Is it safe to write golf betting picks for LIV Golf competitions? I’m not sure it is, and I’m sure that the golfing purists might not approve. But the facts are (at least in my view) that this weekend’s LIV Golf Chicago competition looks a far more appealing event than what either the PGA Tour or DP (European) Tour has to offer.
Over at PGA Tour, their offering this week is the Fortinet Championship from Silverado Resort. A competition has failed to attract any of golf’s biggest names for some years. It comes at the end of the FedEx playoffs, and this year it falls just before the President’s Cup, meaning most of the top Americans are skipping it in preparation.
The Fortinet has managed to attract some of the overseas stars performing at Quail Hollow the following week. Players such as Hideki Matsuyama (+1500), Max Homa (+1500), and Corey Conners (+1800) are the biggest names on show.
While in Europe, the Italian Open takes center stage. This competition wouldn’t normally attract too much attention, but it’s being played on the Marco Simone course just outside Rome. The significance of this is that this is the course that will be used for next year’s Ryder Cup.
So the presence of Rory McIlroy (+375), Matt Fitzpatrick (+1000), Viktor Hovland (+1200), and Tyrrell Hatton (+2000) will no doubt appeal to European skipper Luke Donald. The keenness of the quadruple to play in Italy shows they are not only supporting the DP World Tour but also hoping to improve Europe’s chances of winning the Ryder Cup.
None of these fields look like they compete with the stellar lineup that will be teeing off at the Rich Harvest Farms Club on Friday. The 1 pm Shotgun Start (all golfers start on different holes at the same time) sees the likes of Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, and Talor Gooch (fresh from braving the DP Tour last week) playing the event. Let’s cut to the chase, this is a far more appealing-looking field.
LIV Golf is a Saudi-backed startup golf tour, set up to rival the US PGA Tour and the DP World Tours. It offers far more money to its players, and a lot of its recruits have been lured by the Saudi riches on offer. Players compete in both an individual competition, and also in a team competition.
The American and European Tours don’t recognize LIV Golf. And all players that have competed in it have been barred from playing in PGA Tour events. This also means that LIV Golf events don’t qualify for world ranking points.
LIV Golf looks here to stay though. There has been too much time and money invested in it, and eventually, all tours are probably going to have to learn to live with each other. With such riches backing LIV Golf, there will be court cases to follow, and who knows where it will all end up.
The Vegas golf odds setters have installed Dustin Johnson (+600) and Cameron Smith (+600) as their joint favorites. Johnson won a three-way playoff in the last LIV event in Boston earlier this month. He beat Joaquin Niemann and Anirban Lahiri to win the small matter of $4 Million.
Next in the betting with BetOnline after Johnson and Smith is Niemann at +800, who is followed by Talor Gooch (+1200), Patrick Reed (+1600), and Abraham Ancer (+2000).
| LIV Golf Chicago Winner Betting |  |
|---|---|
| Dustin Johnson | +600 |
| Cameron Smith | +600 |
| Joaquin Niemann | +800 |
| Talor Gooch | +1200 |
| Patrick Reed | +1600 |
| Abraham Ancer | +2000 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | +2000 |
| Paul Casey | +2500 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | +2500 |
| Sergio Garcia | +2800 |
| Jason Kokrak | +2800 |
| Harold Varner III | +2800 |
| Matthew Wolff | +2800 |
| Charles Howell III | +3300 |
| Lee Westwood | +5000 |
You can read more about this popular Vegas bookmaker in our BetOnline sportsbook review.
The LIV Golf Chicago event gets underway at 1 pm Eastern Time on Friday, with all players starting the 54-hole event at the same time.
The likes of Talor Gooch and Patrick Reed will be happier to be back in friendly waters after playing (along with a whole host of other LIV golfers) at the BMW PGA Championship in England last week.
It couldn’t have been an enjoyable experience, but that didn’t stop Gooch (-15) from finishing 4th and Reed (-14) from finishing T5. The winning score was -17 from Shane Lowry, so this shows the duo is in good form.
The fact that Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann both contested the playoff at the last LIV competition and are well clear of Gooch and Reed in the betting, shows that the sportsbooks think that LIV is extremely competitive.
It’s hard to compare though. The BMW was played in England, where the conditions were very different from what the Rich Harvest will offer. But even so, the two names of Gooch and Reed have better value odds next to them. And that makes them both more appealing.
Talor Gooch also came 6th in Boston, so that shows he is in good form on both sides of the pond, so I’m happy to make Gooch my first betting pick at +1200.
The beauty of having such long odds to choose from is we can make second picks. So for my second pick, I’m going for Lee Westwood at +5000. Westwood finished T13 at the BMW last week, and T4 in Boston at the last LIV event.
Like Gooch, Westwood will also be pleased to be back and playing at an event in which he is welcome. Which should hopefully lead to both men playing better golf due to less pressure on their respective shoulders.
