Ascension Charity Classic Picks in 2021 – PGA Tour Champions Betting Predictions

The PGA Tour Champions is back in St. Louis for the first time in 20 years. Originally scheduled to debut in 2020, the long-awaited unveiling of the Ascension Charity Classic is finally here.

The venue on display is Norwood Hills Country Club (West Course) – site of the 1948 PGA Championship and a handful of prestigious amateur competitions. The par-71 design features undulating fairways and rippling greens – the premium this week is all about precision.

After assessing what’s a star-studded field, here are my top Ascension Charity Classic picks.

Save for Steve Stricker, all of the top Champions Tour players are in the field this week. That’s led to the bunched-up pricing near the top and lots of value in the middle tier. Among the under-the-radar names who are worth a look this week, here are two golfers to consider.  

Ranked 9^th in driving accuracy and 22^nd in GIR, Paul Goydos plays a boring” style of golf that should fare well at Norwood Hills. Also worth noting, Goydos is an above-average putter (16^th in putting average) who has flashed a propensity to get red-hot with his flat stick and shoot some mighty-low scores.

Aside from being a good fit at this track, Paul’s recent form hints that a breakthrough performance is on the horizon. Top-30s in each of his last eight starts, including 13^th or better in four of his last five.

A bridesmaid nine times on the 50-and-over circuit, Tim Petrovic has been knocking on the door all season long. The 55-year-old Hartford grad has racked up seven top-7s this year (including three 2^nd-place finishes) and leads the Champions Tour in a variety of putting statistics.

Sitting 16^th in the Charles Schwab Cub Money List (4^th among players without a victory), backing Petrovic to win is a bit of a gamble due to his sometimes spotty ball-striking. Having said that, “the price is right” to take a flier. Tim could be one swing thought away from putting it all together.

Shifting my focus to Ascension Charity Classic predictions that are substantially more reliable, I’ll now toss out two names who I fully expect to contend for the hardware on Sunday.

These are good pivots for those unmotivated by Jim Furyk’s +600 price tag.

5^th at the Boeing Classic and 9^th at the Ally Challenge, Woody Austin has long been hailed as a top-tier ball-striker. Right on cue, Woody hit over 76% of the fairways and over 81% of the greens his last time out at Warwick Hills. Austin made just two bogeys across the 54 holes and continued to show strides on the greens.

Quietly ranked 11^th on the PGA Tour Champions in overall putting average, Woody’s current profile is the exact type I’m looking for when locking in Ascension Charity Classic picks.

Quick, head to BetUS now and buy some shares in Steve Flesch at +4000. The 54-year-old lefty arrives in the Gateway to the West on a 13^th-2^nd-11^th-4^th burst – a stretch of golf that includes three 64s and a couple of 65s. I raved about Woody Austin compiling just two bogeys at the Ally Challenge – now’s a good time to tell you that Flesch carded just one bogey all week long.

The top golf betting sites only installed two head-to-head matchups this week in which one player was getting “plus-money.” I’m in no mood to fade Jim Furyk (vs. Retief Goosen) but am highly intrigued to latch onto Alex Cejka at +105 (vs. Jerry Kelly).

Typically one of my go-to PGA Tour Champions betting picks, Kelly’s coming off a T30 at the Ally Challenge and has shot 71 or higher in three of his last four rounds. This smells like a time to get off Jerry’s train and find a new conductor.

Enter Alex Cejka.

The 50-year-old German won the first two majors he played on this tour (2021 Regions Tradition, 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship), although it’s his recent uptick that has me excited about his chances in St. Louis.

I suggest snagging Cejka in this matchup before the plus money disappears.