Golf Tips: 55/1 shot among this week’s best bets from the 3M & LIV UK tournaments

Our tipster Ben Smith gives us his picks for this weekend's golfing action.

tom hoge, july 2024

Golf Betting Tips

PGA 3M Open
Tom Hoge
JT Poston
Emiliano Grillo

LIV Golf UK
Jon Rahm
Dean Burmester

PGA 3M Open

TPC Twin Cities, Minnesota
July 25–28
TV: Sky Sports Golf

With the major championships wrapped up for 2024 following Xander Schauffele’s Royal Troon triumph, a weaker field heads to Minnesota for the sixth edition of the PGA 3M Open.

The Fed-Ex Cup Playoffs are three weeks away, and participants here will be scrambling for points that could prove pivotal. Several Americans and international golfers are also bidding to qualify for the Presidents Cup, so there is plenty to play for at TPC Three Cities.

2022 champion Tony Finau is the favourite to lift the trophy for a second time, but three candidates further down the board are more appealing.

TOM HOGE

The difficult 11th hole derailed Tom Hoge’s Open Championship. In the first round, he hit two tee shots out of bounds on ‘The Railway’ and racked up a disastrous quintuple bogey.

Hoge showed terrific mental strength to birdie that same hole on Friday, and the 35-year-old ranked eighth in strokes gained on approach for the week. Only Scottie Scheffler has performed better by that metric on the PGA Tour this year.

The American’s quality iron play will help him perform well at an event where he finished in a tie for fourth two years ago. The UK trip didn’t prove fruitful for Hoge, but in his last US outing, he recorded a T3 finish at the Travelers Championship.

JT POSTON

As one of the players just outside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings, JT Poston will see the 3M Open as an excellent opportunity to get some points on the board in his bid to reach the season-ending Tour Championship.

A missed cut at the Open didn’t help his cause, but TPC Three Cities – a course that demands accuracy rather than power – is a more suitable test for Poston, who thrives on bentgrass greens.

His driving let him down, as he had to settle for a tie for second place last season, but Poston has improved his finishing position year after year in this tournament and can do so again if all the elements of his game come together.

EMILIANO GRILLO

As it stands, Emiliano Grillo is in line to make it to the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but only just. Sitting at number 67 in the rankings, the Argentine needs a solid end to the campaign to prolong his postseason and keep hopes of a place in Mike Weir’s Presidents Cup team alive.

Recent form doesn’t offer much optimism, but with three top-10s in four trips to Blaine, this week represents a chance to get back on track.

When Grillo posted a T3 at the 3M Open in 2020, he arrived in Minnesota having only made two of his last eight cuts, with a T39 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic being his best result during that time. His T2 in 2020 also came off the back of a missed cut.

 

LIV Golf UK

JCB Golf & Country Club, Uttoxeter
July 26-28
TV: LIV Golf YouTube

The final LIV event to take place outside of the United States this season sees the JCB Golf and Country Club in Uttoxeter play host to its most prestigious competition to date.

Water hazards and driveable par-fours feature on this 7,255-yard course, while wide fairways should allow big hitters to flourish.

JON RAHM

Since notching his maiden PGA Tour title in 2017, Jon Rahm has found himself in the winner’s circle every year. The Spaniard is yet to register a victory since his switch to LIV, but he was the best performer from the Saudi-backed tour at the Open last week and can follow that up by breaking his duck in a Legion XIII uniform.

Four birdies in his first seven holes on Sunday at Royal Troon catapulted Rahm into contention for his third major title. Even though he was unable to make up further ground on the back nine, it was an encouraging afternoon and another step in the right direction after a poor first half of 2024 by his standards.

DEAN BURMESTER

Having carded a 69 in strong winds on Friday, Dean Burmester was in a share of fourth position at the Open heading into the weekend. Like many, though, he succumbed to the nigh-on impossible Saturday back nine conditions and couldn’t stay in touch.

Still, the South African’s second top-20 finish in three majors this year proved he belongs with the world’s best and perhaps deserves to be a shorter price for LIV Golf UK.

He ranks fifth in driving distance on the LIV circuit this term, and in what is expected to be a low-scoring contest, his putting prowess (ranked 12th) can also pay dividends.

Golf Betting Tips

PGA 3M Open
Tom Hoge
JT Poston
Emiliano Grillo

LIV Golf UK
Jon Rahm
Dean Burmester

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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