2022 Byron Nelson Betting Card Preview
Ryan Noonan
4 years ago
Before we talk Byron Nelson, congrats to anyone who tailed me on last week’s cover boy Max Homa. Homa opened at 50/1 on FanDuel and closed closer to 30 at most books come Thursday morning. I sink a relatively small portion of my weekly budget in outrights bets, but hitting on a pretournament winner is undeniably one of the best feelings in sports betting. With the PGA Championship on deck next week, let’s bag another winner before heading to Southern Hills.
Likely due to the close proximity to next week’s major, an uncharacteristically strong field is teeing it up at this week’s Byron Nelson. This is the second year of McKinney, Texas’ TPC Craig Ranch as the host venue. Last year’s iteration was a birdie fest despite gusty weekend winds and a relatively weak field. TPC Craig Ranch rated out as the second-easiest track on the 2021 schedule, playing more like your local muni track and less like a PGA Championship tune-up.
The elite tier loses its edge when a course plays as easily as this place projects to play this week, so my outright bets will come from down the board, except for my cover boy. The TPC Craig Ranch fairways are wide, the green complexes are large, and all Par-5’s are reachable in two. So I’m focusing on approach play and birdie opportunities this week, hoping someone can scorch these bentgrass greens for four straight days. For more details on the course, check out Ron’s course preview.
My goal with this piece is to touch on the golfers I’m targeting this week. There are millions of ways to bet on this beautiful game, so I’ll share my opinion on the best way to bet on each golfer in my player pool at this week’s event. When pricing out finishing position bets, I’ll often lean towards BetMGM even if there’s a better number elsewhere because of MGM’s advantageous dead-heat rules. Know the rules of the books that you’re betting on!
Please take advantage of the Discord feature and community. It’s the best way to get up-to-the-minute lines and advice, and if you need help getting started, please reach out. That’s where my full card will be posted, along with any live in-tournament bets. Betting markets are fluid, but I’ll note the best number available at the time of this writing.
*Betting lines accurate at the time of publication.