The inaugural Palmetto Championship runs this week in Ridgeland, South Carolina, as Congaree Golf Club hosts the PGA Tour for the first time. Below, we’ll look for the best value prop bets in the 2021 Palmetto Championship odds, with matchups, placings and first-round leader picks and predictions.
The tournament is replacing the canceled RBC Canadian Open as the precursor to the 2021 U.S. Open next week at Torrey Pines. The result is a rather weak field, however, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka remain among those making their final preparations for the year’s third major. Johnson leads the field at No. 6 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings.
Congaree GC was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 2017. It’ll play to 7,655 yards and a par of 71.
2021 Palmetto Championship picks: Matchups (72 holes)
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 10:34 am. ET.
Dustin Johnson vs. Brooks Koepka (+100)
The marquee matchup of the week is the only action I want to get on either Johnson or Koepka. Their motivations this week are highly questionable ahead of the cross-country trip to San Diego, California, for the U.S. Open.
Johnson is coming off a missed cut at the PGA Championship and has just one top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since his 2020 Masters victory. Koepka tied for second at the PGA Championship and is gearing up in an attempt to dethrone 2020 US Open champ Bryson DeChambeau next week.
Take the even-money underdog.
Sungjae Im (-125) vs. Tommy Fleetwood
Im’s a relatively heavy favorite in this matchup. He enters the week at No. 47 in the Golfweek rankings with Fleetwood at No. 53. Fleetwood missed the cut in three of his last five strokeplay events, including the PGA Championship.
Im’s game is also a much better fit to the lengthy Congaree. He’s averaging 0.72 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round this season while Fleetwood is losing 0.05 strokes per round.
2021 Palmetto Championship picks: Placings
Top 20: John Pak (+500)
Pak is graduating from the college ranks this week in his professional debut. His collegiate accomplishments include the Ben Hogan and Fred Haskins awards, and he’s the top-ranked golfer from the PGA Tour University Class.
We’ve seen Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff all have immediate success on the PGA Tour out of college. Place a small wager on Pak to make a strong debut against a weak field.
Top Asian: Sungjae Im (+120)
There’s a greater profit to be had by backing Im (+333) to be the top Rest of the World Player, but we’re still getting plus money in the smaller and weaker Asian pool.
His play with the driver fits the course well, and his lone PGA Tour victory to date was at the Fazio-designed PGA National for The Honda Classic.
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2021 Palmetto Championship picks: First-round leader
Josh Teater (+15000)
Teater leads this field with a Round 1 scoring average of 69.89 this season. Last year he had a top finish of second place against a comparable field at the Puerto Rico Open (won by Hovland).
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