Justin Thomas has much to play for this week, but is he a smart bet?
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Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, where we share our favorite bets for the upcoming action. This time around, it’s the Wyndham Championship, which gets underway Thursday at Sedgefield Country Club, in Greensboro, N.C. Along with our recommended plays, you’ll also see data from Chirp, a free-to-play mobile platform that features a range of games with enticing prizes, giving fans all kinds of ways to engage in the action without risking any money.
Wyndham Clark will not be in the field at the Wyndham Championship. He can afford to take the week off.
The same can’t be said for Justin Thomas, who needs to stay busy if he hopes to keep his 2023 campaign alive.
As the final event of the PGA Tour regular season, the Wyndham is the last chance for players outside the FedEx Cup bubble to burst their way into the playoffs.
And for the first time in his career, Thomas is on the wrong side of the cutoff, which has been trimmed to 70 players this year, down from 125.
And so to the Wyndham, where Thomas, 79th in the FedEx Cup standings, will need a strong showing to move on.
The host venue is Sedgefield Country Club, a Donald Ross design in Greensboro, N.C., and while Thomas is the biggest name in the field, he is not the top name on the betting board. That honor goes to four players: Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Henley and Sung-Jae Im and See Woo Kim, followed by a list of household names that includes Sam Burns, Adam Scott and Shane Lowry.
Who should you take? Here are three picks we like.
Justin Thomas to win (+3,500)
Do you believe in miracles? We don’t. But nothing magical or mystical is required here. Thomas has been struggling. Badly. But the two-time major champion also has the strongest resume in the field. Golf’s a funny game. Whatever hobgoblins afflict a player can show up suddenly, and then vanish as quickly as they appear. Along with slot in the playoffs, Thomas will be trying to make the case for himself as a Ryder Cup captain’s pick Pressure? Sure. But also motivation. And Thomas is no stranger to competing in a cauldron. Rather than consider this a Hail Mary wager, think of it as a cagey investment in a sagging blue chip stock whose value is bound to return before long.
Justin Thomas, with 2 late additions to his schedule, has lots to play for right now
Adam Scott to win (+3,000)
Like Thomas, Scott is a major champion and multiple-time Tour winner who heads into the Wyndham with a ton of incentive. Despite a steady season that includes three top 10s and 14 cuts made in 16 tries, Scott remains outside the top 70 in the FedEx standings. Known as a metronomic ball-striker who struggles with his putting, Scott has shown something of the opposite this season. He ranks 130th on Tour in Strokes Gained Approach to the Green but 32nd in Strokes Gained Putting and third in putts per round. This week, we’re banking on his flatstick remaining steady, and his iron game getting back on track.
Ben Griffin (+7,000)
A North Carolina native, Griffin finished 4th at the 2022 Wyndham and is coming off a top-20 this week. Combine that good form with the comfort of home cooking, and you’ve got a recipe for the 27-year-old Tarheel’s first Tour win.
Who Chirp users are betting on this week
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