2024 PGA Tour season begins in earnest with AT&T Pebble Beach

After a crazy year away from the links, the PGA Tour is getting back in the swing for the 2024 season with one of its Signature events, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend.

The format has changed - a lot has changed on tour lately - with the amateurs and pros only partnering for the first two days before the 80 pros take over for the weekend on historic Pebble Beach.

It’s the start of the 2024 golf season, season 109 all-time, and Michigan sports bettors will find plenty of opportunities each week wherever the pros play. Betting on golf is more interesting than you might think because there are not just markets on the winner and top 10 finishers, but also fun weekly props and the ability to bet on head-to-head match-ups on your favorite players.

BetMGM has Rory McIlroy and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler as +900 to win this weekend, and has tournament specials like an American winner (-160) and the ability to bet on there being a hole in one in any round. The Golden Nugget has three-ball match-ups, where you can bet on the scores of two individual players, and who will win, or whether they will tie.

Pebble Beach Preview

When you hear or read about the latest PGA Tour controversy and whether or not they will truly partner with the LIV Golf Series, just remember it’s all about money. Lots of it and how it gets divided among players and sponsors.

Justin Rose is the defending champion at Pebble Beach, winning last year by three strokes. The event was pushed back a day because of bad weather, and bad weather is in the forecast again. The purse is $20 million, with the winning collecting $3.6 million.

The Pro-Am is being downplayed since this is now marked as a ‘Signature” PGA Tour event, meaning only for the best players and there is no cut. Current Jets QB Aaron Rodgers and Ben Silverman won the Pro-Am last year.

PGA Tour Preview

Scheffler enters the season ranked No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings, followed by McIlroy at No. 2 and then Jon Rahm. But Rahm maintains his playing status on the LIV Tour, so won’t play as many PGA Tour events.

Confusing, I know.

Next week, the PGA Tour goes to Scottsdale for the WM Phoenix Open. The Masters is April 11-14.

One name to keep an eye on this week is Nick Dunlap, who became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event two weeks ago since Phil Mickelson in 1991. Dunlap, a student at the University of Alabama, promptly turned pro and is in the Pebble Beach field. He’s an underdog. Golden Nugget lists him as +12500 to win.

Golf Coming To Michigan

Golf patrons in Michigan will have multiple opportunities to see the world’s best players in 2024.

The Detroit Golf Club hosts the Rocket Mortgage Classic June 27-30 on the PGA Tour.

The Senior PGA Championship (a.k.a. Champions Tour) will be at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor in May.

Michigan is also the site of two LPGA Tour events, the LPGA Classic for Simply Give will be at the Blythefield County Club in Belmont, Michigan, June 13-16 and two weeks later, the LPGA comes back for the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational at Midland Country Club.

By:Darren Cooper

Born and raised in Louisiana, Darren Cooper has a fond appreciation for bayous, Mardi Gras beads and the sports betting industry. Darren has worked for multiple print and online publications since 1998, primarily as a sports columnist in the Northeast. He’s covered a Super Bowl (it was a blowout), the World Series (same) and the NBA Draft (man, those guys are tall). For the last few years he’s dug deep into the sports gambling industry as it exploded across America, learning how the legal sausage is made and how while all the sportsbooks look the same, they all have different identities and styles. He’s learned to always bet within his means -- and take the under. When not in front of his computer creating, Darren spends time with his three boys. He runs, reads and is always looking for the next big thing to write about.