Scottie Scheffler, Nelly Korda’s Recent Dominance From Betting Perspective

I’m old enough to remember #LongshotSZN in professional golf. This was wayyy back in the late winter/early-spring of 2024, when players such as Matthieu Pavon, Jake Knapp, Patty Tavatanakit and Bailey Tardy were winning titles at the highest levels of the sport.

Seems like a long time ago.

That’s because we are now firmly entrenched in #KordaSchefflerSZN, during which the world’s top-ranked players on the women’s and men’s side, respectively, have each risen to a new place of dominance.

Korda has now triumphed in five consecutive starts, a mark equaled in LPGA history by only Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam, one which culminated with her second career major title at the Chevron Championship on Sunday.

Scheffler, meanwhile, has won four of his last five, including the Masters, his only blemish being a runner-up finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, when he missed a 5-foot putt on the 72nd hole that would’ve forced a playoff with Stephan Jaeger.

In total, Korda and Scheffler have faced 1,141 competitors in their last 10 combined starts, posting an ungodly 1,136-1-4 record against them.

While this level of stardom can be appealing to fans simply for its sheer brilliance, it has undoubtedly turned off plenty of bettors who are searching for bigger outright prices.

The only winners? Those who have cautiously played the favorites during these 10 events.

Let’s start with Korda’s pre-tourney golf odds at BetMGM prior to each of her wins:

• LPGA Drive On Championship +1200
• FIR Hills Se Ri Pak Championship +900
• Ford Championship +700
• T-Mobile Match Play +650
• Chevron Championship +500

If you’d bet one unit on Korda for each of these tournaments, you’d currently be up 39.5 units, a nice little ROI that doesn’t often come with playing the faves.

As for Scheffler, he was even shorter at BetMGM, on average, than Korda during his last five.

• Arnold Palmer Invitational +650
• The Players Championship +550
• Texas Children’s Houston Open +375
• The Masters +400
• RBC Heritage +400

With lower odds and a loss mixed in, Scheffler’s profit margin for bettors has been less than half that of Korda, as a unit on him for each of those events would’ve yielded 19 total units.

Put ‘em together and the Korda/Scheffler combo has netted 58.5 units off one-unit outright bets during this recent 10-tournament stretch.

Will it continue? Only time will tell – and it might not be for a while.

On Monday, Korda decided to withdraw from this week’s JM Eagle LA Championship, saying in a statement, “With so much still to come throughout 2024, I feel I need to listen to my body and get some rest, so I can be ready for the remainder of the season.” She is expected to next tee it up at the Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton, NJ, from May 9-12.

Next on Scheffler’s schedule is some important time at home, as his wife Meredith is expecting their first child soon. Following his victory on Monday morning at Harbour Town, Scheffler intimated that he will skip the Wells Fargo Championship, a PGA Tour signature event, in a few weeks, likely returning to play next month’s PGA Championship, the second major of the year.

When they both return, though, they will unquestionably be the favorites in their given tournaments – a prospect which has paid off for outright bettors who have played the favorites in recent months.