After an epic ‘Gather Round’ of footy last weekend, the focus remains in Adelaide this week with LIV Golf making its first appearance Down Under.
Starting Friday, the famed Grange Golf Club will play host to the 48-man field, with the all-Aussie Ripper GC team featuring Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, and Jediah Morgan attracting plenty of attention.
To add to the excitement, several names are coming off impressive performances at Augusta a fortnight ago, including runner-ups Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
The fourth event of the LIV season shapes as a fascinating one, and our best bets for this weekend’s action in Adelaide can be found below!
LIV Golf Adelaide Best Bet
Patrick Reed – $17
Reed has been knocking on the door of a well-deserved win, finishing tied for third at the LIV event in Orlando on the way to a T4 at Augusta a couple of weeks ago.
With tree-lined fairways on most holes, the Grange course can be a nightmare for those that struggle for accuracy off the tee, but that shouldn’t be a problem for the 2018 green jacket winner.
Reed finished 12th in driving accuracy at Augusta, and despite never looking like the winner, he did card four solid rounds overall.
He’ll largely be a villain this week with plenty happening off the course, but given his recent form and consistent short game, I think Reed is a good bet to snag his first LIV win on a course that should suit his game.
LIV Golf Adelaide Best Value
Marc Leishman – $29.00
Leish was absent at Augusta a couple of weeks ago, so he should be fit and raring to go.
The Adelaide event was one of the main drawing cards for the Aussie when he made the Saudi switch last year, and although he’s plummeted in the world rankings, the 39-year-old is still playing some solid golf.
Leishman owns Top 30 finishes in his last three LIV events, storming home late at Orlando a few weeks ago with a final round 68.
Given he’ll likely garner less attention than his Ripper GC teammate Cameron Smith, Leish might be the better bet of the Aussies this week.
LIV Golf Adelaide Best Roughie
Phil Mickelson – $56.00
Watching Mickelson strut around Augusta a fortnight ago was almost surreal.
The long-time maverick rubbed some golf fans the wrong way when he made the switch to LIV, changing his persona, his appearance, and playing in front of record-low crowds.
The fans fell back in love with lefty on his way to a final round 65 at Augusta though, a performance he can certainly build on this week in Adelaide.
I’m not sure if the skinny fairways will suit his game, but like I said earlier about Reed, he did rank highly in accuracy off the tee at the Masters.
Whether that was due to course familiarity is a fair question, but with a warm reception likely again this week, I think this is a huge price for Phil.
