Brooks Koepka Oddsmakers Top Liability at PGA Championship

Posted on: August 5, 2020, 10:51h. 

Last updated on: August 5, 2020, 02:13h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Brooks Koepka is oddsmakers’ largest liability on this week’s PGA Championship. The two-time defending champ is commanding the lion’s share of the money wagered and number of bets placed.

This year has been unlike any other, as the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted sports around the world. Traditionally the last of the four golf majors each year until that changed in 2019, the PGA Championship is the first in the bizarre 2020 season.

Koepka has won the past two PGAs, each by two strokes. Bettors are predicting a three-peat. Though he’s ranked No. 6 in the world — a position he dropped to because of injuries late last year — Koepka is the consensus favorite. The SuperBook, BetMGM, and DraftKings have him at 10/1 to win at TPC Harding Park.

“My game feels like it’s in really, really good shape right now,” Koepka said this week at the course in San Francisco. “I like the way I’m hitting it. Every day is a lot more comfortable. I’m excited.”

Interested in betting on Koepka? You’ll find slightly better odds at FanDuel and PointsBet (11/1).

Huge Liability

BetMGM, which is operational in Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, and West Virginia, says Koepka is responsible for approximately eight percent of all of its PGA bets and nearly 15 percent of the handle.

Market favorites in the PGA Championship have been synonymous winners in recent times for gamblers,” Matt Cosgriff, sports trading manager at BetMGM, told Casino.org. “This year’s market proves no exception with Brooks Koepka, who came back to form last week, and is shooting for his third straight PGA Championship.”

Koepka has cost oddsmakers dearly in each of the past two PGA Championships. Should he hoist the Wanamaker Trophy Sunday afternoon, betters who take the 10/1 line will win $1,000 for every $100 wagered.

New world No. 1 Justin Thomas, fresh off a victory at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is a cofavorite with Koepka at BetMGM and SuperBook. JT is responsible for more than 11 percent of BetMGM’s handle, a close second worst-case scenario for the book.

Other PGA front-runners include Rory McIlroy (12/1), Jon Rahm (14/1), Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele (16/1), and Dustin Johnson (20/1). Enthusiasm for Tiger Woods has been relatively low, the SuperBook having the all-time great at 35/1.

Schauffele is the only other player who has 10 percent or more of the BetMGM handle (10.2 percent).

Longshot Bets

With Koepka, Thomas, and Schauffele commanding the money, some bettors are turning to long shots in hopes of large wins.

Twenty spots in the PGA Championship are typically awarded to the top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship. With the club professional tournament canceled in 2020, the 20 spots were determined based upon the 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year Standings.

Alex Knoll, playing in his first PGA, garnered a $10 bet on 2000/1 odds that would net $20,000.