Golf betting tips: Alfred Dunhill Championship and Grant Thornton Invitational

The DP World Tour remains in South Africa this week for the Alfred Dunhill Championship, while it’s time for something a little different in the United States as PGA and LPGA Tour stars team up for the Grant Thornton Invitational.

Leopard Creek Country Club, home to the Alfred Dunhill since 2005, hosts the event for the 18th time and the home nation boasts a strong hand, headed by last year’s winner Louis Oosthuizen, who is 8/1 to double up in Mpumalanga province.

The Grant Thornton, meanwhile, is a three-round mixed pairs tournament that begins at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, on Friday. The high-class all-American team of Tony Finau and Nelly Korda are 9/2 to claim victory.

Alfred Dunhill Championship golf betting tips

• Outright winner – Louis Oosthuizen @ 8/1 with BetMGM
• Outright winner – Charl Schwartzel @ 25/1 with BetMGM

Oosthuizen can repeat title deeds

Now primarily plying his trade on the LIV Tour, Louis Oosthuizen showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with in last year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, winning by two shots before he followed up in the Mauritius Open a week later.

The 2010 Open champion is well suited to Leopard Creek, where accuracy has increasingly proved the route to success. Four of his previous five appearances at the course have resulted in finishes of seventh or better.

Oosthuizen warmed up for his Alfred Dunhill defence on the Asian Tour, finishing third and 17th in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and he could prove formidable in his bid for a repeat.

Tip: Outright winner – Louis Oosthuizen @ 8/1 with BetMGM

Creek suits Schwartzel to a tee

Oosthuizen’s greatest challenge could come from last year’s runner-up Charl Schwartzel, who is being underestimated at the prices given his obvious affinity for Leopard Creek.

Schwartzel, who like Oosthuizen spends most of his time banking cheques on the LIV circuit these days, has been the dominant force in this event over the past two decades, winning four times and finishing second on five other occasions.

The Joburg man is not the force of old but there’s no doubt he is capable of contending again at Leopard Creek only a fortnight after he finished second in the International Series Qatar. 

Tip: Outright winner – Charl Schwartzel @ 25/1 with BetMGM

Grant Thornton Invitational golf betting tips

• Outright winner – Tom Kim & Atthaya Thitikul @ 11/2 with BetMGM
• Outright winner – Jason Day & Lydia Ko @ 6/1 with BetMGM

In-form duo merit short price 

The Grant Thornton Invitational features three rounds of different formats and the team of Tom Kim and Atthaya ‘Jeeno’ Thitikul could prove best equipped to post the ultra-low scores that will probably be required to win this week.

Kim relishes team events – he has been a fired-up member of the previous two International teams at the Presidents Cup – and he arrives at Tiburon in excellent form, having finished runner-up behind Scottie Scheffler at last week’s Hero World Challenge.

His partner Thitikul, meanwhile, is the LPGA’s No4-ranked player and won the CME Group Tour Championship last month, which also takes place at Tiburon.

Tip: Outright winner – Tom Kim & Atthaya Thitikul @ 11/2 with BetMGM

Day and Ko make dream team  

Jason Day and Lydia Ko leaned on their short-game brilliance to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational last season and there’s no obvious reason why the duo can’t successfully defend their title.

The predecessor to the Grant Thornton – the QBE Shootout – featured a host of repeat winners and team cohesion, something that Day and Ko clearly have, is important.

Australian Day tied for last place in an elite 20-man Hero World Challenge field but he had previously had a top-10 finish in his native Australia.

In New Zealander Ko, he has a top-class partner who has won both Olympic gold and the Women’s British Open in recent months.

Tip: Outright winner – Jason Day & Lydia Ko @ 6/1 with BetMGM