If You're Betting on the Presidents Cup, Look for Scottie Scheffler to Stay Hot
The 14th edition of the Presidents Cup will be played at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. The PGA Tour makes a regular appearance at the course in May for the Wells Fargo Championship. This contest is between 12 players from the United States vs. an International team (not players from Europe). The event has four different sets of competitions over four days.
- Thursday: Foursomes (alternate shots)
- Friday: Four-ball (best-ball per hole)
- Saturday: Four matches in two different waves, Foursomes then Four-ball
- Sunday: 12 singles matches
At SI Sportsbook, the USA team is a -699 favorite and -225 to win on Thursday. The pairings have yet to be released, so there are no early odds on head-to-head matchups. The best way to play this event early is by investing in the Top USA Points scorer, Top Overall Points Scorer, Top Rookie, and Top American Rookie.
Top USA Points Scorer
Kevin Kisner (+2000)
It’s all about the odds and payoff with Kisner. He is the 12th-ranked player on the U.S. team. His best finish this year was at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, where he was a runner-up to Scottie Scheffler. Over his final 12 events on the PGA Tour in 2022, he missed the cut seven times with only one top 10. Kisner has a gamer profile who relies on accuracy and putting to win. However, he isn’t a lock to play in each round, leaving him at a disadvantage to lead the team in points scored.
Top Overall Points Scorer
Scottie Scheffler (+550)
The last sighting of Scheffler on the PGA came with a disappointing finish on Sunday (73) in the Tour Championship, giving Rory McIlroy the title. He had a sensational year with four wins and three runner-up finishes, leading to over $14 million in winnings. His game is built for match-play events.
Top Overall Rookie
Tom Kim (+1000)
Doubling down on Scottie Scheffler (+300) would make sense, but I’ll take a shot on the Internationals' Kim. In his rookie season on the PGA Tour, he won the Wyndham Championship in early August, giving him a successful summer that also had a third, seventh and 13th over six other events. Kim shot under 70 in 16 of 28 rounds over that time, highlighted by a 63 and 61 on back-to-back Sundays.
Top American Rookie
Scottie Scheffler (+240)
Scheffler is the favorite here as well. The best odds paired with 2021-22 success look to be Cameron Young (+650). He didn’t win in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, but Young delivered multiple highlight moments (runner-up at the British Open plus four other seconds and two thirds). His biggest weakness is bunker play but he has plenty of length off the tee, ranking third in driving distance in the 2021-22 season at 319.3 yards.