By Ryan Bologna
We’re over halfway through the LIV Tour regular season. We have seen one player emerge with a great lead in the points standings, and a certain team has dominated since the second event of the year. Being in the infant stages of this new tour, there are some rumored seismic changes to keep an eye on as well. Whether it is a potential new player joining the tour or changes that are being considered on the PGA Tour, this is a developing situation. We have everything you need to keep an eye on along with some betting strategies for future events.
Let’s start with the betting strategies, and it will take one look at the standings to understand how to bet on the events. Here is the top five as of right now:
- Dustin Johnson: 94 points
- Branden Grace: 77 points
- Carlos Ortiz: 48 points
- Taylor Gooch: 48 points
- Matthew Wolff: 47 points
Cam Smith joining the tour throws a wrench into things, and he is certainly a contender to win events in the future, but Dustin Johnson is the clear favorite heading into events until proven otherwise. Bet on either of those two to win, you’ll be able to find good odds ahead of each tournament.
It is tough to find odds for the team component, but if those eventually become available as the LIV Tour becomes more popular, there is a clear strategy. The 4 Aces GC team has taken each of the last three tournaments, and Johnson is the team captain. For the Chicago event the team includes Johnson, Taylor Gooch, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed. The 4 Aces GC team should contend for the win again this weekend.
Let’s get to the potential seismic changes. Recently, there have been reports that a player ranked in the top 10 in the world is considering joining the LIV Tour in part due to frustrations with Rory McIlroy. Golf Magic is a popular European outlet, so there has been speculation that the player is either John Rahm or Viktor Hovland. Either of those two leaving the PGA Tour would be big, but Rahm would arguably be a bigger addition to the LIV Tour than Cam Smith. Rahm has denied the rumors, but he has also subtly hinted at frustrations with McIlroy. It will be interesting to see if the report of a top 10 player joining the LIV Tour is accurate or not.
Lastly, there was an interesting development with Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour. Woods is not going to leave, however, he is part of a group of players that has been meeting with the PGA Tour and suggesting changes in response to the LIV Tour. Some of those suggestions were very similar to what the LIV Tour already does. One of them is a $20 million purse for certain events, which is the same amount that the individual component is for the LIV Tour. The other similarity is no cut.
These suggestions imply that those in those discussions see that the LIV Tour has made some viable changes. The moral debate about the LIV Tour is still present, but the PGA Tour will need to make further adaptations. It will be interesting to see how many it seemingly pulls straight from what the LIV Tour has already done.
Photo Credit: L.E.MORMILE
