Golf Betting: After Sterling 4th Place Finish in the Masters, Choi Shows Up as the Favorite in the Verizon Heritage

K.J. Choi, who finished tied for 4th in last week’s Masters Tournament, shows up this week at Hilton Head, South Carolina as the +1500 favorite in the Verizon Heritage.

It’s no mistake that Choi is the favorite. Holding your own against Tiger Woods, and actually making a move into contention in the Masters, would make any golfer one of the favorites in a tournament like the Verizon Heritage. After all, Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Anthony Kim are all skipping the Verizon Heritage.

Out of the top five finishers in last week’s Masters, only Choi will show up at Hilton Head for this week’s PGA Tournament. That’s why he’s the favorite, but is he the best wager in the golf sportsbook to win the Verizon Heritage?

PGA Tour: Verizon Heritage To Win

Where: Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina

When: 4/15/2010 1st Round

Best Bet A: Paul Casey +1800

Casey had sore ribs in the Shell Houston Open causing him to withdraw from the tournament he won in 2009. Last week, Casey missed the cut in the Masters shooting a 75 and 78 in the first two rounds. Now, a lot of sports gamblers are writing Casey off believing that his ribs are still sore. I doubt that’s the issue. If it were, then Casey wouldn’t be teeing off at Hilton Head with so many more lucrative tournaments down the road. Casey still had four Top 10 finishes in a row before missing the cut at Augusta last week. He could easily bounce back and win the Verizon Heritage because he finished tied for 11th in the tournament in 2009 with a 6 under. He’s a good bet to do very well this week.

Best Bet B: Camilo Villegas +2000

After finishing 3rd in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Tournament and winning the Honda Classic, all eyes were on Camilo Villegas. His form started going the other way, however, with a 16th place finish in the WGC-CA, a missed cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and tied for 38th in the Masters. Villegas has a chance to turn it around this week because he’s done okay at Hilton Head and he’s still having an excellent 2010.

Worst Bet: Jim Furyk +1500

Fury missed the cut in the Masters after shooting an 80 in the 1st round and a 76 in the 2nd round. Yes, he won the Transitions Championship and tied for 11th in the Arnold Palmer Invitational but those have been his only two decent finishes in 2010 and he missed the cut at Hilton Head in 2009 finishing in 79th place.

Best Bet at +3000 to +5000: Lucas Glover +4000

Glover won the U.S. Open in 2009. So, he can definitely golf. He also went to Clemson University which is one of the reasons he has three Top 20 finishes in his last 6 starts at Hilton Head. Glover hasn’t had a very good 2010 with only one Top 10 finish, but he did finish tied for 36th at the Masters Tournament last week. He’s a logical contender to get back on the right track this week on a course he’s familiar with.

Best Long Shot: Bo Van Pelt +7000

Van Pelt has a terrific history at Hilton Head. He finished tied for 13th in 2009 and tied for 10th in 2007. Van Pelt missed the cut in the Shell Houston Open and didn’t play in the Masters Tournament but before that he finished 14th in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. If he shows up at Hilton Head with his Arnold Palmer form, then he could win this.

There may be no Tiger and no Phil, but there are plenty of other golfers worth a wager in this week’s PGA Tournament, the Verizon Heritage. Log onto the sportsbook and bet the Verizon Heritage.