New Name, New Location for this week’s WGC-Workday Championship

Golf bettors are stepping into the unknown this week as the newly named WGC-Workday Championship will be taking place at a course that has never hosted a professional event. The tournament has historically been held south-of-the-border but this year’s edition, most likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been moved to The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.

The Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin designed course was built in 2006 with the hopes of it one day being the host of a PGA Tour event. 15 years later it will finally get that chance.

With it being a WGC event, all of the top golfers in the world will be competing for a sizable $10,500,000 purse.

Event Details | Event Odds | Betting Strategies | Best Bets

WGC-Workday Championship Event Details

• Location: Bradenton, Florida
• Course: Concession Golf Club
• Purse: $10,500,000 ($1,820,000 to 1st place)
• Notable Winners: Patrick Reed (2020), Dustin Johnson (2019, 2017, 2015), Phil Mickelson (2018, 2009)
• Field Size: 72

WGC-Workday Championship Odds

It should come as a surprise to no one that the number one ranked golfer in the world, Dustin Johnson, is sitting atop the odds list but it is a little bit surprising to see his odds as short as +600 given the strength of the field. Albeit being at a completely separate course, last year’s winner of the event, Patrick Reed, is set at +3100 to successfully defend his title.

Here are the top 10 odds to win the WGC-Workday Championship at BetOnline Sportsbook:

• Dustin Johnson +600
• Jon Rahm +850
• Xander Schauffele +1400
• Rory McIlroy +1600
• Justin Thomas +1800
• Patrick Cantlay +1800
• Tyrrell Hatton +1800
• Bryson DeChambeau +2000
• Tony Finau +2000
• Viktor Hovland +2200

WGC-Workday Championship Betting Strategies

As previously stated, this event will be one of the toughest events on the PGA Tour schedule to handicap this season as we have no history of events at Concession Golf Club to reference. What we do know, is that Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin took inspiration from courses such as Augusta National, Riviera, and Muirfield Village when designing this course.

One thing about this track that’s clear is that the greens are small and scrambling is going to be anything but easy with bunkers and hills surrounding almost every green. Taking a look at golfers who performed well last week at Riviera will be as good of a starting point as any.

Key stats for the WGC-Workday Championship:

• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Ball Striking
• Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green
• Strokes Gained: Putting

In an event where we don’t exactly know what to expect, it’s best to keep things simple. Strokes gained: tee-to-green will give us an overall feel for how golfers are playing from the tee box to the green. It’s hard to imagine that this will be the course for golfers who have had a rough start to the season to turn it around and get hot.

With all indications of this course having small and hard to hit greens, taking a look at both ball striking and strokes gained: approach-the-green seem like obvious choices. Let’s bet on golfers who are strong iron players that can win an event with their approach game.

All you have to do is take a look at photos of Concession Golf Club to know that scrambling and play around the greens will be absolutely key if not the single most important stat this week. Much like Riviera last week, golfers who are able to save par after a wayward approach shot will have a leg up on the competition.

Whispers are circulating the golf world that the putting surfaces at Concession are some of the best in the United States. Stay away from golfers who struggle with the flat stick as undulations and tricky speeds seem to be in store for the field this week.

Best Bets for the WGC-Workday Championship:

Bryson DeChambeau +2000

There hasn’t been a professional event played at Concession Golf Club but this course was the home of the 2015 NCAA Championship. The winner of that event was none other than Bryson DeChambeau. Whether or not the experience at the course will give him an advantage on the field, you have to think he’ll be entering the tournament with at least a little bit of confidence knowing that he’s come out on top here before, something that no other golfer in the field can say.

At +2000, we’re getting some excellent value on DeChambeau. You can chalk up his missed cut last week to a little bit of rust. Make no mistake about it, Bryson DeChambeau is one of the top golfers on the planet right now and in an event that has a lot of unknowns he seems like a great play at +2000.

Patrick Reed +3100

It’s a little bit surprising to see the defending champion at +3100 this week despite the fact that he won’t be defending his title at the same course as last year’s edition of the tournament. Reed is coming off a win at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines just a few weeks back and seems to be in fantastic form entering this week.

The thing that you have to like the most about Reed this week is his short game. He enters the week ranking 2nd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting as well as in the top 10 in other key short game statistics like sand save percentage and scrambling from the fringe. He might not be the best iron player in the game, but if it’s the short game that ends up being the difference maker at Concession Golf Club, expect Reed to be in contention on Sunday.