The PGA TOUR heads to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida this week for the first of four straight events in the Sunshine State. PGA National will host the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, and measures as a 7,167-yard par 71 with Bermuda grass greens.
The field this week is plenty deep, but is still lacking the star power that shows up to all the Signature Events. Having said that, we still have Russell Henley, Shane Lowry, Sungjae Im all in attendance.
Below I have outlined my two favorite bets for the week.
Max Greyserman to win (+5000)
For those unaware, Greyserman is playing a home game this week, as he lives in Palm Beach Gardens and is a stone throw away from PGA National. He’s on record saying he’s played this course countless times in his life, and in his lone PGA TOUR start here last year, he finished T47.
He of course is a much better golfer now, having posted three top-10 finishes since October, including a T7 back at the American Express. After a slight dip in production in the weeks following, Greyserman played quite well in his last start at the Genesis, finishing T24 at a Torrey Pines course that really does not suit his game on paper.
Back in his home state and on his favorite Bermuda greens, Greyserman should be able to capture some of that magic he had during the late summer/early fall. He finished runner-up at the 3M Open back in July as well, which is a pretty good comp course to PGA National.
If you take a long term view, you’d find that Greyserman ranks second in this entire field in Total Strokes Gained over his past 48 rounds, trailing only Harry Hall in that time frame. Most of that comes from his incredible work on the greens, where he also ranks second to Hall over the past 48 rounds. When Greyserman contends, it’s because his driver and putter are clicking at the same time, and we have already seen guys like Keith Mitchell, Min Woo Lee and Cameron Young have success at this event employing the same strategy.
Greyserman has gotten himself all the way up to the 35th ranked player in the world, and a win feels like it’s on the horizon. All the contextual factors are in place for that to happen at the Cognizant this week, and at 50/1 I am more than keen to find out.
Luke Clanton to Top-40 (-110)
DraftKings Sportsbook is not currently offering odds for Clanton to make the cut this week, so instead we will attack the top-40 market for him, which is essentially the next closest thing. Just incase you don’t follow the PGA TOUR closely — which if you’re reading this article I highly doubt — Clanton needs just one made cut to earn his PGA TOUR card and officially become a professional.
He had this very opportunity a few weeks ago at the WMPO, but a missed birdie putt on 18 costed him a chance at playing the weekend, which delayed his potential professional status another few weeks. Clanton is still in college and cannot technically become a pro until his junior season ends, but that date is quickly approaching, and you know he wants to get this monkey off his back.
Despite being an amateur, Clanton has already taken the PGA TOUR by storm, having posted four top-10s over his first 11 career starts. The 21-year-old insanely sits No. 1 in this field in SG: Ball-Striking over his 36 measured rounds on the PGA TOUR, and his driving ability is already among the world’s best. It very much feels like he’s on the Ludvig Aberg trajectory.
After failing in his first attempt a few weeks ago, I firmly expect Clanton to make the cut this week and earn his card in a state he’s quite familiar with, considering he currently attends and plays collegiately at Florida State.
In addition to the top 40, Clanton can easily contend this week, and you can can throw him on the outright card if you so choose at 50/1. If Nick Dunlap can win on Tour as an amateur, so can Clanton. This kid is a future top-10 player in the world, and I recommend being early on him.