2023 PGA Tour Future Odds: Bet On This Guy Now to Win Golf’s ‘Fifth’ Major
The PGA Tour is at The Riviera Country Club, a private club with a championship golf course in the Pacific Palisades, Calif., this week, with the first round getting underway on Feb. 16.
The tournament marks the return of Tiger Woods, who’s playing in his first event since missing the cut at last July’s British Open.
But today we’re not focusing on Woods or the RIV or – hell, no, never, LIV – but instead looking ahead to next month’s (March 9-12) The Players Championship.
The Players, as it's known, is considered golf’s unofficial fifth major.
That’s because it has the largest purse of any tournament on the PGA Tour ($25 million, with $4.5 mil going to the winner) and it’s played at the prestigious and daunting TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, home of the famous par-3 No. 17 "Island Green.”
Even with only one round of Genesis in the books, the odds are already posted for The Players and there’s one name that’s jumping out at me.
Before we get to him, the odds I’m using are from FanDuel Sportsbook, which is among our top-rated sports betting sites, that also include BetMGM, DraftKings and more. Check out our reviews of the many great sites you can use to wager on golf and any other sport.
Here are the current (Feb. 16, 2023) odds from FanDuel to win The Players:
Jon Rahm +850
Rory McIlroy +1300
Scottie Scheffler +1500
Justin Thomas +1500
Collin Morikawa +1900
Xander Schauffele +2100
Patrick Cantlay +2100
Tony Finau +2100
Viktor Hovland +2400
Matt Fitzpatrick +2900
Cameron Young +3200
Will Zalatoris +3200
Max Homa +3200
Joohyung Kim +3200
Sungjae Im +3200
Jordan Spieth +3200
Shane Lowry +3600
Tyrrell Hatton +3600
Sam Burns +3600
Billy Horschel +4600
Corey Conners +4600
Si Woo Kim +4600
Aaron Wise +5500
Adam Scott +5500
Russell Henley +5500
Daniel Berger +5500
Tommy Fleetwood +5500
Jason Day +6500
Alex Noren +7500
Tom Hoge +7500
Webb Simpson +9000
Keegan Bradley +9000
Justin Rose +9000
Gary Woodland +9000
Keith Mitchell +9000
Thomas Pieters +9000
It’s funny, all three of the guys I picked to win one of the four “true’ majors in 2023 – Patrick Cantlay +2100, Tony Finau +2100, Viktor Hovland +2400 – are all grouped together, in terms of odds, and I still like those choices … except for there’s one kid – OK, he’s 32, but everyone’s a kid to me these days – I wish I would have included and it’s Max Homa.
He’s from Burbank, Calif., went to Cal and he’s been a pro since 2013. He only has six PGA Tour wins, but something’s starting to click in 2023. (Hey, sometimes it takes 10 years)
Last month, Homa finished third at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and then followed that up three weeks later by winning the Farmers Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, rallying from five shots down in the final round.
Even though he’s a new dad – he and his wife have a 3-month-old son, Cam – Homa seems calm and cool.
Before he teed off Thursday, as the 2021 Genesis champion, Homa was ranked 12th in the world, 11th in scoring average, and sixth in birdie average.
Then he went out and shot a sizzling 7-under 64 to take the first-round lead.
ESPN.com’s Paulo Uggetti predicted a Homa win and I’ll second that, while also doubling down and saying he’ll be victorious at The Players.
Bet it now.
Those +3200 odds won’t last much longer.
