19th Hole
Talking Tiger, Rory prop bets and golf gambling in general with BetOnline’s Sportsbook Brand Manager
With big wins for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy during the Asian swing along with the PGA Tour’s announcement that on-site gambling will be rolled out at Tour events from 2020, it’s as good a time as any to talk golf gambling. This week, we got the chance to speak to BetOnline.ag’s Sportsbook Brand Manager, Dave Mason, to discuss a range of Woods and McIlroy prop bets for 2020 and more.
BetOnline.ag is an online betting platform with a ‘focus on the player’ approach, who offer live lines for all major sporting events, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, Rugby and more.
Check out our conversation below.
With the Presidents Cup captain picks coming up this week, you’ve priced Tiger Woods up as a very warm 1/5 (at the time of speaking) favorite to choose himself. How difficult a market is that to price up, and how big of an effect did Woods’ recent Zozo Championship win have on the market?
Dave: The Zozo victory certainly allowed us to increase the juice on the captain’s pick price. But he was already a decent favorite for the pick when we offered these odds a few months back. Tiger is still one of the most confident athletes on the planet, and I’d be shocked if he didn’t put himself on the team. Even in what feels like the twilight of his career, he’s just too darn competitive not to be out there.
Another of your Tiger prop bets is his major wins in 2020. You currently have him at 1/8 to win none and 4/1 to win one or more – do you expect to take a lot of action on that 4/1 considering his excellent history at both of next year’s opening major venues?
Dave: Yeah, every year we take the most action on ONE Major. So far, it is the most popular option and will definitely be the highest bet count come early April. Traditionally we are just about always exposed on each of the options besides ZERO. We expect that to be even more exposed than usual in 2020 due to Tiger finally winning a major last year and golfing at a competitive level again.
Staying with Tiger, there’s a commonly held belief amongst golf gamblers that because of his popularity, he’s often underpriced. Is there much truth behind that assessment?
Dave: Yeah – definitely. He is always one of the more popular bets and we just about always have a healthy liability on him. So from a pure risk management point of view, we and (and the industry as a whole for that matter), keep Tiger’s odds shorter than we should. We do try to always offer the most competitive price week of the event however.
You have the same major prop bet market available for Rory McIlroy (4/11 no wins vs 2/1 one or more). Considering his five-year drought at majors, how tricky is it to gauge his correct number for the four slams and how popular will he be amongst punters?
Dave: McIlory is a tricky one to handicap. He is arguably as talented as anyone on the tour but has come up short in recent years. When the Masters tees-off it will be exactly five years since his last major. He is still one of the more popular golfers to bet from the public standpoint; however, the action on him is nothing like it was five or so years ago. He has been losing popularity from the punters a bit every year.
Who do you expect to take up the bulk of your action next year at the majors between Woods, McIlroy and Koepka?
Dave: Kopeka is definitely #1 now. Tiger is definitely #2. McIlroy a distant third. Of course, that could all change if one guy goes on a tear. Just looking at the early Masters bet count, Koepka is by far the most popular bet. Tiger is second. Then DJ and Xander. Rory is fifth.
Besides the outright market, what is the most popular market amongst golf gamblers at BetOnline.ag?
Dave: We have a ton of ways to bet golf. Top-10 is always popular along with a long list of props for the bigger events. Match-ups definitely get the most action; especially for the big name guys.
And finally, with the recent news that the PGA Tour is to have on-site gambling at events next year, how big (if any) a spike in the popularity of golf gambling do you think we could be looking at over the coming years?
Dave: With Tiger’s resurgence and Koepka doing what he is doing, there has already been a huge spike in golf betting. And now with sports betting being promoted everywhere – including the PGA events like you mentioned – we expect even an extra push. That’s what we are seeing in other sports with everyone talking betting odds now. We expect that to continue with golf as well in 2020.
You can check out all of BetOnline.ag’s golf prop bets here. You can also keep up to date with them on Twitter, Instagram, and you can follow Dave Mason on Twitter here.
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19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has a surprising new take on the PGA Tour-LIV stand-off
One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.
“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.
Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship
During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.
The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.
When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.
However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.
Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.
??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ?
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024
After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”
“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.
“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”
“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis
According to a report from The Telegraph, the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.
Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.
However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”
Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024
The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.
The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.
The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.
The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.
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