Talor Gooch, Not DJ Or Phil, Is The Best Bet In LIV Opener

The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event begins on Thursday, and legal online sportsbooks are offering competitive betting odds.
Comparing each golfer’s 54-hole scoring averages reveals that Talor Gooch who has +800 odds, not Dustin Johnson at +400, should be the betting favorite.
Ryosuke Kinoshita’s ranking within the LIV Tournament playing field and odds rankings do not add up, making him the best long-shot pick with hist +10000 odds.

LONDON – The first LIV Golf Invitational begins on June 9th, with many of the biggest names in golf headlining the event. The league tees off its first event at the Centurion Club in London.

A few key differences exist between the LIV Golf Invitational Series and the PGA Tour:

Each LIV event is a 54-hole tournament, which is 18 holes less than the PGA Tour. Golfers play three 18-hole rounds of golf Thursday-Saturday.
There is no cut, all 48 players in the field will play for the entire event.
12 teams of four are drafted before the first event, with the draft being held this morning. This is important for players’ prize money, but not for those betting on the LIV.

With this being the first of eight LIV Golf event, now may be the time to find the best betting values on the tour before online sportsbooks get a better grasp on how to create more accurate odds for upcoming tournaments.

In fact, United States-based sportsbooks such as DraftKings, Fanduel, and BetMGM have not posted odds for this event yet because of how new it is. Internationally regulated sportsbooks have posted odds, some of with bets offering incredible value.

Best Bets For The LIV Golf Invitational

One key way to get an edge on legal online sportsbooks is to focus on which golfers in this field played the best over the first three rounds of each of their tournaments this year.

Best Scoring Averages Through 54 Holes

Outright	Odds	Average Score After 3 Rounds
Talor Gooch	+800	207.81
Louis Oosthuizen	+1000	209.11
Graeme McDowell	+5000	210.78
Ian Poulter	+2500	210.97
Kevin Na	+1600	211.33

Three things immediately stand out from this list.

Talor Gooch is over a stroke better on average than the rest of the field.
Dustin Johnson, the +400 favorite, does not rank inside the top five of players in 54-hole scoring.
Graeme McDowell’s odds are tied for 21st longest in the whole field, yet he ranks third in scoring through three rounds.

Finding Longshots By Comparing World Golf Rank To Odds Rank

Another interesting tactic to gain an edge on the international sportsbooks offering odds on the LIV Invitational is to compare each golfer’s world golf ranking to where their betting odds rank.

Based on the participant’s world golf ranking, the next step is to rank the players in LIV. Subtracting each players betting odds rank by their LIV rank provides an interesting look at players that sportsbooks may be undervaluing.

Comparing World Golf Rank To LIV Rank

Outright	Odds	Odds Rank	World Golf Ranking	Rank In LIV	Difference
Ryosuke Kinoshita	+10000	33	89	13	-20
Jinichiro Kozuma	+12500	36	106	19	-17
Richard Bland	+5000	21	67	6	-15
Shaun Norris	+5000	21	68	7	-14
Pablo Larrazabal	+3300	16	70	9	-7

Based on his rank within the LIV Invitational relative to their odds ranking, Ryosuke Kinoshita may be the best longshot pick to win the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event.

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Brett Crown

Brett is a passionate sports writer who majored in Sport Management at Florida State University. He combines his knowledge of stats with his understanding of game theory to find the best values when sports betting. Brett enjoys golfing, playing cornhole, and hanging out by the pool when he’s not locked in watching games.