Scottie Scheffler didn’t compete in the Valspar Championship last week, but did you know there’s another strong winner in this tournament? pga tour.
This time, it was Peter Malnati who won the prize as an outsider with a 325/1.
Malnati became the eighth player with triple-digit odds to win already this season.
Please understand it well. His 12 PGA Tour events this season (not including alternate field his tournaments), and his 8 of the winners have been settled at odds of at least 100/1, with his other One of the four tournaments was won by Hideki Matsuyama. Someone who was 80/1 before teeing off.
Long distance punters will be disappointed to see Scheffler listed as a +260 favorite to win this week’s Houston Open, but the rest of the field will definitely win.
Which long shots should you back at Memorial Park Golf Course?
Robert McIntyre (130/1, DraftKings)
There’s a reason long-shot seekers support McIntyre when he hits the PGA Tour. Because he has a chance to win.
It may sound simple, but when you get down to this part of the betting board you actually have to go through a lot of layers to find the players who can actually disrupt the field, and McIntyre certainly fits that requirement.
The 27-year-old from Scotland has long been touted as an up-and-coming player on tour, and although he has yet to win in the United States, he has two wins on the DP World Tour and several wins under his belt. He has impressive results in major tournaments.
McIntyre is good with the ball and seems to enjoy playing on difficult tracks, so this week’s triple-digit flutter is no surprise.
Cameron Champ (125/1, BetMGM)
It would be hard to find a more popular player on the PGA Tour than Champ.
Champ is one of the longest hitters on tour, and using his driver well can give him an edge over the competition.
If they don’t, they will almost certainly miss out on the spot.
The good news for us is that the Champs appear to be heading in the right direction after the T26 at Innisbrook. This course is a course where unstable driving will be severely punished.
Another plus is that Champ, who has three career wins on the PGA Tour, played college golf at Texas A&M and should be somewhat accustomed to the conditions.
Do you want to bet on golf?
Justin Hsu (200/1, FanDuel)
It’s difficult to apply my recent form to this week, as I’ve been preparing for the Masters since the Florida Swing.
There are some similarities between Memorial Park and Innisbrook, but for the most part I wouldn’t worry too much about a player (especially in this range) who couldn’t put things together while in Florida.
That’s one of the reasons we ended up with Justin Suh, who missed the cut four times in a row before posting a T33 at Valspar.
Suh’s ball-striking numbers were trending in a positive direction at Innisbrook, but he was unable to push up the leaderboard, leaving the market looking for a player who had four top-10 finishes last season and whose trends look like I don’t have much interest in it. It’s a victory.
