Authored By: Adrian Rosati

Photo credit: Bryan Berlin, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last week’s Rocket Classic gave us our second consecutive first-time winner in Michael Thorbjornsen, following Jackson Koivun the week prior.

Here’s our preview of the top eight golfers based on betting odds (odds as of Monday, August 3 at 10:00 p.m. and subject to change). Please bet responsibly. We will provide our expert picks below.

Cameron Young | OWGR 3rd | +810

Cameron Young leads the way as the favourite this year after winning this event with a score of -22 (258) last year. Young is coming off a T-8 finish last week at the Rocket Classic (the final Rocket Classic ever), moving him into third in the Official World Golf Ranking. He had an excellent second round, shooting a 9-under 61, but his limiter last week was shooting only 2-under over his final 36 holes, which included an even-par 70 on Sunday when his push was needed most.

Heading into the Wyndham off two top-10 finishes after falling just short at the U.S. Open, the momentum is certainly on his side. He undoubtedly is going to need a good weekend to give himself another chance.

Jackson Koivun | OWGR 70th | +2000

If you haven’t heard of Jackson Koivun yet, I bet you’ll start hearing about him now. Koivun did take a step back this week after earning his first career win the week prior at the 3M Open. The young superstar shot 8-under, which was good for a T-31 finish.

The limiter for Koivun last week was that he didn’t have any eye-popping 5- or 6-under rounds to propel him up the leaderboard. Before that, he had two consecutive top-10 finishes, including the win mentioned above. I think coming off this result will be different from celebrating a victory.

What I appreciate most about his weekend is that he was consistent. It wasn’t like he shot low one day and then followed it with an over-par round. He consistently shot between 1- and 3-under all weekend long. It’s hard to win on the PGA Tour in general, let alone when your best round is a 67. I expect him to bounce back this week as his career continues its impressive start.

Hideki Matsuyama | OWGR 24th | +2500

Hideki has been on a roll since the U.S. Open, recording four straight top-20 finishes, with his two most recent tournaments resulting in top-five finishes. He’s been knocking on the door for a win, and the former Masters champion is looking for another victory on Tour.

His last win came over a calendar year ago at The Sentry in January 2025. Similar to Scottie Scheffler lately, Hideki got hot late. He fired a bogey-free 64 on Sunday, but two bogeys on both Friday and Saturday, along with one bogey on Thursday, really put a damper on his week. Those five dropped shots were the difference between a T-5 finish and forcing a playoff for a potential win.

He finished T-19 at this tournament last year. Paired with his current form, I like Hideki to stay in the hunt once again.

Ben Griffin | OWGR 20th | +2600

Ben Griffin has certainly had a roller coaster of a year since breaking onto the scene as one of the Tour’s top golfers last season. The last two weeks have resulted in a T-59 finish and, most recently, a missed cut. However, three top-25 finishes before that prove the roller coaster narrative.

His T-11 finish at this tournament last year is definitely weighing on his odds in this scenario. Coming off a missed cut, he also had two additional days to get acclimated, which we’ve seen benefit him before, as his previous top-25 streak came after a missed cut.

He’s going to have to find a low round this week to get himself ahead. With the kind of year he’s had, I don’t expect him to win this week.

Justin Thomas | OWGR 22nd | +2700

I have to be honest, Justin Thomas has kind of been irrelevant this entire year. After coming off surgery that caused him to miss events at the beginning of the season, Thomas has managed only one top-10 finish, which is certainly below expectations for the kind of career he has built for himself.

Don’t get me wrong, I like rooting for JT. He’s a funny guy, and he’s obviously good at golf, but he’s been a non-factor over the last two weeks after beginning to heat up with eight top-20 finishes, including that lone top 10. You could chalk it up to links golf or simply an adjustment year, but I’d lean toward the latter.

What’s even more puzzling is that JT didn’t even play in this event last year. I could see him sneaking into the top 10 after two weeks off since The Open to rest and recuperate, but winning this week definitely feels like a stretch, as the odds suggest.

Ryan Gerard | OWGR 25th | +2900

Ryan Gerard has had a great year, quietly propelling himself up the world rankings. He is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes, one of which came at The Open Championship.

