Truist Championship Preview and Best Bets

Following taking off the two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans and then the Scottie Scheffler against the field THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, we are back for the Truist Championship, the sixth signature event of the season. Formerly known as the Wells Fargo Championship, Truist took over sponsorship and instead of playing at Quail Hollow which is the typical venue but is hosting the PGA Championship, Philadelphia Cricket Club will take center stage. The Flourtown, Pennsylvania property is the oldest country club in the United States, consisting of three courses with the Wissahickon Course hosting. This par 70 iconic track measures 7,119 yards so while not overly long, driving distance is still very important.

It is a very unique layout whereas a normal course under 7,200 yards can be considered easy, this one is penal. The 118 bunkers are what give the course its teeth as the fairway bunkers are placed in areas where accuracy comes into play to avoid finding them. Hitting greens from these bunkers will be challenging enough but due to being fast and firm, they will be near impossible to hold if not hitting from the fairway to control spin. The rough is manageable but again, keeping the ball on the putting surface from it will be tough. The green sizes are slightly above the norm, averaging just under 5,800 square feet and feature Bentgrass surfaces.

One of the parameters we like to examine is course history, but we do not have that here with this being a one off stop. We can look at correlating courses but they are tough to find in this area with the Bentgrass greens and heavily bunkered areas. So we have to concentrate on current form along with the key stats. It is a loaded field with eight of the OWGR top ten as well as 21 of the top 25. There are 72 players in the field in this no cut event and the one big exclusion is Scheffler who opted out following his win last week. The top favorites are Rory McIlroy (+400), Colin Morikawa (+1400), Xander Schauffele (+1400), Ludvik Aberg (+1600) and Patrick Cantlay (+2000).

Unfortunately, weather will be an issue this week with rain expected to come in Thursday night and hang out for most of the day on Friday. There is no threat of storms and the wind will be a non-factor the first two days and then ramping up Saturday with wind between 12 and 15 mph, gusting up to 24 mph. It looks like a perfect Sunday finish with no rain or wind.

Top four key categories this week in order:

Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green
Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Putting (Firm and Fast)
Sand Saves

Each bet is Win/Top Five/Top Ten. The typical recommendation is 50%/25%/25% with odds, payouts and results based on a $1000 unit (easy round number for bookkeeping) on each of the following players. The payouts are listed right below the odds which are all from DraftKings:

Patrick Cantlay
Odds: Win 2,000 ~ Top Five 350 ~ Top Ten 160
Payout: Win 10,000.00 ~ Top Five 875.00 ~ Top Ten 400.00

Tommy Fleetwood
Odds: Win 2,500 ~ Top Five 450 ~ Top Ten 200
Payout: Win 12,500.00 ~ Top Five 1,125.00 ~ Top Ten 500.00

Viktor Hovland
Odds: Win 2,500 ~ Top Five 450 ~ Top Ten 220
Payout: Win 12,500.00 ~ Top Five 1,125.00 ~ Top Ten 550.00

Daniel Berger
Odds: Win 4,000 ~ Top Five 600 ~ Top Ten 275
Payout: Win 20,000.00 ~ Top Five 1,500.00 ~ Top Ten 687.50

Results through The RBC Heritage (12 Tournaments):

Win: -9,000
Top Five: -2,125
Top Ten: -1,725
Top 20 Masters: -90

SUBSCRIPTIONS