The PGA Tour has been heating up over the past few weeks and this week we head to Bradenton, Florida for the first WGC event of the year! The WGC Workday Championship will replace the Mexico event this season and the Concession Golf Club will host the event starting Thursday night. As usual, check out our full preview and betting tips for the tournament below.
WGC Workday Championship Betting Tips
$10,500,000 will be on the line for the first WGC event of the year as well as an extra 50 FedEx Cup points compared to the standard PGA Tour event. This means that the best players in the world will be out in full force for the tournament starting Thursday night.
You can watch all of the action on GOLF.TV or a large portion of the coverage on Kayo of Fox Sports here in Australia.
The Field
All of the top 30 players in the world will be in action this week in Florida, headlined by the likes of Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka. Johnson has won the tournament on three separate occasions and although this year’s event will be held at a new course, the No.1 player in the world will go into the tournament as the red hot favourite after stringing off a fantastic run of finishes.
The top 50 ranked players in the world receive an automatic invite to the event. After them, the top few players from the previous seasons FedEx Cup, Race to Dubai, Japanese Order of Merit, Australasian Order of Merit, Sunshine Tour Order of Merit and the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit will also receive invites, making it a true global event.
The Course
The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida will host the WGC event for the first time this season, taking over from the Mexico event that was in the rotation for the last four years. The course was designed by Tony Jacklin and opened back in 2006. The inspiration for the course comes from the famous concession that Jack Nicklaus made to Jacklin in the 1969 Ryder Cup, which would see the tournament end in a tie for the first time in history.
The course sets up as Par 72 at 7,474 yards and while it is not particularly daunting off the tee, players will gain value for their shots the closer to the hole they get. We will be targeting strong approach players and strong scramblers this week as navigating the small, heavily contured greens at the Concession is without doubt the key to victory.
Betting Tips
How could you possibly overlook Dustin Johnson at the moment. The No.1 ranked player in the world has been on an absolute tear of late and cementing himself as the best player in the world. In his last eight tournaments, he has racked up finishes of T2, 1, 2, 1, T6, T2, 1, T11, T8, winning the Masters, the Tour Championship and the Northern Trust. He is a short priced favourite this week but with the form he is in, it’s hard to see him finishing outside the top 10. Has won the tournament on three separate occasions.
If you’re hunting a bit more value this week we really like the look of Brooks Koepka. The former No.1 player in the world has been trending in the right direction of late, winning the Waste Management Open in Phoenix before another solid performance at the Genesis Open on the weekend. He has finished in the top 10 in four of his last eight tournaments including a T7 at the Masters. Great value for someone that is capable of romping home in this tournament if he brings his A-Game.
Value Bets
Tommy Fleetwood $41.00
Adam Scott $51.00
