News

Presidents Cup 2019 odds: Our favorite best bets and props for Royal Melbourne

Adam Scott - 2019 Presidents Cup Previews

(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

The Presidents Cup is essentially the grand finale of the golf schedule this season. And it fits nicely on the sports calendar as well, between college football’s conference championship week and before the bowls start. Prime-time golf is upon us with the Presidents Cup kicking off at Thursday night in the U.S.

Unlike the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup features four days of action, starting with Day 1 of fourballs teeing off around 5:30 p.m., eastern time. You can listen to Stephen Hennessey and Christopher Powers join Alex Myers to break down some of our favorite bets in the podcast below (starting at the 53:17 mark). With the Day 1 pairings out, we have some additional picks we like ahead of this week's matches at Royal Melbourne:

USA to win Day 1 & Day 2 (+250, MGM) (Bet $10 to win $25) — This is dependent on Team USA winning Day 1 of fourballs and Day 2 foursomes (alternate-shot), something the Americans have only done once in the past five Presidents Cups. No matter. We're in the impression that the rookies of the Internationals cannot match the depth of the U.S. squad. Sure, some of Team USA's length will be negated by the difficulty of Royal Melbourne. Still, we'd be confident enough that Team USA can replicate Liberty National and get off to a strong start. --Stephen Hennessey, associate editor

U.S. to win the Presidents Cup (-240, MGM) (Bet $24 to win $10) — Like I said in our podcast, I'm tempted to put all the wedding money my wife and I received this year on Team USA to win the Presidents Cup at these odds. The only time the International team took down Team USA, it was an unprepared U.S. team in 1998 (at Royal Melbourne actually). This year, 11 of the 12 team members played at the Hero World Challenge, so rust will not be an issue. Like I said above, the U.S. has its most talented team of all time, against an inexperienced International team. We're willing to bet against an upset, in a big way. --SH

Top USA Points Scorers (in the top 3): Webb Simpson (+250, DraftKings) — Webb’s playing as well as anybody on the U.S. team, so to get him at plus-money to be a top-there points-scorer feels like strong value. --SH

Patrick Reed to finish in the top 4 of overall points scorers (+450, DraftKings) — The events that have transpired over the last week, coupled with his most recent Ryder Cup performance, might be scaring some bettors away from Reed. All of this makes me actually like him more this week. Reed is at his best with his back against the wall, and this week could be his all time back against the wall moment. I expect the crowd to be relentless, and Reed wouldn’t have it any other way (see: Gleneagles, 2014). The fact he’s tight with Tiger also makes me think he’ll either A. play every session or B. only sit 1 session. That gives him ample opportunity to rack up points like he normally does in these events, 2018 Ryder Cup not included. --Christopher Powers, assistant editor

Top International Rookie Points Scorer: Abraham Ancer (+650, DraftKings) — Ancer, the most talented rookie along with Joaquin Niemann, might play all five matches, giving this a great chance to cash. --SH

Day 1 matchup: Louis Oosthuizen/Abraham Ancer (+140) over Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland — We really like this International duo. Abraham Ancer, like we said, has a great chance to play five matches given his talent—especially if he and Louis Oosthuizen win their match, they might stick together through all sessions. Oosthuizen is one of the few International team members with a career winning record, and against a rusty Dustin Johnson, with some firepower with Ancer, we'll take the plus-points with this sneaky International team. --SH

Day 1 matchup: Adam Scott/Byeong Hun An (+115) over Tony Finau/Bryson DeChambeau — Speaking of International veterans, Adam Scott faces one of the less-experienced American teams of Day 1. Ben An is one of the most consistent ball-strikers in this tournament, and along with Aussie Adam Scott, this is one of the International teams we like most on Day 1. --SH

International team to lead win Day 1 (+188 on DraftKings) — If you do believe in an upset victory, I think the only way that happens is if the International team gets off to a fast start. Get up early in the first few matches, get the crowd involved and feed off that energy. Taking a 3-2 lead in fourballs is very doable, and as a hedge I’d recommend also betting on a 2.5-2.5 tie, which is +500. Splitting the Day 1 matches would be a small victory in itself for the International squad. --CP

Top Singles Player (Highest Margin Out of Singles Matches): Haotong Li (40-1, DraftKings) — We figure Haotong will be matched against a weaker U.S. player, and he can put up a ton of birdies. --SH