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The long-shot streak in the PGA Tour continued last week with Nick Taylor’s triumph at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Taylor, who was +15000 to win the event, became the sixth consecutive winner with triple-digit odds on the Tour.
The PGA Tour will wrap up the West Coast swing this week with the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
The biggest story of the tournament is that Tiger Woods will play and I’m sure he’ll get plenty of betting support at 150/1 at FanDuel, but this field looks too deep for The Big Cat to contend.
Scottie Scheffler, who finished T3 at the Waste Management, is your clear and consensus betting favorite at +650.
Scheffler is the only player in the single-digits, but there’s plenty of starpower in the next range.
Rory McIlroy is +1000, Viktor Hovland is +1400, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas are +1600, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay are +1800 and Ludvig Aberg and Max Homa are +200.
It’ll take a special effort for a player at long odds to upset this kind of field, but there are some golfers that are flying under the radar at Riviera this week.
2024 Genesis Invitational picks
Jason Day (+5500, FanDuel): It’s not uncommon to see punters just overlook a player (even one in decent form) simply because he didn’t play the previous week. That seems to be happening with Jason Day, who hasn’t done anything to warrant his place on the betting board. Day finished T6 in his last start (Pebble Beach) and has two top-10 finishes in four starts in 2024. The Aussie has been a mixed bag in three starts at Riviera, but he posted a T9 in 2023.
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Hideki Matsuyama (+8000, FanDuel): I just can’t quit betting Hideki Matsuyama at these prices, but he’s also done nothing to push me away. Sure, Matsuyama hasn’t popped in a while, but he’s coming off a T22 at the Waste Management and is heading to a course that clearly fits his game. The Japanese missed the cut at Riviera in 2023, but he’s he’s finished 11th or better in four of his eight starts at Riviera. We know Matsuyama can get his game together and win in a field like this, so this number is absolutely playable.
Denny McCarthy (+10000, FanDuel): Similar to Matsuyama, Denny McCarthy is playing decently, but also not well enough to make him a trendy pick. That’s good news in this case because it’s allowing his price to hang around the triple-digits. One of the best putters on the planet, McCarthy is fresh off a T22 finish at TPC Scottsdale to give him three straight finishes between 22nd and 26th. McCarthy has played this event four times and has missed two cuts, but he posted a T14 last year.