Las Vegas sees golf betting boom with return of PGA Tour
With the four major American sports leagues still on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, the PGA Tour has exploded in popularity among bettors the past two weeks.
A week after Daniel Berger cashed as a 71-1 long shot in a playoff win over Collin Morikawa at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Webb Simpson emerged from a pack of contenders Sunday to win the RBC Heritage at 28-1 odds.
William Hill took six figures in wagers on the Heritage, according to sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich.
“The golf handle’s been outstanding the last two weeks,” he said. “We’re very, very happy on golf. It’s an improvement on what it was pre-COVID(-19). We’re just hoping a bunch of new golf fans are born.”
The Westgate, which reopened its retail book Thursday, took almost twice as much money in bets on the Heritage than it did on the Charles Schwab, according to vice president of risk Jeff Sherman.
“It was well received in pretournament and in-play (wagering), and people got more involved in matchups and props,” he said. “We weren’t open over the counter for (pretournament betting), so we’re expecting more this week.”
Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau opened as 12-1 co-favorites at William Hill to win the Travelers Championship, which tees off Thursday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
DeChambeau tied for eighth at the Heritage and tied for third at the Charles Schwab. He also tied for eighth at the 2019 Travelers.
“It’s a short course,” Sherman said. “Long hitters will be more involved than they were the last couple weeks, and one of DeChambeau’s strengths is his length off the tee.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
