PGA betting: One player to bet in the top-30 market for the Open Championship
The PGA will stay in the United Kingdom, this time for golf’s final major of the year, the British Open. Royal Liverpool last hosted a PGA Tour event in 2014.
With no recent course data, I turned to YouTube for an aerial view of the golf course. From a visual perspective, off the tee and around the green look to be most important. The fairways are thin with deep, pot bunkers strategically placed near landing areas, with underrated greens. Here’s one player to wager in the top-30 market for the Open Championship.
Min Woo Lee
Top 30 +115
Top 20 +200
Top 10 +400
Top 5 +900
To win +6600
The 24-year-old Australian has the player profile to contend this week; he's 14th in the field for strokes gained off the tee and fourth around the green. Lee has gained off the tee in six straight tournaments, while gaining both around the green and putting in three of his last five tournaments played.
From a general sense, Oak Hill Country club offers a similar setup to Royal Liverpool — narrow fairways with slim landing spots, deep-walled bunkers, and small greens. Not only did Lee finish T18 in the PGA Championship but he followed that up with a T5 in the U.S. Open for back-to-back Top 20s in majors.
Lee may not be getting much recognition quite yet because his iron play is suspect (losing strokes on approach in seven of the last nine tournaments) but also because he’s fairly new to the PGA. Lee has been a pro since 2019 but only recently earned a special temporary membership on tour in May.
It’s Lee’s short game that’s keeping him afloat in tournaments. Lee finished T6 in the Player's Championship, losing six strokes with his irons but gained nine strokes from his short game.
The volatility he has with his iron play is balanced by the consistency in his short game. For that reason, the conservative wager is +115 for a top-30 finish. However, a top 20 is always a value risk. As always, an outright sprinkle and first-round leader is a small risk for a big reward.
