LIV Singapore
Brendan Steele was a three-time career winner on the PGA Tour but had not won since October 2017. Last weekend, he won his first LIV Golf event in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Steele finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Louis Oosthuizen.
This weekend, LIV heads to Singapore, marking the end of the first half of the 14-tournament schedule in 2024.
Six events into the 2014 LIV season and Jon Rahm (7-1) still seeks his first victory but has finished in the top 8 or better in all six events this season.
Joaquin Niemann (15-2) shared third with Rahm last weekend in Adelaide and has been the first half’s LIV Player of the Year with two victories under his belt.
Cameron Smith (14-1) came up short in his home event with a sixth, but his Rippers team won the team event in a playoff. He shares a 14-1 tag with Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Talor Gooch, who is the defending champion.
Oosthuizen (16-1) has finished runner-up twice this season on LIV and three times worldwide in 2024. Brooks Koepka (16-1) finished third here last year.
Dean Burmester (18-1) in Miami, Abraham Ancer (22-1) in Hong Kong and Dustin Johnson (28-1) in Las Vegas are all winners on LIV in 2024.
Steele, last week’s winner, is priced at 60-1.
The Course
Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is considered one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top 100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Before being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005 (Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia are past champions of that event).
Sentosa Golf Club is a par-71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low because of the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast.
The stretch of holes from hole Nos. 3-7 is known as the Dragon’s Tail. The 495-yard third is the longest par-4 on the course.
The signature hole is the 486-yard par-4 fifth, situated in the belly of the Dragon.
The 444-yard par-4 sixth includes a large rock formation known as the Dragon’s Tooth as well as a false front known as the Dragon’s Tongue.
Recent History/Winners
2023: Talor Gooch (-17/196); 16-1*
Playoff win over Sergio Garcia – *
Selections
Cameron Smith (14-1, DraftKings)
The Australian disappointed last week at his home game in Adelaide as he never made a move on Sunday.
He ranks first in Putting this season and will get to putt on near-perfect greens this week at Sentosa.
Smith got his first taste of winning in a while with the team championship last week, which could spur him on individually this week on a course he finished sixth on last year.
Sergio Garcia (30-1, DraftKings)
Garcia won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to a red-hot Talor Gooch, who had won LIV Adelaide the week prior.
This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, playoff losses at Mayakoba and Doral, respectively.
Sergio is still one of the best drivers in the world off the tee but can sometimes be a shaky putter. However, the Bermudagrass greens are his much preferred putting surface.
Paul Casey (33-1, DraftKings)
This season, Casey has finishes of T-5 (LIV Las Vegas), T-2 (LIV Hong Kong) and a sixth at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour.
Casey shot 63 in the final round of this event last year.
He was runner-up in the Singapore Open at Sentosa in 2019.
Matchups and placement markets will be available Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks
