Show me the money: Harman, Clark and Glover land best returns in 2023
Fans of Viktor Hovland are still cheering after the Norwegian sensation took the FedExCup Playoffs by storm. Jon Rahm’s slew of supporters can fall back on his four-win season and smile. But it’s fans of two of the season’s major champions – Brian Harman (The Open) and Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open) who may have reveled in the most joy in 2023.
The 30 men who competed for the coveted FedExCup last week at East Lake Golf Club were the best of the best in the 2022-2023 season, each with their own unique supporter base. Who can now forget “Glover’s Lovers” after seeing them pop up for the veteran who came home with a flourish.
The love from those fans might have been ratcheted up a few notches had they placed a $100 bet with BetMGM Sportsbook when the markets opened for every PGA TOUR event the top 30 played in this season.
You see, if you would have bet on all 23 of Hovland’s PGA TOUR starts, with an outlay of $2,300, you would have picked up $2,100 for his win at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, $1,700 for his BMW Championship blitz, and $550 for his TOUR Championship triumph for a total of $2,050 profit.
If you had been on Rahm all season long with his TOUR-leading four wins you would have paid $2,000 but picked up $700, $650, $850 and $1,300 on the victories for a profit of $1,500. Rahm’s wins came with him favored near the top of betting boards, hence the smaller returns. A profit for his fans, but smaller than they may have imagined.
The big profit comes from the man who dominated at Royal Liverpool in Brian Harman. The lefty opened at +20000 (200 to 1) to lift the Claret Jug for a return of $20,100. That means even with the $2,700 outlay for all of Harman’s starts this season, you would see a hefty $17,400 profit! Even if his fans waited until just prior to his opening tee shot that week, they’d still be up $9,900!
Next comes another surprise star of 2023 in Wyndham Clark. Clark’s two wins at the Wells Fargo Championship and the U.S. Open saw him open at +8000. If you bet on his 28 starts you’d be sitting on a tidy profit of $13,400.
Then there are the LucasGlover lovers. Heading into the Wyndham Championship, anyone brave enough to be betting the 43-year-old in all his starts would’ve been down $2,400. But a win at +8000 backed up with another at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at +6600 meant the lovers could’ve picked up a $12,000 profit this season.
Keegan Bradleyalso represented a handsome return of $8,200, the majority coming from his Travelers Championship win at +7000.
What about Max Homa? He was one of the big profit earners in the 2021-22 season ($8,200) under this method. Well, he added two more wins at the Fortinet Championship and Farmers Insurance Open, but his now much shorter odds meant the return was just $1,700 this season.
Scottie Scheffler was a model of consistency this season with everything except his putter (well it was consistently under whelming), finishing inside the top 12 almost every week. However, his two victories would’ve only netted a profit of $700 because of his standing now as a pre-tournament favorite every time he plays.
Like the season prior, 22 of the players in the TOUR Championship had at least one victory on the season. But some of those would’ve still represented a loss in wagers.
Rory McIlroy collected wins at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina and the Genesis Scottish Open but would’ve still lost you $100 on the season. Jason Day also returned to the winner’s circle at the AT&T Byron Nelson after years without a win, but fans of the Aussie would’ve got the same result as McIlroy (-$100). Similarly, Canadian fans of Corey Conners would’ve netted out at -$300 on the season despite his win at the Valero Texas Open.
Another popular winner to break a victory drought was Rickie Fowler. But the $2,500 outlay would not have been covered by the $1,300 return from the Rocket Mortgage Classic, showing a loss of $1,200.
Eight of the top 30 failed to win at all. Fans of Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton would be in the hole -$2,100. For all his heroics at East Lake, Xander Schauffele would’ve returned -$2,200, the same as Jordan Spieth. Meanwhile, Hovland’s class of 2019 buddy in Collin Morikawa would be -$2,400. It would’ve been even worse for those chasing wins with ironmen Sungjae Im (-$3,000) and Adam Schenk (-$3,300).
Who will be next season’s money maker?
