After a mixed reception in Europe, the LIV Golf Tour made its U.S. debut recently at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon. Bookmakers expect an increase in wagering in the half-dozen states which permit betting on the tour, those being Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbooks, DraftKings, PointsBet and the SuperBook are among the sportsbooks planning to offer betting on the LIV event in the approved states. DraftKings also is offering a daily fantasy contest on the event. FanDuel and Circa Sports have not yet posted odds.
Dustin Johnson is the consensus favorite, listed at 8-1 at the SuperBook. Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer are each 12-1. Phil Mickelson, perhaps the most high-profile PGA defector so far, is 80-1.
SuperBook is only taking bets with odds to win the tournament and a select few head-to-head matchups, according to ESPN.
Jeff Sherman, a longtime Nevada bookmaker with SuperBook, said the first LIV tournament in London drew a handle about one-seventh of what was wagered in the PGA event, the RBC Canadian Open, the same week.
“The handle was a little bit higher than I thought it would be for the first LIV event,” Sherman said.
Sherman anticipates more interest in the Oregon LIV event, but the PGA-backed John Deere Classic still has the edge even with a poor field, he said.
“You’re not going to find any PGA Tour field as poor as this one [at the John Deere Classic]. For a standalone PGA event, this is about as poor as it gets for quality of field,” Sherman said. “We’ll be interested to see how much LIV stands up to that.”
Controversy has shrouded the Saudi Arabian-financed LIV Tour, often about the kingdom’s human rights records.
Still, sportsbooks throughout the world are incorporating bets on LIV events, even with data feed and broadcast issues.
“While it did not meet the turnover of the RBC Canadian, we expect that to increase given the stronger and better field in comparison to the PGA tour this week,” Rachael Kane, a spokesperson for Irish sportsbook Paddy Power, told ESPN in an email. “It’s been enjoyable to watch and to trade on, despite the leaderboards being top heavy.”
The PGA Tour has created partnerships with American sportsbooks and relying on data companies, bettors can live wager on tournaments. LIV hopes to jump into that space sooner rather than later.
