The two stops in Hawaii to kick off the 2023 PGA calendar year were a mixed bag for those who like betting on favorites.
On the one hand, Jon Rahm had a nice come-from-behind win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to cash in at a light +800, and then Kim came through this past weekend at the Sony Open – only it was Si Woo (+3700) and not the heavily bet Tom who was atop the odds board at +1100.
We are off the islands and onto the Pacific coast this week as the TOUR heads to La Quinta, CA, for the American Express. Hudson Swafford won this event at +15000 last year, but this season it’s a big-name tournament that features half of the top 20 in OWGR in action. Here is the top of the leaderboard for the 2023 American Express:
Jon Rahm +650
Collin Morikawa held a 9-stroke lead at one point on Sunday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, but a Sunday 63 from Rahm, as well as a couple of misfires from Morikawa, helped the world #4 get his first win of the 2023 calendar year. It was an overdue victory in Maui for Rahm, who fired a -33 at last season’s event only to lose when Cam Smith set the 72-hole-to-par PGA record with a -34.
Rahm was the +600 American Express favorite last season but only finished T14. Rahm did win this oft-name-changed event back in 2018 when it was known as the CareerBuilder Challenge.
Patrick Cantlay +1100
Patrick Cantlay had a somewhat disappointing T16 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to kick off his 2023, considering he was fifth highest on the odds at +1200. It was also his first TOUR Event since the Shriners Children’s Open in October, so he could be dangerous this weekend after knocking off the rust.
Scottie Scheffler +1200
Scottie Scheffler is holding on to the #2 spot in the OWGR heading into the 2023 American Express, and he’s had a consistent end to 2022 / start to 2023 with four straight top 10 finishes. He remains an unarguable pick in every tournament from here until Augusta.
Tony Finau +1400
Tony Finau had a pretty solid start to his 2023 calendar year with a seventh-place finish at Kapalua two weeks ago, and he’s already got a win for the 2022/23 season, taking first at the Cadence Bank Houston Open.
We thought Finau might go back-to-back just like he did last season at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic, but he had to withdraw from the RSM Classic with an injury a week after his Houston Open victory. Either way, Finau looks healthy now.
Will Zalatoris +1600
It was good just to see Will Zalatoris back on the course completing a whole weekend two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions after the tail end of his 2022 season was disrupted by back issues that caused him to miss the final two legs of the FedEx Cup Playoffs after starting off with a win at the FedEx-St.Jude Championship.
Zalatoris finished sixth at this event last season even despite a 58.6% driving accuracy, so if he can fine-tune that, look out.
