Betting Preview for the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession

If you thought the field in LA was stacked, wait until you get a look at who’s teeing it up this week in Bradenton. 48 of the top 50 players in the world are at The Concession Golf Club for the first WGC event of the year, and boy, will it be a test.

Toting a course rating of 76.7 and a 155 slope, the Jack Nicklaus/Tony Jacklin co-design was awarded as the “Best New Private Course” by Golf Digest in 2006. You won’t find a tougher course in all of West Florida.

With that, let’s start digging into some WGC predictions.

A T8 at The Genesis Invitational wasn’t what Dustin Johnson has in mind, although his streak of consecutive top-12 finishes is now up to 11. This dates back to the last WGC event in Memphis nearly seven months ago.

The only absentees among the top-50 in the OWGR this week are Paul Casey and Tiger Woods, and the majority of this field has never competed at this golf course before. Having said that, Bryson DeChambeau won the 2015 NCAA DI Championship right here at The Concession Golf Club.

Bryson fired rounds of 70-67-72-71 (-8) to hold of C.T. Pan by a shot. Four others who earned a tee time this week played in the ’15 National Championship, here’s how each man fared:

Outside of the four majors and THE PLAYERS, the WGC events are the most acclaimed tournaments in professional golf. Their prominence is matched with a captivating list of recent champions. 

In all, Dustin Johnson has won six WGC events – twice as many as anyone else not named Tiger Woods. DJ’s +650 odds aren’t very appetizing, but there’s something about Johnson and the WGC-Championship during the odd-numbered years.

Case in point – Dustin won the WGC-Championship in 2015, 2017, and 2019. His utter dominance has to be factored for anyone betting on the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession.

I rode Viktor Hovland in the top-10 market at Riviera, and I’m going right back to the Norwegian’s well at The Concession. Only this time, I’m going for the glory. On the heels of his T5 at The Genesis Invitational, Viktor’s now racked up five top-6 finishes in his last six worldwide starts. He’s landed 15th or better in 9 of his last 11 appearances.

In terms of what was working at Riv, Hovland had it all going on. Viktor led the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and ranked 1st in scrambling, and he carded just one bogey over his final 40 holes.

Everything about this week’s setup alludes to it being the ultimate grind, and I love Hovland in those situations.

Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are great bets to log top-10s. The problem is the prices attached aren’t all that appealing. Especially with all the value that’s lurking.

On that note, here are two additional WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession predictions to target.

This Florida resident has quietly become one of the most reliable players on tour. 10 top-10s in his last 19 starts hints at his dependability, and the dude has seemingly forgotten what’s it like to shoot over par. Berger gained some attention for garnering 32 straight rounds of par or better in the 2019-20 campaign, and he’s up to his same old tricks in 2021.

Don’t look now, but Daniel strolls into Bradenton armed with 26 straight rounds of par or better.

After a rare week off, Sungjae Im hops back on the saddle and is poised to tally another top-20 on tour. 17th or better in five of his last eight starts is one reason to have faith, and his play in the Sunshine State is another.

There are 177 players with 20+ @PGATOUR rounds in Florida over the last 5 seasons.

The only player gaining 2+ strokes tee-to-green* per round in that group? pic.twitter.com/v4Kk5WVSiN

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) February 22, 2021

Im’s a walking ATM machine sitting in prime position to cash another huge check on Sunday.