Gambling
Cameron Smith is the betting favorite against a surprisingly good LIV Golf field this week in Boston
Jonathan Ferrey/LIV Golf
To no one's surprise, Cameron Smith is the betting favorite for this week's LIV Golf event in Boston. The World No. 2 is easily the No. 1 player to be poached from the PGA Tour, and he'll make his debut in the new league beginning Friday. What may come as a surprise, however, is just how good the field he'll be facing will be.
According to BetOnline, the 29-year-old Aussie is a 6-to-1 favorite to win at The International Golf Club in Bolton, Mass. Two-time major champ Dustin Johnson is next at 7/1, followed by another new LIV signee, Joaquin Niemann at 9/1.
Smith, the reigning British Open and Players champion, is coming off a 20th-place finish at the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship. Niemann, a 23-year-old Chilean who was considered one of the PGA Tour's rising stars, finished T-11 in the event at East Lake.
After the top three on the board, there's Talor Gooch (16/1), Bryson DeChambeau and Louis Oosthuizen at 18/1, Patrick Reed and Paul Casey at 20/1, and Brooks Koepka at 22/1. They're followed at 25/1 by Abraham Ancer, Matthew Wolff and Harold Varner III, another new LIV member. Sergio Garcia is 28/1 in the field that features the winners of 12 of the past 24 major championships.
One major champ not getting much respect from oddsmakers is Phil Mickelson. The 52-year-old who reportedly received LIV's biggest contract is listed at 150/1.
As with all other LIV events, the 48-man field will be contested over 54 holes and utilize a shotgun start. This is the fourth of eight LIV events on the 2022 calendar. So far the three winners have been Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Henrik Stenson, who gave up being the European Ryder Cup captain to sign with the Saudi-backed league.
After concluding the 2021-2022 season, the PGA Tour is off for a couple weeks before beginning the 2022-2023 season at the Fortinet Championship Sept. 15.