Swing back into action
LAS VEGAS — The Match: Champions for Charity raised $20 million for COVID-19 relief efforts on Sunday and brought live golf competition back to fans and bettors.
The team of Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning looked like it was going to run away from the duo of Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, but the latter pairing was able to take it to the 18th hole before Woods and Manning held on for a 1-up victory. Woods, who hadn’t played a competitive round since Riviera in early February, hit every fairway and his game overall looked ready for return to competition after having to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational and being forced to skip The Players Championship with a back injury. Currently, Tiger is 16/1 to win the Masters and the PGA Championship and 20/1 for the U.S. Open.
The Sunday event drew a fairly solid betting handle indicating that bettors are more than ready for sports to return en masse.
“Total handle would be like a medium regular-season NFL game,” said William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich. Bets at most shops were steady in terms of volume, but not massive in terms of the bigger bets. DraftKings Sportsbook reported a $15,000 wager on Mickelson and Brady at +170. UFC President Dana White posted a similar $15,000 wager on Twitter for the Mickelson/Brady side. FanDuel Sportsbook reported its largest wager as $10,250 at -205 for Woods and Manning which netted $5,000 for an individual bettor.
PointsBet USA reported a small loss overall on the match as it was rooting for the Mickelson/Brady team, who closed as +155 underdogs there.
In a little over two weeks, the PGA Tour resumes its schedule with actual tournament play with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Fourteen of the world’s Top 20 are already committed to the event (players have until June 5 to officially commit) including four of the top five in the world. No. 1 Rory McIlroy will be making his debut appearance at Colonial. No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Brooks Koepka both have runners-up finishes at Colonial in the past three years. No. 5 Dustin Johnson also makes his return to Colonial for the first time in six years. This will make for an interesting handicap with the strongest field in many years at Colonial and all essentially off a three-month layoff from any semblance of competitive golf. Recent form is usually a key in golf handicapping as is course form. With no recent form to speak of, course historical form could prove to be a stronger indicator in the first few events.
Some players will have to shake off rust returning to competition in general. Additionally, some players reside in places where there have been more restrictions in terms of just getting out onto golf courses. Needless to say, there are even more handicapping angles in play for the PGA Tour’s return to tournament play, but if the handles on the exhibitions over the past two weeks are any indication, then bettors, including many newer ones, will be eager to dive into the action.
Wes Reynolds writes about golf for Point Spread Weekly, VSiN’s digital magazine for sports bettors. Get a free trial at VSiN.com/subscribe.