We asked some of our friends in the world of golf betting to pick out their favourite bets from the side markets ahead of the PGA.
Below, Dave Tindall, Martin Mathews, Matt Cooper and Niall Lyons select their favourite bets with one rule: the outright market is forbidden.
Often this involves a range of unique markets, but as you will see, two of our experts differ in their approach to the best top Asian bet, though both are keen to oppose the two favourites.
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- 25/1 - Aberg and DeChambeau both top-five (including ties)
- 33/1 - Aberg top 10, Koepka top 20, Cantlay top 30, Niemann top 40
Sungjae Im to be the top Asian player
Former Sky Sports Golf editor Dave Tindall is a regular contributor to betting.betfair.com and various other publications.
Hideki Matsuyama looks completely out of sorts at the moment after finishing 71st out of 72 at the Truist Championship and 53rd at the Cadillac Championship. His wonky driver is a particular concern for a course that needs some accuracy.
It’s a question of finding a way to take him on and one way is to head to the top Asian market. Others I’m ruling out in this are Haotong Li (six missed cuts in last seven starts; closing 80 at Augusta), a cooling-off Ryo Hisatsune (45-65-60 last three starts) and Rico Hoey (no top-20s this season). And surely we can dismiss Kota Kaneko, Kazuki Higa and 2009 ‘Tiger Slayer’ YE Yang.
So that leaves 12/5 Si Woo Kim and 5/1 Sungjae Im. Dutching the pair is an option but I’ll go with Im at the general 5/1. Im has four top-10s in majors compared to Kim’s bizarrely poor record of one in 35. And at last week’s Truist Championship, Im was in the hunt before finishing fifth – 15 shots clear of Korean compatriot Kim.
Matt McCarty to finish in the top 40
Martin Mathews is a golf tipster who provides weekly betting previews for the PGA Tour via his own website, and major previews for Paddy Power.
A player who it is definitely worth keeping an eye on this week is MATT MCCARTY.
The American arrives in Pennsylvania on the back of six straight top-40 finishes including back-to-back top-10s in the most recent Signature Events.
One of McCarty's greatest strengths is his touch on and around the greens, something that served him well in two appearances at Augusta. He should certainly have what it takes then to handle Aronimink's challenging putting surfaces. Two top-20s in two visits to Donald Ross courses last year is also a positive.
Whether he has what it takes to challenge for a major at this stage of his career is debatable but a top-40 finish is well within his compass and he looks a great bet to achieve this at odds-against.
Russell Henley to finish in the top 20
Matt Cooper is a golf journalist and long-time Sporting Life contributor who previews the women's majors for the website and provides tips for multiple tours for betting.betfair.com and others.
RUSSELL HENLEY has recorded just the one top 20 in 12 PGA Championship starts, but there are good reasons to believe he can add a second this week.
In the first instance, there's his major championship form (five top-10s in his last seven starts). And then there's his excellent record on Donald Ross designs. Since the start of 2020, he has four top 10s from four visits to Sedgefield, his one visit to Detroit reaped T10, and he was T7 in the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst.
He also plays East Lake very well, which had an extensive Ross renovation.
Ryo Hisatsune to be the top Asian player
Niall Lyons is a golf trader and betting expert who writes previews for Oddschecker, and provides weekly golf betting insight via @betgolfworld.
I will roll the dice on RYO HISATSUNE to claim the Top Asian market. Si Woo Kim and Hideki Matsuyama head the betting in this heat and both struggled badly last week at Quail Hollow in what could turn out to be quite a similar task to this one.
Matsuyama struggled through the bag which is a bad sign heading to a major venue and in particular the one that almost always rewards in-form golfers.
Last week's fifth, Sungjae Im is around 5/1 but it's worth noting following his last top-five finish in March at the Valspar he failed to break the top 40 in his next four events. There are no guarantees that he follows one fine effort with another.
Haotong Li is enduring a miserable time despite featuring at the Masters for a long while. Around the houses this leads us to Hisatsune, who hasn't missed a single cut since the first event of the year in Hawaii. Consistency has been the hallmark of his game this season and it's something that many in this market lack.
He has finished 37th and 18th in the last two renewals of this event and with 8/1 available to three places looks a cracking each-way prospect in a market headed by Kim, who has seven missed cuts in 10 PGA appearances.
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