Betting against the International Team at President’s Cup

• The United States is heavily favored to beat the International Team at the President’s Cup this weekend.
• A recent rule change means that it is likely the International Team sparingly uses their worst players.
• Betting the unders for the lowest ranked players on the International Team may be the best bet at the President’s Cup.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Online sportsbooks expect the United States to dominate the International Team at this year’s President’s Cup, with oddsmakers making the Davis Love II captained USA squad nearly eight-to-one favorites to improve to 12-1-1 in the competition for the Presidents Cup Trophy.

Odds to win the President’s Cup

• USA -800
• Internationals +800
• Tie +1800

The President’s Cup, which will be held at Quail Hollow Golf Course in North Carolina, features an interesting format of four different styles of play. Regardless of the style of play, the winner of each match receives a point, with a tie worth half a point, and the loser gets no point. The four-day format is:

• Thursday: Five matches of Foursomes.
• Friday: Five matches of Four-ball
• Saturday: Four Foursome matches in the morning, four Four-ball matches in the afternoon
• Sunday: 12 singles matches

Betting on golfers that will play

Understanding the details surrounding the President’s Cup is key for the event. One of the most minute details that is lightly mentioned on pgatour.com is that each golfer is now only required to play once before Sunday.

It used to be that every player had to tee off at least twice before Sunday.

That is of particular note for those wagering at golf sportsbooks because while the United States Team has a clear advantage in top talent in this tournament, what really stands out is the International Team’s lack of competitive depth.

Separating each team into its top six players based on World Golf Points indicates the stark drop-off in talent on the International Team when comparing both their average world golf ranking (awgr) and average points.

• United States’ top six golfers: 6.33 awgr, average of 343.48 points
• International Team’s top six golfers: 26.17 awgr, average of 167.35 points
• b 16.83 awgr, average of 224.62 points
• International Team’s bottom six golfers: 71.67 awgr, average of 90.73 points

With the depth of the United States’ team on display, whose bottom six players rank better than the International Team’s top six golfers, means that the best bets at the President’s Cup at online sportsbooks may not be on either team, but actually on the unders for each of the International Team’s golfers who may only play two matches.

Bottom six golfers for the International Team:

• Mito Pereira – Total Points: 1.5 (Over: +200, Under: -250)
• Sebastian Munoz – Total Points: 1.5 (Over: +200, Under: -250)
• Cameron Davis – Total Points: 1.5 (Over: +150, Under: -180)
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout – Total Points: 1.5 (Over: +185, Under: -225)
• Si Woo Kim – Total Points: 1.5 (Over: +110, Under: -130)
• Taylor Pendrith – Total Points: 1.5 (Over: +185, Under: -225)

Brett Crown

Brett spends his time inhaling all things sports. With a passion for statistics and an in-depth understanding of the minor details of sport he loves to put his knowledge to the test. When he is not writing you can find him bowling, tossing the pigskin, or beaching it on the golf course.