Golf returned in a huge way last week with Daniel Berger defeating Collin Morikawa in a playoff capping an exciting tournament with a number of the top players competing and being in contention.
Everything went extremely well with no players or caddies testing positive for COVID-19 and all the logistics with the new protocols seemed to work just fine. Even no fans didn’t have too much impact on the viewing experience.
This week, the TOUR will be in Hilton Head, South Carolina at the famed Harbour Town Golf Club. Length is not really needed at this great track, which is always in great shape. Typically, this event is the week following the Masters, so the course will play a little differently than it would in April.
Once again, there will be no fans and players/caddies will be going by the same protocols.
Here’s a guide on who is playing, where/when to watch and some players to potentially bet on.
TV SCHEDULE
Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel) Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS)
FIELD
Once again, it is a stacked field with the top five players in the world all playing as the sport returns after a three month layoff. It has been expanded from 132 players to 144, so it is even stronger that it would be otherwise.
Here are some of the featured groups with their tee times Thursday and Friday.
- Daniel Berger, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka (7:29 a.m.., 12:54 p.m.)- Rory McIlory, C.T. Pan, Rickie Fowler (7:40 a.m., 1:05 p.m.)- Gary Woodland, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama (12:54 p.m., 7:29 a.m.)- Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose (1:05 p.m., 7:40 a.m.)
Other marquee names in the field include Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Matt Kuchar.
Despite some internet hype last week, Tiger Woods is not in the field.
LONG-SHOT BETS
The last four winners of the tournament were first-time winners on the PGA TOUR, so this is a tournament where it really could be anyone. This is why we’re going with a longer shot in Snedeker. He’s had some good finishes this year, including T-12 at the Sony Open and T-3 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He is a player who relies a ton on his putter has had some success at Harbour Town in the past, as since 2012 he’s played in every event and has only missed one cut to go along with three top 25s. (We just missed on predicting Morikawa last week.)
Kuchar has been a machine at this event. Since 2004, he's made 15 cuts in 15 tries, including eight top 15 finishes and a win in 2014. While he did miss the cut last week, this seems like the perfect week for him to bounce back with a course that suits his game very well. It is a shot-shaping course where not a lot of distance is needed to do well.
People don’t seem to be paying much attention to Sabbatini, which gives him some solid value. He is coming of a T-14 week last week and has performed very well at Harbour Town over the years. He has seven top 25 finishes since 2009, including a T-10 last year.
MATCHUP BETS (Season-to-date record: 1-2)
A trend to play on TOUR is to fade the winner from the previous week. There’s a lot that comes with winning and it is tough for the player to bounce back and get up for the next event, especially when it is the week after. Kuchar also has a great track record at the event, which certainly helps things in this matchup.
After a solid week last week, DeChambeau will get a ton of attention this week with his length being on full display at Colonial, but that could work against him this week. Harbour Town is a course where length isn’t needed and he won’t be hitting driver on a lot of holes. McIlroy is coming off a disappointing Sunday at Colonial and will look to bounce back this week.
Poulter hasn’t missed a cut at the event in nine tries and has finished no worse than T-11 in the last three years. Meanwhile, Garcia hasn’t finished better than T-37 in his last 12 PGA TOUR events. The numbers certainly are in Poulter’s favor, so we’ll ride him.
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