Action Report: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg popular ahead of Valero Texas Open

Star power is leading the betting action ahead of the PGA TOUR’s Valero Texas Open from the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio, with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and young gun Ludvig Åberg proving popular with the bettors.

Several star players are in the field a week out from the Masters, in fact, 30 of those teeing it up already have a ticket to Augusta National Golf Club next week. Joining McIlroy and company include other TOUR winners like Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and defending champion Corey Conners.

When it comes to golf betting, bettors at the BetMGM online sportsbook are favoring several of these stars.

As of Wednesday, Åberg, Spieth and McIlroy are the three most popular players. McIlroy has the shortest odds in the field at +1000, followed by Åberg at +1200, while Spieth is fourth at +2000.

Åberg is pulling in the most handle (17.2%) on the third-most tickets (6%), while Spieth has the second-highest handle (10.7%) on the second-most tickets (6.4%). Meanwhile, McIlroy has the third-highest handle (9.5%) on the most tickets (6.9%).

Spieth has the best tournament history, winning the event in 2021, finishing runner-up in 2015, and finishing in the top 41 in four of his five other appearances. McIlroy missed the cut in 2022 but was runner-up in his only other appearance in 2013. Åberg missed the cut as an amateur in 2022.

In terms of recent form, Åberg enters playing the best. He’s coming off five straight top-25 finishes, including eighth at THE PLAYERS Championship and runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

On the other hand, Spieth has missed back-to-back cuts at The PLAYERS Championship and Valspar Championship, and McIlroy’s best finish on the PGA TOUR this year in five events is a T19 at THE PLAYERS Championship.

Spieth, Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick (+2800) are BetMGM’s biggest liabilities this week.

Current Handle and Tickets

Handle

• Ludvig Åberg – 17.2%
• Jordan Spieth – 10.7%
• Rory McIlroy – 9.5%
• Matt Fitzpatrick – 6.1%
• Hideki Matsuyama – 4.5%

Tickets

• Rory McIlroy – 6.9%
• Jordan Spieth – 6.4%
• Ludvig Åberg – 6.0%
• Hideki Matsuyama – 5.1%
• Matt Fitzpatrick – 4.8%

Fitzpatrick is making his tournament debut and is coming off a fifth-place finish at THE PLAYERS.

Conners (+2200) is the defending champion, having also won in 2019, and is drawing 3.9% of the tickets and 3.7% of the handle.

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