Ernie Els is the favorite at the online bookmaker to win the Valero Texas Open which begins on Thursday. Els is the 7th ranked player in the world but he is the number one ranked player in the FedExCup standings. He is listed as the 9-1 offshore betting favorite this week.
Online bookmaker odds list two-time defending champion Zach Johnson as the 10-1 second choice. Bo Van Pelt is the third choice at the online bookmaker at 16-1. Although many of the top players in the world are not playing in this tournament, the field is not without some big names. In addition to Els and Johnson, Vijay Singh, Justin Leonard and Sergio Garcia are in the field. Ryan Palmer and Cameron Beckman are also in the field and both of them have victories this season. Past winners of the tournament are also in the field. Leonard has won the event three times while Johnson has won it twice. Eric Exley, Robert Gamez, Tommy Armour III, Tim Herron and Bob Estes are also past winners in the field.
The Valero Texas Open has been held at the Resort Course at La Cantera the past 15 years but this year it moves to the 7,522-yard, par-72 course in far north Bexar County. “It’s longer and it looks tight,” Johnson said, “The greens look very, very treacherous. It’s going to be a very different test.”
If you are looking for a hot player to take this week in golf odds at the online bookmaker you may want to consider Van Pelt. He has three top five finishes in a row. He leads the tour in ball-striking. He is in the Top 15 of birdies or better on par four and par fives. Els and Johnson are the favorites at the online bookmaker but Van Pelt is playing very well.
Other players to consider in offshore betting are John Rollins who was tied for 13th last week. He ranks fourth on Tour in ball-striking. Rollins is a very appealing 30-1 this week. Fredrick Jacobson is also 30-1 and he has five Top 25 finishes this year. He tied for 10th last week at the Players Championship. A longshot that could be worth a look this week at the online bookmaker is Matt Jones. He tied for 10th at the Zurich Classic and he tied for seventh at Quail Hollow. You can’t argue with his odds of 50-1.