PGA Tour Picks: Fort Worth Invitational Odds and Expert Betting Predictions
Looking for the next young star on the PGA Tour? I give you 21-year-old Aaron Wise, a former NCAA champion (2016) at the University of Oregon. In just his 26th career PGA Tour start, Wise won the AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday in Dallas.
Wise began his final round tied with Aussie Marc Leishman but made six birdies in his first 10 holes and shot a bogey-free 65 to finish at 23-under and beat Leishman by three shots (there wasn't much wind over the weekend and the course was rather defenseless). Wise hit a whopping 50 of 56 fairways as the new Trinity Forest course as well as 66 of 72 greens in regulation. Wise, who hit one drive 402 yards, was the youngest winner of that event since Tiger Woods in 1997 and became the third rookie to win on Tour this year.
Many in golf circles saw this coming when Wise left Oregon with two years of eligibility left and won in Canada on the Mackenzie Tour in his third start as a professional. He also won on the Web.com Tour last year. If you are wondering, Rory McIlroy won his first Tour event at age 20 in his 18 th event. Jordan Spieth at age 19 in his 24th. Justin Thomas at age 22 in his 43rd. Rickie Fowler at 23 in his 73 rd.
Spieth was the heavy favorite on a course in which he was a charter member but finished T21. I wasn't all that high on him as he tends to struggle in his home state. The biggest loser by far, though, was Adam Scott. He needed to finish no worse than a two-way tie for ninth to get back into the Top 60 and the world and an automatic spot in the U.S. Open. Scott cruelly finished in a three-way tie for ninth. Chesson Hadley, who had pulled out of the Nelson, was the winner because he sits in 60th just barely ahead of Scott, who has another shot to avoid sectional qualifying by earning a Top-60 spot at the second and final cutoff on following the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Scott has played 67 majors in a row, the second-longest active streak behind Sergio Garcia.
The players don't even need to change hotels this week for the Fort Worth Invitational at Colonial Country Club, a par 70 measuring 7,209 yards often called Hogan's Alley. It's the 15th anniversary of when Annika Sorenstam made history by becoming the first woman in modern history to play a PGA Tour event; she missed the cut. Colonial has hosted a tournament since 1946, with only Augusta National having a longer uninterrupted run. Like many tournaments, this has had numerous names but couldn't find a sponsor for 2018. It had been called the Dean & DeLuca Invitational the past two years. Charles Schwab will take over as a sponsor in 2019.
The defending champion is Kevin Kisner. He birdied the first three holes on the back nine last year to pull ahead of Spieth and made a clutch par save on the 72nd hole after a wayward drive to win at 10-under 270, one shot ahead of Spieth, Jon Rahm and Sean O'Hair. Rahm had missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his final hole. Only one player has repeated at Colonial and that was Hogan, who won it five times overall. Webb Simpson was the 54-hole leader by two strokes last year but shot a final-round 71 to finish fifth at 8-under.
Golf Odds: Fort Worth Invitational Favorites
Spieth is the +900 favorite at Bovada . He had that runner-up here last year, was also second in 2015 and won the event in 2016, his only career pro victory in Texas.
Rahm is +1400 with Justin Rose at +1800, Webb Simpson +1800 and Rickie Fowler +2000. Both Rahm and Rose wanted to player the European Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship this week but essentially PGA Tour rules to keep membership forced them here. Rahm's runner-up in 2017 was his debut at Colonial. Rose hasn't played here since 2010. Simpson had that fifth last year and third the year before. He hasn't played since winning the Players. Fowler hasn't been here since missing the cut in 2014 and comes off a MC at the Players.
Golf Odds: Fort Worth Invitational Picks
Not many props available as of this writing, including no head-to-head. For a Top 10, I'll go Spieth (-125), Matt Kuchar (+275) and former SMU national champion Bryson DeChambeau (+275). He has finished Top 5 in three of his past five tournaments this year.
For top European, take Rahm at +125 and Scott at -125 for top Aussie. He won here in 2014. My winner, though, is Kuchar at +2500. He comes off a very rare missed cut at the Nelson but has but has been Top 12 in three of his past four strips to this event. He was runner-up by a shot in 2013.
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