World Cup of Golf betting tips and preview
World Cup of Golf betting tips
Australia, represented by Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, are the hot favourites, and they could be difficult to beat on home soil given that they boast the strongest team from a world ranking perspective.
England, meanwhile, look to hold an excellent chance of notching their third World Cup win with Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton representing the red and white.
Matt Kuchar, who won in Mexico on the PGA Tour just two weeks ago, teams up with Kyle Stanley to form a strong USA pairing, and the bookies make them the third favourites.
This isn’t a great event to get involved in from a betting point of view, but there are at least a few teams that you can strike a line through before play gets underway on Thursday.
Greece look the worst team on paper. Peter Karmis is in good form but he will be weighed down by Alexander Tranacher, the World No. 2,012 who has played just five professional events – and missed the cut in each one.
It’s a similar story with Venezuela who will be led by the undoubtedly classy Jhonattan Vegas, but he’ll have to carry Joseph Naffah – a player who is also ranked outside of the world’s top 2,000 and has missed the cut in 11 of his 12 professional events. The exception was at last year’s Puerto Plata DR Open where he withdrew after an opening round of 74, most likely on the way to another weekend off.
Zimbabwe also aren’t up to much, but at least their weaker player – Benjamin Follett-Smith – has a bit of recent form with a win on the Big Easy Tour in September, so he and Scott Vincent should be able to avoid total embarrassment.
So this looks to me like a shootout between Greece and Venezuela for last place, therefore I’ll opt for Venezuela at 6/1 to finish rock bottom, instead of the skinny 11/8 about Greece.
I will have a small play on the outright market, though, with Sweden (50/1, 4 places) rated the best bet.
Alex Noren and Henrik Stenson are absent, so the baton falls to Alexander Bjork, who has opted to partner Joakim Lagergren instead of Marcus Kinhult.
Bjork is in good form, with a recent runner-up finish at the British Masters and two recent top-14 finishes in Turkey and Dubai, and while Kinhult would have been the better partner, Lagergren is certainly no slouch.
Lagergren got off the mark on the European Tour earlier this year in Sicily, and he has always been a player that tends to play links courses well. Indeed, he has an excellent record at the Dunhill Links Championship with top-four finishes in both 2015 and 2016, and he went well at Ballyliffin earlier in the year at the Irish Open.
The sandbelt courses in Melbourne often play firm and fast where conditions often replicate those of a baked British links course; there has been a bit of inclement weather this week, but the hope is that the course will still play into the hands of players that excel on links courses, particularly around the tricky greens.
European Tour schedule 2018-19
PGA Tour schedule 2018-19
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
