Vacationers Championship: Betting odds, worth picks, perception

The eighth and remaining Signature Occasion of the 2024 season has arrived, as the most effective gamers on the PGA Tour head to the Northeast for the Vacationers Championship.

Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy, recent off his heartbreaking end on the U.S. Open, headline the 72-man subject at TPC River Highlands. Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, and Viktor Hovland will tee it up in Connecticut this week, too.

Not like Pinehurst No. 2, this golf course yields loads of birdies whereas putting a premium on iron play. It’s a second-shot golf course, and whoever can take advantage of par-breakers this week sometimes wins. You must also anticipate a remaining rating round 18 or 20-under-par, with a number of 62s and 63s shot over the course of the week. Heck, Jim Furyk shot a 58 on this format in 2016, which nonetheless stands because the lowest rating ever on the PGA Tour.

Vacationers Championship Odds:

Listed here are the present odds for gamers to win this week, supplied by DraftKings.

• Scottie Scheffler +400
• Xander Schauffele +800
• Rory McIlroy +850
• Collin Morikawa +1200
• Ludvig Åberg +1600
• Viktor Hovland +2000
• Patrick Cantlay +2200
• Hideki Matsuyama +2500
• Sam Burns +3500
• Russell Henley +3500
• Justin Thomas +3500
• Brian Harman +3500
• Tony Finau +3500
• Tommy Fleetwood +3500
• Tom Kim +4500
• Sungjae Im +4500
• Si Woo Kim +4500
• Sepp Straka +4500
• Jordan Spieth +4500
• Max Homa +5000
• Matthew Fitzpatrick +5000
• Wyndham Clark +5000

Photograph by Ben Jared/PGA Tour through Getty Photos

Vacationers Championship Perception, Predictions:

Keegan Bradley, the New England native and diehard Boston sports activities fan, received this occasion final 12 months at 23-under-par, thanks partially to a gap 8-under 62 on Thursday and a 7-under 63 on Friday. He led the sector in strokes gained strategy and strokes gained placing, which explains why his remaining 72-hole rating set a brand new match file.

Xander Schauffele continues sizzling stretch

Good ball strikers and strong putters are likely to do properly on this golf course. Xander Schauffele, who suits that billing, received this occasion two years in the past, marking his sixth profession win on the PGA Tour. He has received two extra tournaments since, together with this 12 months’s PGA Championship.

Photograph by Michael Reaves/Getty Photos

Schauffele additionally recorded his tenth top-10 end of the season at Pinehurst No. 2, regardless of not having his finest stuff all through the week.

Figuring out that Schauffele has received on this golf course earlier than and has performed the most effective golf of his profession all through 2024, we like Schauffele to file a top-five end at +180.

Large Ton’ posts back-to-back top-10s

If not for an unlucky triple bogey on the thirteenth gap in the course of the third spherical of the U.S. Open, Tony Finau might have vied for the title till the very finish. He wound up tying for third, ending at 4-under-par, two strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau.

Regardless of that, Finau’s sport has rounded into kind, as he has his 4 straight top-20 finishes during the last month.

Photograph by Gregory Shamus/Getty Photos

He’s a terrific ball-striker—Finau is third on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the inexperienced. His putter has let him down at occasions, however it didn’t have an effect on him a lot at Pinehurst No. 2. He gained 0.43 strokes on the greens for the week, rating thirty ninth among the many subject.

Contemplating the greens at TPC River Highlands come nowhere near those at Pinehurst No. 2, we like Finau to have one other above-average week with the putter and end within the prime 10 at +280.

Ludvig Åberg bounces again after powerful weekend

Like Finau, the thirteenth gap acquired the most effective of Ludvig Åberg on Saturday afternoon. He made a triple bogey there, which all however ended his probabilities.

Nonetheless, Åberg will bounce again this week. He has rapidly turn out to be among the best ball-strikers on the planet, as seemingly each iron shot has a excessive ball flight and goes as straight as an arrow. That’s a wonderful mixture on any golf course, particularly a good one like TPC River Highlands.

Plus, Åberg performed on the Vacationers Championship final 12 months, tying for twenty fourth and ending at 13-under par. He even shot a 5-under 65 on Saturday, a powerful spherical on condition that he had completed up his tenure at Texas Tech roughly one month earlier than. However understanding that Åberg has some expertise on this course, and given his very good expertise, we like him to additionally end within the prime 5 at +330.

It’s Russell Henley time

Maybe essentially the most underrated participant within the sport proper now, Russell Henley arrives in Connecticut recent off a tie for seventh on the U.S. Open. He carded a 3-under 67 within the remaining spherical, serving to him file a back-door prime 10, however Henley has 4 different prime 10 finishes this season. He’s additionally the Sixteenth-ranked participant on the earth, due to his strong ball putting and glorious placing.

Photograph by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Photos

Henley doesn’t miss the green usually and thus awards himself loads of alternatives to make birdie. His sport ought to translate properly to this course, the place he has had some success. Henley’s finest end got here in 2018 when he tied for sixth. He has since tied for nineteenth in his previous two begins, in 2021 and 2023. However this 12 months, we like Henley to publish a outcome higher than that. He’s +3500 to win, which we’re enormously contemplating, however we like him to complete within the prime 5 at +650.

Longshot Contender and Winner

Frenchman Matthieu Pavon performed properly sufficient to earn a spot within the final group of the U.S. Open and held his personal for a lot of the remaining spherical. He shot a 1-over 71 to complete solo fifth, as an early bogey stumbled his momentum. However Pavon placed on a ball-striking and placing clinic all week at Pinehurst No. 2, an indication that his sport is trending in the correct route.

He is aware of what it takes to win, too, having received on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open earlier this 12 months. As such, we like Pavon to publish one other top-10 at +800 in Connecticut. His sport appears to return in waves, and he’s using excessive proper now.

Photograph by David Cannon/Getty Photos

As for a longshot winner, we like South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout to get the job accomplished at +7500. Bezuidenhout couldn’t get any momentum going on the U.S. Open, ending in a tie for thirty second at 7-over for the week. However he performed constant golf and didn’t blow up on any day, carding three 71s and a 72 on the par-70 format. Nonetheless, Bezuidenhout is a terrific putter, rating eleventh on the PGA Tour in strokes gained placing. He’s an above-average ball striker too.

The South African will not be a bomber, both, an attribute not wanted on this 6,852-yard format, the shortest course on tour this season. As an alternative, he depends on his ball-striking and his quick sport to get the job accomplished.

For all different sports activities betting content material, try SB Nation’s DraftKings web site.

Additionally keep tuned for SB Nation’s workers picks for the Vacationers Championship, set to go dwell on Tuesday, Jun. 18.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Make sure to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.