Matt Fitzpatrick’s recent run up to a career-best No 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking has drawn significant attention from the public ahead of next month’s PGA Championship.
Fitzpatrick outlasted World No 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to claim a signature event title at the RBC Heritage on Sunday. It was an exclamation point on a run that began with a runner-up place at The Players Championship, a win at the Valspar Championship and a tie for 18th at the Masters.
After a bogey on the 72nd hole on Sunday that dropped him into a playoff with Scheffler, Fitzgerald rebounded to knock his approach with a 4-iron into a stiff wind to 13 feet, and drained the birdie putt on the first playoff hole.
Following the effort, Fitzgerald, 31, went from 35/1 to 20/1 to win the second major of the year at the PGA Championship by Oddschecker.
The 2022 US Open champion has also been the most-backed player this week with 23% of the total bets placed on the PGA Championship winner since his victory at Harbor Town.
The second-most bet player this week has been Cameron Young, who tracked down and beat Fitzpatrick at The Players. Young has been backed by 6% of the total bets this week, along with Ludvig Aberg, Sam Burns and Justin Rose.
Scheffler is still the PGA Championship favourite at 7/2, giving him a 22% implied probability to win. He has been backed by 5% of the total bets this week, along with LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm.
The second shortest pre-tournament odds belong to Masters champion Rory McIlroy at 7/1. Rahm is 12/1, followed by Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau at 16/1 and Fitzpatrick and Young at 20/1.
Fitzpatrick and his brother, Alex, are also the co-favourites ahead of this week’s Zurich Classic, the only team event on the PGA Tour. They are 11/1 along with the team of Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry. - Field Level Media
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