Things are winding down on the PGA Tour for the 2022 calendar year, as this week’s RSM Classic is the final full-field event until January 2023.
Regarding golf betting for this event, historically, several longshots have come away victorious, including Robert Streb 300/1 in 2020 and Tyler Duncan 150/1 in 2019.
Although, when it comes to pre-tournament betting at the BetMGM online sportsbook, bettors aren’t targeting those types of players.
As of Tuesday, Tom Hoge, who is tied for the second-best odds at +2200, is pulling in the most tickets (7.2%) and second-most handle (10.1%). And Matthew NeSmith, who is tied for the seventh-best odds, is drawing the most handle (11.5%) on the second-most tickets (4.1%).
These selections are likely based on course fit at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Plantation and Seaside Courses. The first two days will be split between the two courses, and then play will exclusively be at the Seaside Course over the weekend.
Both courses are not particularly long, and distance is not required to have success; it’s more about accuracy.
This is why it’s no surprise these two players are heavily being bet on.
Hoge is ranked ninth this season in greens in regulation, while NeSmith is 146th in driving distance but 24th in greens in regulation.
NeSmith also has solid course history with finishes of 29th-15th-14th in three starts at the event, with 10 rounds of 68 or better. Meanwhile, Hoge finished fourth at the event a year ago.
Both players have seen their odds move quite a bit. Hoge opened at +3000, while NeSmith opened at +5000.
Current Handle & Tickets
Handle
- Matthew NeSmith – 11.5%
- Tom Hoge – 10.1%
- Keith Mitchell – 9.4
- Andrew Putnam – 7.1%
- Harris English – 4.5%
Tickets
- Tom Hoge – 7.2%
- Matthew NeSmith – 4.1%
- Seamus Power– 3.6%
- Sahith Theegala – 3.3%
- Jason Day – 2.9%
Following Tony Finau’s withdrawal, Brian Harman is the betting favorite at +1800. Harman is drawing 2.6% of the tickets and 0.7% of the handle.
In terms of scoring, there should be plenty of birdies. The winning score was -22 a year ago and -19 in 2020.
