PGA Props Picks: Arnold Palmer Invitational Predictions
The Florida Swing portion of the PGA Tour continues this week with the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the famed Bay Hill.
These links have been undergoing a significant amount of changes over the past several years. However, these alterations are mostly restoring the course closer to its original form.
Just down the road from Disney World, Bay Hill has been known to play as difficult as any other course on the Tour, as it has ranked no worse than the 10th most difficult over the past 4 years.
This year's field is not short on stars, as we will see the world's best battle it out. With that said, let's stay on subject and start our interesting prop betting predictions with a showdown between Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the two men considered the best golfers on the PGA Tour.
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Matchups
Scottie Scheffler vs Rory McIllroy
Moneyline
Scheffler: -135
McIlroy: +115
There aren’t many golfers in the world who command betting favorite status over McIlroy. I would say there is one and maybe two.
That one, though, is the American, Scheffler, who is coming into this tournament in exceptional but unsurprising form having finished inside the top 10 in his previous 3 starts. We could go back further, but rest assured, nobody is playing better than this guy, and it's been that way for a while.
Spread
Scheffler: -1.5 (-110)
McIlroy +1.5 (-125)
McIlroy has more experience at Bay Hill than Scheffler, but they each have a win here and finished inside the top 5 in 2023.
It’s the recent form that sets these two apart. McIlroy hasn’t finished inside the top 20 in his previous 3 starts.
I will not get greedy, though, and chase the (-1.5) strokes. The moneyline of (-135) is affordable enough for the World’s #1 ranked golfer.
Pick: Scheffler Moneyline
Sungjae Im vs Eric Cole
Moneyline
Im: -135
Cole: +115
We were on Eric Cole last week to finish inside the top 30, and we literally couldn't have been more incorrect because this guy finished dead last in 143rd place. What an absolutely dreadful showing!
It was surprising, because he was in good form.
On the other side, we have the better golfer without a doubt. South Korea's Sungjae Im is a former Rookie of the Year winner on the PGA Tour and has seen his share of ups and downs since.
Most recently, he has been down. Im hasn’t cracked the top 43 in his previous 5 tournaments. That’s the only reason we are even getting matchup odds with him and Cole.
Spread
Im: -1.5 (-105)
Cole: +1.5 (-125)
We have virtually the same odds here as we did with the last pick. I said don’t get greedy already, so I guess we have to stick with that theme.
I want to take Im to cover, though. His course history here (3rd, 3rd, 20th, 20th, 21st) is tremendous, while Cole has one start and one missed cut.
Pick: Im Moneyline
Top 20 Finish
Cameron Young: +105
I was on Cameron Young last week, and I ignored my first instinct. That is truly a mistake more often than not. I don't think I'll ever believe otherwise.
Young finished tied for 3rd, one stroke off the lead. The kid is truly coming into his own before our eyes. He has already shown flashes of greatness with finishes atop the leaderboards of Majors in his rookie year on the PGA Tour.
He is 2/2 with top 20s here at Bay Hill, wrapping up the weekend in 13th and 10th places, respectively, over the past two years.
Harris English: +160
The value here on Harris English is wild!
It took him a while to get the hang of it here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he has played here 9 of the previous 10 years, and his three best finishes came in his previous three starts (9th, 26th, and 2nd last year).
His recent form is on point as well, with tournament tallies of 7th and 17th place over his previous two starts on Tour.
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