Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.
Here are our best bets for Wednesday, June 14:
TOP PLAY
The play: US Open, Scottie Scheffler to win
The odds: +600
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: Thursday through Sunday (USA and NBC on Thursday and Friday; NBC all day on Saturday and Sunday)
Our take: OK, OK, so we’re going chalk. But even chalk is hard to hit in golf. However, if you’re gonna play chalk, a major is the time to do it.
As we said in our US Open preview, Scottie has been anything but spectacular the past couple of months, but that’s only because we are comparing him to the Scottie Scheffler we have come to expect to be in the top five every week. And really, that’s only because his putter has been a major letdown for him.
One reasonably has to expect he has spent the past 10 days on a putting green getting ready for this. (And doesn’t 10 days seem more than enough for the top player in the world to fix things?) Coming off a seventh-place finish two years ago and a second last year, there’s no question he’ll be as hungry for this one as any other tournament he has ever played in.
A RARE GOLF PARLAY
The play: US Open, Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay all to finish in the top 20
The odds: +316
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Our take: Again, we’re stealing from our preview, but we’re putting a value on it here and it bears repeating: The cream rises to the top most often in the majors, and maybe even more so at the US Open.
We almost took McIlroy to win at +1200 to +1400, depending on where you look, but his awful play on Sundays the past month or so scared us away. Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise in the least if he won, but it WOULD be a surprise if he isn’t in the running to win Sunday evening.
For Cantlay, there have been few who have been as steady as he has been, making the top 25 in 11 of the 14 tournaments he has played in and top 10 in seven. He has only missed three cuts in two seasons and has finished 15th or better in back-to-back US Opens. (It could be time for him to break through at a major?)
HOW WE’VE FARED
MLB money line: Giants over Cardinals (WON)
MLB total: Brewers-Twins under 7.5 runs (LOST)
Tuesday’s record: 1-1
Total for the week: 3-1
Total for June: 12-14
Total for 2023: 132-148
NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)
Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
