ready for war.
Long-shots:
Joaquin Niemann +6000
Patrick Reed +9000 — Yuck. But at this number, gotta do it.
Francesco Molinari +13500 — Love the value here. Nari has been playing good golf and fits the trend (finished T8 last year). Also per our inside source, he moved to LA last year and became a member at Riviera in October. This is considered his “home course”.
Last week we introduced you to some good golf handicappers that we follow for picks and information. Now let’s show you another useful source when betting on golf.
Not everyone can dedicate the time to sit and and watch golf Thursday - Sunday. It’s even difficult to keep track of. We use the PGA app, but nothing brings you the updates on the golfers you picked like the tracker accounts on twitter. “Tracker accounts?”. Yes, tracker accounts. For example: the PGA app will show you the distance and location of each players shot. The tour cast option is cool and a bit more detailed, showing exactly where the ball is located on the course. But you know what it doesn’t have? Emotion.
I mean come on, how much better is it to follow golf like this? The flame emojis. The eagle gif’s. The all caps. When you’ve got money on the line and invested in a golfer for multiple days, THIS is how you want to be updated.
But of course, it’s not always flames, birds and eagles. There’s a lot of pain that’s shared as well, and trust me it’s much better to feel like you’re sharing that pain with someone else…
I think you get the idea. The people behind the tracker accounts are very under appreciated, and we’d like to change that. If you start to take an interest in golf betting, we hope you find them as helpful as we do. To follow any of the accounts - just click the tweet shared and you can figure it out from there.
Good luck this weekend!