Get ready to set your alarm clocks to 2:30 AM for Thursday’s start of the Scottish Open! If you don’t think watching every shot of live coverage this week is necessary, think of it as training your body for next week’s Open Championship. Besides, the field is stacked this week, and from the looks of it, the weather should hold up for at least the first two rounds. That means we are getting a birdie fest. How exciting, right? The best players in the world, playing a getable course. Sign me up. There’s plenty of Scottish Open content on the NBC Sports website, but if you’d like to read my Scottish Open Outrights betting article, click HERE.
Part of me wants to tell you every golfer who I think will be under par in round 1, but as it stands now, the sports books are slow to add round scores for round 1. If they add them before this evening, I will post those lines on my Twitter Page. Let’s dive into my favorite derivative bets of the week.
2023 Genesis Scottish Open Derivative Bets
Rickie Fowler Top 20 (-120)
It’s not often that I back a golfer to finish inside the top 20 in the next event after a big win. It’s just tough for me to pass up on him with how well he is playing. Outside of Scottie Scheffler, Fowler is playing the best golf in the world. Over the last 26 rounds, he’s third in Strokes Gained: Total, third ins SG: Ball Striking, and eighth in SG: Approach. He’s finished inside the top 20 in 12 of his last 14 straight and in his last five. I’m playing this bet without hesitation.
Matt Fitzpatrick Top 20 +120
Mr. Fitzpatrick is a beast. Even more so overseas. There was a time when the naysayers said he could only win on the European Tour. Fitzpatrick is now a major champion and multiple-time winner on the PGA Tour. Fitzpatrick plays this course well. He’s finished inside the top 20 three out of four times here. He’s long off the, he’s great around the greens and should be able to gain a ton of strokes putting on these greens. Since his top 10 finish at the Masters, he’s picked up a win and a few top 20 finishes. For plus odds, I like the value I’m getting on him this week.
BetMGM Special: Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele to All Make the Cut (-145)
There’s a collective that doesn’t like betting specials or boosts. Many of them think they are rigged or jinxed. First, I gamble way too much to believe in jinxes. Second, regardless of how nice a play looks, there’s still a high possibility that it loses. Boosts and specials magnify them. Without even looking at the golfers, I like the value I get based on the odds from other sportsbooks. If you parlay Scheffler (-1100), Cantlay (-650), and Schauffele (-650) to make the cut, the odds come out to (-220), and BetMGM is offering (-145). The golfers in the special excite me more. Scheffler has made 19 straight cuts, Cantlay 10 and Schauffele 24.
