The golfing year draws to an end this week and it is set for a thrilling climax. The biannual Presidents Cup heads to Melbourne, Australia where a strong USA side are assembling to tackle a group of Internationals who arrive as the underdogs.
Matchplay golf gives us something a little different to close out 2019 and while Team USA is expected to dominate, there should be some thrilling golf and plenty of value betting options along the way.
USAbetting is closing out our own year in style. Having claimed Jon Rahm as a +650 shot two weeks ago, Henrik Stenson came home as the Top European on Sunday to deliver the profit at +500 (5/1). Let’s look to continue and finish with a three-peat in Australia.
Presidents Cup Golf Teams and Format
The Presidents’ Cup follows a similar format to the more popular Ryder Cup but there are some notable differences. Firstly, this is an extended tournament, played over four days so the players will tee off this Thursday, December 12, and the competition will conclude on the following Sunday.
There are 30 points up for grabs across 30 matches and the first team to reach 15.5 points wins the trophy. Those matches consist of nine fourballs, nine foursomes and 12 singles.
As for teams, the internationals exclude any players from Europe and that weakens them somewhat. For 2019, the squad is captained by Ernie Els and it includes Marc Leishman, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day. In the opposition camp, Tiger Woods skippers the US who will field Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Webb Simpson amongst others.
That’s how it all works so let’s see if we can pick some winners with our Presidents Cup predictions.
Presidents Cup Match Odds
You won’t find any betting that is odds-against for the US team this week as all their odds start with a minus. That is because the United States have won 10 of the previous 12 tournaments and they are going into the 2019 renewal with the stronger of the two rosters.
The International side are the outsiders but don’t forget that there is an option for the tie. The teams can finish level at 15-15 and while that scenario would mean that the U.S. retain the trophy, it would leave some lucky punters claiming a profit at around the +1200 mark.
Prop Bets for Presidents Cup
Matchplay golf offers the opportunity for a wider selection of prop bets and the 2019 Presidents Cup is no exception. For 2019, some of these are quite unusual and, following Patrick Reed’s rule breech at the weekend, there are options relating to the 2018 Masters Champion. Customers of Betonline, which is one of the United States’ biggest offshore sportsbooks, can bet on whether Reed will be penalized for cheating. The same online bookie has prices on whether Tiger Woods will be booed when he is introduced.
USAbetting is going to keep things a little more sensible for our own prop bets. There are options on how many points certain players will win and the line is set here at 2.5. Punters can also speculate on who will be the Top American and Top International points scorer and this Presidents Cup preview will consider those two bets in the following section.
Presidents Cup Course & Betting Trends with Predictions, Tips & Picks Verdict
The host venue for the 2019 Presidents Cup is the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Victoria, Australia. The course previously held this event in 2011 with Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and Dustin Johnson all on the team. It is a course where accuracy is king as the rough is punishing and strong winds can play their part. Interestingly, this is the only course where the US have lost so will that have a subconscious effect?
We mentioned top points scorer betting: Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen took the respective honors in 2017 and both have claims again this year.
As for our Presidents Cup predictions’ verdict, we suggest betting on the USA to win if you want to end the year with a small profit. The defending Presidents Cup Champions have to deal with the late withdrawal of Brooks Koepka but there is far greater squad depth in their camp. We mentioned the cream of the Internationals line up but beyond the likes of Day, Scott, Leishman and Matsuyama, there just isn’t the same quality.
As for top points scorers, Dustin Johnson is returning from injury so we’re opting for the consistent Xander Schauffele for the US. He’s a dependable golfer and hopefully we can also depend on him to keep the profits going as we close out 2019.
In summary, these are our Presidents Cup picks and betting tips:
- USA to win @ -278 with Intertops. It is -350 with Bovada and BetOnline & -355 with Bookmaker.
- Xander Schauffele to be Top US Points Scorer (aka ‘Top American’) @ +700 with BetOnline. It is +650 with Bovada and +600 with Intertops sportsbooks.
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.