Aside from a few poorly played events, he’s been very solid, including a runner-up finish at the Memorial after losing a playoff to J.T. Poston.

At the Rocket Classic last week, he started strong with a 7-under round, but six bogeys over the middle two rounds (three in each) were the difference between finishing at 12-under and tying or forcing a playoff at 18-under. Shooting just 2-under over half the tournament (1-under on Friday and 1-under on Saturday) simply isn’t going to cut it if your goal is to win on Tour.

He’ll need to clean up that part of his game. His Sunday round, featuring just one bogey in a 3-under 67, was a promising step in the right direction. He can certainly be streaky based on his play this season, and I expect him to be in contention yet again.

Aaron Rai | OWGR 19th | +3100

Aaron Rai is hoping for a bounce-back performance. He hasn’t played in any events since the Tour returned to the United States. During the European stretch, Rai missed both cuts. This break could have served as a reset to get himself back on track.

Since the Masters, he has recorded two top-five finishes, including his win at the PGA Championship, along with four top-20 finishes and three missed cuts. It’s been a whirlwind stretch, to say the least. Very Ben Griffin-like, except Rai has won a major.

So why is he in the top eight in terms of betting odds? He won this championship in 2024 and finished T-5 last year, eight shots behind Cameron Young. Clearly, he has consistently been in contention at this event, and this year could be a continuation of that trend.

I think he’s a longer shot than the sportsbooks suggest, but Aaron Rai is someone I’d certainly be happy to see win this week.

Tom Kim | OWGR 33rd | +3600

The Tom Kim up-and-down season appears to be scheduled for a down week. His last four events are as follows: T-46 (John Deere), 1st (Genesis), Cut (The Open), and T-20 (3M Open).

The problem at the 3M Open was a slow start. He was 5-under through the first two rounds but played the weekend at 9-under. The issue wasn’t necessarily bogeys—it was simply that he made too many pars. In my opinion, that’s a good problem to have, but he’ll need a low round early to carry him through the tournament, as we’ve seen from recent winners.

With Michael Kim’s recent 59, we’ve seen how one exceptional round can propel a player into the top 10. Tom will need a mid-to-low 60s round early, and if he can pair that with a double-digit-under-par weekend, I can see that being the formula.

However, as we can see above, he’s competing against some streaky competition. A weaker field presents an opportunity for that strategy to work, but it also depends on Cameron Young slowing down over the weekend. I wouldn’t bet on that happening very often.

That said, he’s still World No. 33, and his game hasn’t fallen off enough to say never. I’m leaning towards him not getting it done this week, but his play this week could certainly change how I feel about him.

Expert Picks

Our experts have curated their thoughts below. We will have a ranking system for the rest of the year using the following point system:

Correct Pick – 3 points

1st Place among Experts – 5 points

2nd Place among Experts – 3 points

3rd Place among Experts – 1 point

Any ties (excluding correct picks) will split the total points for the tied positions. For example, if two experts tie for first, each expert will receive four points ((5 for first + 3 for second) divided evenly). We will use this ranking to evaluate how well our experts are performing and help quantify our validity.

Rosati’s Pick

Hideki Matsuyama is winning this week. There are question marks surrounding everyone this week, including him, but I think he has the fewest. He’s coming in after a tournament where he was in contention until the very end. It’s very plausible that Cameron Young struggles to put together another really low round, and Koivun’s lack of experience could open the door for Mastuyama to take charge.

Smith’s Pick

Ryan Gerard is my pick this week. As highlighted above, Gerard has quietly been on a heater. All it takes is cleaning up the bogeys, and he’s pushing for another top-five finish at minimum.

Hutson’s Pick

Ben Griffin has been historically good at this golf course. He has four top-10 finishes here, and despite his rocky recent play, that gives me confidence he can go out this week, put together a good tournament, and be in the hunt. With his strong course history and his play not translating good results, he is definitely due. In a weaker field, this could be the spark he needs to get it done.

We look forward to another great weekend of golf and will recap everything that happened, along with our thoughts, on Monday!