Action Report: Bettors love Rickie Fowler ahead of Valero Texas Open

The Valero Texas Open is set to be Rickie Fowler’s drought-breaking wonderland according to the majority of bettors at BetMGM online sportsbook.

Fowler is chasing a first PGA TOUR win since 2019 at TPC San Antonio and with it a trip to the Masters for the first time since 2020. The golf betting community believes Fowler’s last-ditch effort to get to Augusta National shapes up nicely.

Only 11 players in the field this week are exempt for the Masters, with Fowler leading those chasing the final invitation via victory.

As of Wednesday, Fowler is pulling in a massive 18.1% of the handle on 12.8% of tickets. This is by far the most of any player. He has +1600 odds to win, which are the second-best in the field.

The 34-year-old enters the event playing his best golf in years, which includes five top-20 finishes in his last six starts, including a T13 at THE PLAYERS Championship.

Specific to TPC San Antonio, he missed the cut at the tournament in 2022 but had back-to-back T17 finishes in 2021 and 2019. Fowler’s strong ball-striking should serve him well playing in the tricky Texas wind.

Another player generating a lot of action is Si Woo Kim (+1800, third-best odds). He has tied for the second-most handle (7.6%) on the second-most tickets (6%).

Unlike Fowler, he’s in the field at Augusta. He also has a solid course history at TPC San Antonio.

The 27-year-old has made the cut five straight times, and that includes two top-20 finishes, the best being a T-4 back in 2019 when he led after the first three rounds.

Fowler and Kim are two of BetMGM’s top three liabilities for the tournament.

Current Handle & Tickets

Handle

Rickie Fowler – 18.1%

Si Woo Kim – 7.6%

Matt Kuchar – 7.6%

Tyrrell Hatton – 5.8%

Corey Conners – 5.6%

Tickets

Rickie Fowler – 12.8%

Si Woo Kim – 6%

Hideki Matsuyama – 4.6%

Matt Kuchar – 4.1%

Corey Conners – 3.6%

Matt Kuchar (+2800) is BetMGM’s second liability, and he comes into the week making it into the Round of 16 at last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies World Match Play.

Tyrrell Hatton has the best odds of any player in the field at +1200, which makes sense, given he’s the highest-ranked player in the official world golf ranking (17th). Caution exists after his 0-3 record at match play and a potential lingering hand injury.

Corey Conners (+2000) won the 2019 edition of the tournament as a Monday qualifier.

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