Golf Live Betting: Looking at Rory McIlroy’s Chances at Truist Championship, More

Once again, plenty of golf is being played on the professional level this week, especially with two PGA Tour events. Let’s take a look at the odds and some live outright plays entering Friday’s second-round action.

Truist Championship

You can separate golf bettors into two distinct categories right now: Those who are celebrating their Keith Mitchell FRL tickets and those who are kicking themselves for somehow not having a Keith Mitchell FRL ticket. I’ve been on him a lot lately on Thursdays, but somehow didn’t grab him here, so count me in that latter group, as he opened with a 9-under 61 at Philadelphia Cricket Club, where the scoring average was south of 67 and should only continue to trend in that direction with rain expected to soften up the conditions even more.

Let’s see… a soft, Northeast course where flying driver 310 or more offers a massive advantage over those who can’t? That sounds like Rory McIlroy’s (+800) music. If you liked the Masters champion pre-tournament, but didn’t want to bite on the +450 number, you might not get a better discount than what you see right now, as he posted an opening-round 4-under 66 after which he called his performance “rusty.” If you love Rory, but still don’t love the number, I don’t hate the idea of parlaying it with your favorite NBA/NHL/MLB play and trying to hit both.

Patrick Cantlay (+2000) was my favorite outright play on the board entering the first round and his odds have actually gotten longer from the opening +1800 number after he posted a 5-under 65 with a below field-average putting performance. I’m inclined to buy more shares of Cantlay now – and for those who haven’t yet, I’d advise grabbing some before it’s too late.

I’ll continue this theme with my final two plays. Justin Thomas (+2500), with that monkey off his back after his first win in three years a few weeks ago at the RBC Heritage, also opened with a 66 and saw his price get bigger. Like Cantlay, Thomas was better than field average off the tee, on approach and around the greens, but lost strokes with his putter, which doesn’t worry me too much on a round-to-round basis.

Same goes for Daniel Berger (+12500), who is chasing seven shots after shooting only 68, but ranked fifth in the field in SG: Approach and dead last in putting. If not for a win, even a top-10 play at plus-money still makes a lot of sense.

Myrtle Beach Classic

Don’t you wish every pre-tournament favorite was listed at 20/1 on the PGA Tour? That was the case for this one, with Mackenzie Hughes atop the board, and those who bet him loved what they saw on Thursday, as his 8-under 63 gave him sole possession of the overnight lead. If you didn’t play him, well, tough luck. He’s since dropped to +330 in the outright market.

The first name I’ll offer up for a live outright is the defending champion, Chris Gotterup (+3000). I spoke with him on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Tuesday and he sounded confident in his game right now. He’s been a bit all-or-nothing this year, with every result in his last 14 starts either a top-25 or a missed cut, but I don’t mind the volatility when it comes to playing outrights. This is a good price on him after he opened with a 4-under 67.

Victor Perez (+4000) is a name I mentioned in my pre-tourney preview, after his sublime ball-striking for the first three days of last week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson. His price has dropped 10 points from the original 50/1 number, but there’s still value here on a guy who also opened with a 67 and has three DP World Tour wins to his credit.

Also at 67 is Patton Kizzire (+10000), who was last seen punting his putter and withdrawing from the Valspar Championship less than two months ago. He hasn’t finished better than 49th in five starts since, but there’s been a theme this year of players hitting rock-bottom before quickly finding their games again. As a three-time winner, he has the ability to do just that.

A few other names to consider: Mark Hubbard (+6600) shot 68 and has been knocking on the door at these alternate-field events for a while; Harry Hall (+8000) can make birdies in a hurry and is six shots back; and Alex Smalley (+12500) was amongst the favorites, but has seen his price drop 100 points after a 1-under 70 that still places him in a share of 55th place.

Mizuho Americas Open

This could be a Scottie Scheffler-at-the-CJ Cup Byron Nelson kind of week for Jeeno Thitikul, one of the game’s best players who opened with an 8-under 64 to grab a two-shot lead at Liberty National, so I’ll keep my live plays to a minimum here. 

Haeran Ryu is fresh off a win last week and could continue riding a heater this weekend. We’ve seen hot players win in bunches on the LPGA in the past and it wouldn’t be a shock to see that one open up some floodgates for her.

If you want a bigger price on similarly talented players, A Lim Kim and Ruoning Yin both opened with scores of 70, but have enough offensive firepower to climb back into contention.

Turkish Airlines Open

Tiger is in a share of the lead! That would be Tiger Christensen, a 21-year-old from Germany whose name was at least partially inspired by some guy with the last name Woods.

Yannik Paul (+2500) is a guy I liked entering this event and while my $1 scratch-off ticket parlay on him and twin brother Jeremy at the Myrtle Beach Classic won’t cash after the latter opened with 75, I still like Yannik at just two strokes back in Turkey with a decent number next to his name.

Weird stuff tends to happen on this circuit, so I’m going to offer a few nibbles on players with both massive odds and massive power off the tee. Angel Ayora (+12500) opened with an even-par 72, but the ninth-ranked player in terms of driving distance on the DP World Tour should have plenty of room to bash his ball around this course. And if that price isn’t big enough, check out Alejandro Del Rey (+35000), another big hitter who won earlier this year in the UAE and is currently seven shots off the pace.