If Cameron Smith is going to bolt to LIV Golf, as has been reported, his final season with the PGA Tour certainly was one to remember for golf bettors.
The Australian started 17 tournaments this year, picking up three wins including the Players Championship (where he was +3300) and Open Championship (+5000). A $100 bet placed on Smith to win each of the 17 contests he played in this season would’ve returned $10,300—or a profit of $8,600, according to PGATour.com’s Ben Everill.
That makes Smith the most profitable player to bet on this year, but not by the widest of margins at all. Max Homa, who started 23 tournaments this season, is No. 2 on the list with bettors profiting $8,300 simply by placing a $100 bet on him to win every tournament this year.
Homa won two tournaments this season. He earned a longshot victory at the Fortinet Championship (+6600) and later cashed tickets for anyone who had him +4000 at the Wells Fargo Championship.
The haters must be sick https://t.co/dJToSDMjo6
— max homa (@maxhoma23) August 24, 2022
Homa and Smith were the only two golfers to see profits of more than $8,000. Here’s how the rest of the top 10 breaks down:
- No. 3: Scottie Scheffler (24 starts, 4 wins) $7,800 profit
- No. 4: Sepp Straka (32 starts, 1 win) $6,800 profit
- No. 5: K.H. Lee (27 starts, 1 win) $5,300 profit
- No. 6: Billy Horschel (21 starts, 1 win) $4,500 profit
- No. 7: Sam Burns (23 starts, 3 wins) $3,800 profit
- No. 8: Matt Fitzpatrick (19 starts, 1 win) $3,100 profit
- No. 9: Joaquin Niemann (23 starts, 1 win) $2,700 profit
- No. 10: Xander Schauffele (20 starts, 3 wins) $2,600 profit
Amazingly, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland—who each won a tournament this year—would’ve had bettors who placed a $100 wager to win each start down bad. Betting Rahm to win all 18 of his starts would have a bettor in a -$1,350 hole.
However, no one cost bettors more money on outright wins than Sahith Theegala this season. The 24-year-old sensation started 31 tournaments without winning a single one. That means placing $100 dollars on an outright win at each contest would have a bettor down $3,100.
Just a few things to keep in mind before next year rolls around.
