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This time of year was supposed to be mecca for sports bettors and fans alike: the NCAA tournament leading into the Masters, officially teeing off the string of golf’s four majors. Alas, the coronavirus pandemic struck. And our thirst for spring golf went unquenched.
While The R&A has decided to cancel rather than postpone The Open, the other three majors have found new dates. The first will get going in early August. Bookmakers still have open golf sports betting markets for those tourneys’ winners. But major championship golf still remains four months away.
Fear not, however. Not all is lost.
FanDuel offering Masters simulation pool
We won’t have the Masters in April for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1934. Astounding.
But FanDuel is keeping alive the tradition unlike any other.
Through the Masters fantasy golf game, participants can select a lineup of current golfers, past legends and even movie characters. The $10K PGA Sims Contest will then involve a simulation of the 2020 Masters tournament.
Each hole for every golfer will run through the numberFire simulator, which factors in distance and player skill, among other variables.
Players will have a $60,000 salary cap at their disposal and will use that money to fill out a six-golfer lineup. Lineups lock on Thursday, April 9 at noon ET. Winners of this game will receive site credit.
So finally, debates can be settled: Could Happy Gilmore go toe-to-toe with Jack Nicklaus? Could Tiger Woods outlast Roy McAvoy? And how long could Judge Smails last in the same group as John Daly?
Three of four golf majors rescheduled
Organizers have already rescheduled three of golf’s four majors, setting up a monstrous fall lineup:
- PGA Championship: Aug. 6-9
- US Open: Sept. 17-20
- Masters: Nov. 12-15
As it stands, each tournament will it fans. Similarly, the FedEx Cup will run from Aug. 10 to Sept. 7. To boot, the Ryder Cup expects to take place a week after the US Open.
Combine this with football season, and we are in for one heck of a fall season.
Checking in on golf futures
Many books list Rory McIlory as the favorite in all three majors, a common trend over the past few years. After all, McIlroy remains a prolific player and needs only the Masters green jacket to complete the career grand slam. That said, he has not won a major tournament since 2014.
Other favorites include:
- Brooks Koepka: four major titles since 2017
- Dustin Johnson: US Open winner in 2016
- Justin Thomas: claimed PGA Championship in 2017
- Jon Rahm: four top-10 finishes at major tournaments over the past two years (no wins)
- Tiger Woods: 15-time major champion, three shy of all-time record held by Jack Nicklaus
PGA Championship
| DraftKings Sportsbook | FanDuel Sportsbook | Fox Bet |
|---|---|---|
| Brooks Koepka +800 | Rory McIlroy +600 | Rory McIlroy +800 |
| Rory McIlroy +800 | Brooks Koepka+1200 | Dustin Johnson +1100 |
| Jon Rahm +900 | Dustin Johnson+1200 | Brooks Koepka +1200 |
| Dustin Johnson +1100 | Justin Thomas+1200 | Jon Rahm +1200 |
| Tiger Woods +1200 | Jon Rahm +1600 | Justin Thomas +1400 |
US Open
| DraftKings Sportsbook | FanDuel Sportsbook | Fox Bet |
|---|---|---|
| Brooks Koepka +800 | Rory McIlroy +900 | Rory McIlroy +900 |
| Dustin Johnson +1000 | Brooks Koepka +1000 | Brooks Koepka +1100 |
| Rory McIlroy +1000 | Dustin Johnson +1000 | Dustin Johnson +1100 |
| Jon Rahm +1000 | Tiger Woods +1400 | Jon Rahm +1200 |
| Tiger Woods +1400 | Jon Rahm +1600 | Tiger Woods +1600 |
Masters
| DraftKings Sportsbook | FanDuel Sportsbook | Fox Bet |
|---|---|---|
| Rory McIlroy +650 | Rory McIlroy +600 | Rory McIlroy +600 |
| Jon Rahm +1000 | Jon Rahm +1100 | Jon Rahm +1100 |
| Justin Thomas +1100 | Brooks Koepka +1200 | Brooks Koepka +1400 |
| Brooks Koepka +1200 | Tiger Woods +1200 | Justin Thomas +14000 |
| Tiger Woods +1400 | Dustin Johnson +1400 | Tiger Woods +1400 |
