One of golf’s fun idiosyncrasies is the winner of certain tournaments being handed a handsome cheque and a piece of clothing.
Everyone knows about the green jacket placed on the shoulders of the triumphant player at the Masters but did you know plaid jackets are worn by those who finish on top of the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage and Colonial while the champion at the lesser known Woodstock Open receives a bathrobe?
The golfer who wins this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational is given a red cardigan as tribute to the seven-time major champion and Kurt Kitayama is bidding to become the first golfer to successfully defend the title since Matt Every achieved the feat in 2015.
It’s a tough task because his 68 opponents at Bay Hill in Florida are from the top bracket but he may stand a chance at 80/1 with Unibet as each of the nine tournaments to be staged by the turn of the year have been won by a player attached to big odds.
There haven’t been many flagging up the likes of Nick Dunlap, Matthieu Pavon and Wyndham Clark at the American Express, Farmers Insurance and AT&T for example and who predicted Jake Knapp claiming the Mexico Open or Austin Eckroat strolling to victory at the Cognizant?
Augusta National is currently being spruced up for the first major of the year in less than a month and it’s time for the best golfers on the planet to start clicking into form.
There’s none better than world No.1 Scottie Scheffler who isn’t far off his peak powers with four top-ten finishes to his credit this season. He loves this event as he was tied fourth 12 months ago when defending his title and has to be followed at 7/1 with Betfred.
Jordan Spieth hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when he was disqualified at the Genesis Invitational for handing in an incorrect card but otherwise he’s been playing well with 11 of 12 rounds in 2024 in the 60s. Spieth was T4 at the Arnold Palmer in 2021 and last year and can be backed each-way at 20/1 with bet365.
Patrick Cantlay was T4 last time out at the Genesis and in this tournament last year and is 16/1 with the same firm while our final each-way is Luke List, tied second among elite company at the Genesis. He’s 80/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral and he could be the long shot adding a red cardigan to his wardrobe.
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