6 picks our gambling experts love

Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert forecaster Brady Kannon. An experienced golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and frequent guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, as well as a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter: @LasVegasGolferyou can read below his picks for the 2025 RSM Classic, which takes place on Thursday in St. Simons Island, Georgia. In addition to the contests recommended by Kannon, you can also see games from Chirp Golf, a mobile app offering free tournaments and daily fantasy golf tournaments You can win cash and prizes in every round and tournament.

If we were trying to get into the top 100 in the FedExCup standings, we would probably have achieved our goal. We had a second place finish in Utah, a fourth and eighth place finish in Cabo San Lucas, and two third place finishes last week in Bermuda. While our 2026 Tour card is certainly safe, getting paid for this elusive championship remains well out of our reach.

Travel to St. Simons Island and “Last Shot of Glory.”

The RSM Classic at Sea Island is the final stop for the 2025 fall FedEx Cup and the last chance for players to break into the top 100 in the standings, which will ensure they gain full PGA Tour status in 2026. It’s essentially a group gathering for many of the players competing this week, as they either live in or around the area or practice regularly at Sea Island facilities.

These are two difficult situations to overcome. Do we want to find a player who is in the top 100 in the bubble and think they will be motivated enough to play well this week? Or do you have to face a lot of pressure? Can a person simply “flip a switch” and suddenly reach a higher level because of what’s at stake? For locals, is this just a relaxing few days of golf close to home on a course they know well?

Personally, I don’t pay much attention to either situation. I was lucky enough to have played at Sea Island’s oceanfront courses a few years ago and have some idea of ​​what’s going on here, regardless of one’s position in the standings or where one lives. This is a shorter course, par 70, and plays to just over 7,000 yards. Three of the four rounds will be played on this side, with each player’s round on Thursday or Friday on the Plantation Course, the easier of the two rounds, a par 72 further inland from the coast.

The main defense here is the winds that often blow off the Atlantic coast, but this week’s forecast doesn’t show winds exceeding 10 mph on any of the four days. Golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman of the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas has the winning score bet at under/over 260.5, or 21.5 strokes under par.

In terms of skill set, it’s all about finding the right spot on these relatively wide fairways, establishing a good approach angle to these larger-than-average greens, and holing in some putts for what should be another fall swing birdie extravaganza. 100-175 yards of tight end offense will be key. In my opinion, tee shot accuracy, hole proximity at this distance and scoring on the 12 par 4s will be most important.

I felt the connection to the relevant lessons this week was strong. Shorter coastal courses based in Bermuda. Course accuracy trumps distance, hitting greens within regulations and dealing with possible windy conditions. We tend to see a lot of the same names appear on the leaderboards for all of these courses. Specifically, I looked at Sedgefield Country Club (Wyndham Championship), Waialae CC (Sony Open), Colonial CC (Charles Schwab Challenge), Harbor City (RBC Heritage), Port Royal (Bermuda Championship), and Pebble Beach.

Hats off to the golf gods who have shone upon us this week and found winners in so many close calls of late. I didn’t pick any favorite odds this week because 50-1 is the shortest odds I’ve ever played.

Nico Echavarria (50-1)

Already a two-time Tour winner in his young career, Echavarria is one of the best putters in the field, most recently finishing runner-up at the Sony Open and the 2024 Island Championship. He’s been very consistent in every stat I consider, ranking 35th on the greens in regulation gain over the last 24 rounds. He has finished 14th and 9th in two of the last three races.

Sheamus Power(65-1)

The Irishman is one of the outsiders currently ranked 130th in the FedExCup standings. He has made seven consecutive cuts, finishing 11th in last week’s event in Bermuda, a tournament he won in 2022. I like Ball’s short game as he ranks in the top 5 in near-hole games in the 100-150 yard range. He had two top-five finishes here, third at Colonial, sixth and 12th at Harbor Town, and ninth, 15th and 17th at Pebble Beach.

Mike Meissner (70-1)

It was a good showing for the youngster from nearby Charleston, South Carolina, as he hasn’t missed a chance to advance since July. In between, he finished runner-up at the Wyndham Championship in August and finished 12th in 2024. He also finished fifth at the Colonial Open and 21st at the Sony Open. His approach game is outstanding, ranking sixth in SG: Approach rankings over the past 24 rounds, third in green rule gain, and fifth in hole approach from 125-150 yards.

Stephen Yeager (100-1)

Maybe it’s the coastal connection, otherwise there aren’t many similarities between Sea Island and Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California. But interestingly, the last two RSM Classic champions, Maverick McNeely and Ludwig Aberg, each finished 2-1 at the Genesis Invitational in Torrey earlier this season. Jaeger is another guy who performed well at Torrey Pines and also performed well in some relevant classes this week. He has two top-30 finishes at Sea Island, top-20 finishes at Harbor Town and Bermuda, a top-15 finish at Wyndham and a third-place finish at the Sony Open starting in 2025. Over the past 24 rounds, he ranks in the top 40 in the field in approach on par 4s, 100-175 yard holes and SG: Putting (Bermuda grass).

Chris Ventura(100-1)

Ventura, ranked 121st in the standings, is another player working his way into the top 100. He is 21-11-27-34 in his last four FedExCup fall events, finishing fourth at Torrey Pines earlier this season. He made a lot of birdies, was an excellent putter on the greens in regulation, and ranked in the top 45 in the field in approach distance of 100-175 yards. Ventura finished 16th at Colonial in May of this season.

Lee Hodges (105-1)

Hodges is an Alabama player who is very familiar with golf and Bermuda grass in the area. He’s also on the verge of the FedEx Cup standings, ranked 103rd going into the event. He finished fifth here last year and 12th at the 2024 Charles Schwab Open. Earlier this season, Hodges finished 10th at the Sony Open. His tee shots are accurate, hitting greens in regulation, and over the past 24 rounds, Hodges ranks in the top 25 in the field in hole approach from 100-175 yards.

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