BlogSome outright bets for the first round of the Players Championship

DraftKings has been running fantasy golf games since 2015. In 2020, they introduced sports betting, and it was up to each state to allow legal betting over the internet. I live in Virginia, and the state legalized it in July 2020, with the first wagers being permitted in January 2021. 32 states and D.C. allow online sports betting. California and Texas are some of the most significant states that don’t allow it.
We can make bets at several companies. In addition to Draftkings, there is BETMGM Sports, Fanduel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, Bet365, and Fanatics Sportsbook. These are the biggest ones that allow golf betting.

DraftKings has several different forms of betting.
For the Players, they list the odds of all the players and offer three different ways of betting: by the winner, top 5 (including Ties), or Top 10 (including Ties).
For a win, the odds given are different for each Player. If you want Scottie Scheffler, his odds are +400, which means if you bet $10 on him and he wins, you get $50. As for Rory McIlroy’s odds are +1100, and if you bet $10 and he wins, you get $120. Going through the field of 144, the highest odds on anyone is +250,000 for David Skinns. If you bet $10 and a miracle happens, you win $25,010.
For Scheffler, if you want to bet on him finishing in the top five, the odds are -110, so a $10 bet will win you $19.09. If you want to bet on Scheffler being in the top 10, the odds are -225, which means on a $10 bet, you will win $14.44.
Let’s explore betting on top-ten finishes. Historically, if you go back to last year’s Players Championship, he has played a total of 19 events. So if you bet $10 on each of those starts, you risk $190. Since he finished in the top ten 15 times, at $14.44 for each top ten, you would have won a total of $216.60, a profit of just 26.60.
Now, let’s look at another player to see the strategy of betting on the top ten. Look at Ludvig Aberg, who has played in 21 events going back to last year’s Players Championship. His odds this week for a top ten is +175, so a $10 bet wins you $27.50. So let’s put this into our historical model of betting 21 times (total of $210); he finished in the top ten nine times so that he would have won $247.50, a profit of $37.50 over the year.
So we have to look for players who could win us some money.
Here are my best player bets for the field.

• Bet $10 on Scottie Scheffler at -225 to finish in the top ten. If he does, he returns $14.44. Scheffler has made four starts at the Players and has been in the top ten twice.
• Bet $10 on Hideki Matsuyama at +260 to finish in the top ten. If he does, he returns $36.00. Matsuyama has made nine starts at the Players and has been in the top ten four times.
• Bet $10 on Michael Kim at +450 to finish in the top ten; if he does, he returns $55.00. Now, Kim has played in four Players and only made one cut, finishing T-60th. But I like him since he has three top tens in his last five starts at Phoenix (T2), Cognizant (T6), and Palmer (4).
• Bet $10 on Shane Lowry at +330 to finish in the top ten. If he does, he returns $43.00. Lowry has made nine starts at the Players and been in the top ten once, but I like him because he has been in the top 11 in three of his last four starts.
• Bet $10 on Jason Day at +450 to finish in the top ten. If he does, he returns $55.00. Day has made 13 starts at the Players and has been in the top ten four times, including a win. I like him because he has been back with his coach for decades and was T-8th last week at the Palmer.
• Let’s look for a real long shot in the top ten. Many probably don’t know who Christiaan Bezuidenhout is, but he is prime and ready to finish in the top ten. In three Player starts, he finished 13th twice last year and in 2023. On the PGA Tour, he has made his last five cuts and was T-4th at Phoenix and T-19th last week at the Palmer. Bezuidenhout gets you odds of +650, so a $10 bet returns $75.00 for a top ten.
• Next up is betting on matchups for the first round. They have Hideki Matsuyama (-130) against Sepp Straka (+100). I am betting $10 on Matsuyama, and a win returns $17.69.
• They have Collin Morikawa (+130) against Scottie Scheffler (-165). I am betting $10 on Morikawa, a win returns $23.00.
• Last, I am looking at a Top 10 finish Parlay of Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama at +800. So, with a $10 bet, a win returns $90.