Golf Pick: Viktor Hovland to Win Outright +1600 Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
FedEx Playoff Connotations
This week the PGA Tour fetches the top 50 on the current money list for an event that will narrow down next week’s Tour Championship to the top 30 players. With a prize pool of $20,000,000 split between 50 players, there can be plenty of added pressure for the players despite being guaranteed a monster check.
2023 BMW Championship
August 17 – August 20 at Olympia Fields
Course Notes
- Olympia Fields, Chicago, Illinois.
- Par 70, 7366 yards.
- Designed by Willie Park Jr.
Two par-5s, 1st at 626yards and, the dogleg 15th at 606 yards. Bentgrass/Poa Annua multi-tiered greens that can measure 12.5 on the stimp metre.
Accuracy has always been a pre-requisite at the track and a strong all-around game is required at one of the fairest but hardest tests in World Golf.
Water in play on 50% of holes, usually provided by Butterfield Creek, which meanders through the course.
The 2020 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields had an Augusta National feel at the top of the leaderboard with Jon Rahm, winning from Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. Although there were plenty of steady tee-to-green types in higher echelons of the leaderboard to suggest accuracy is hugely important especially if combined with length.
Weather Forecast
Thursday in Illinois looks the most challenging, with winds moderately tough at 14mph while there is rain forecast also for the opening day. The rest of the week looks fine and pleasant with dry days and warm temperatures.
Olympia Fields Recent Previous Winners
Will Hovland be the Viktor at the BMW Championship?
Yes, I think Viktor will be the winner here at Olympia Fields in the BMW Championship this week. Let’s investigate the case for Viktor Hovland.
Firstly, last week was the perfect preparation to shake the rust off his game on his first start back since the Open. Secondly, the Norwegian superstar has course knowledge here, from the 2018 Illinois Amateur Championship when he finished 6th and the BMW here in 2020.
Thirdly, the Bentgrass/Poa Annua greens are ones he is very proficient with, having performed well at the Riviera Country Club, which correlates well with Olympia Fields. Finally, the twenty-five-year-old from Oslo has been a model of consistency all year and on Championship course that demands length and accuracy, he is often seen to best effect.
Here at BMR our best betting pick for the 2023 BMW Championship is Viktor Hovland at Bovada with a price of +1600.
Golf Pick: Viktor Hovland to Win Outright +1600 Bovada
Golf Pick: Viktor Hovland to Finish Top 10 +130 BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Leading Betting Contenders
Jon Rahm (+1000)
Readers and followers will know that I favoured Jon Rahm over his two rivals at the top of the market last week – Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. I got that one wrong, but Rahm was the winner of this event at Olympia Fields in 2020, meaning the Spaniard gets an awful lot of respect again this week in Chicago.
Rory McIlroy (+850)
It was a cracking week for the Northern Irishman last week at the St. Jude Championship, coming up one shot shy of the sudden-death play-off. Always respected when the big bucks are up for grabs
Patrick Cantlay (+1200)
FedEx Cup play-offs expert Patrick Cantlay was back to form last week in Memphis when unlucky to lose in a sudden-death play-off. Always times his run to perfection and twice a winner of this week’s event, as well as 12th here in 2020.
Props Bets to Consider
Brendon Todd (+9000)
If you’re looking for another props-bets this week at the BMW Championship, you could do far worse than consider Brendon Todd. Todd has consolidated himself at the top of the sport in recent seasons after recovering from a dreadful career slump. Todd was 8th here in 2020 and his straight hitting and proficient short game can only be a plus this week at the top sportsbooks.
Byeong Hun An (+6600)
The South Korean, Byeong Hun An was an impressive 12th here in 2020. The 2020/2021 season saw the popular thirty-one-year-old lose his playing privileges after a slump in form, but he won them straight back on the Korn Ferry Tour.
This year has been an impressive one with great consistency, and Byeong’s elite ball-striking may have not won on the PGA Tour yet, but it did at least win the European Tour’s flagship event, the PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Golf Pick: Byeong Hun An to Finish Top 20 +100 at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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