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, Aug. 2:
TOP PLAY
The play: PGA Wyndham Championship, Russell Henley to finish in the top 20
The odds: +100
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: Thursday through Sunday (ESPN+, Golf Channel all four days; CBS on Saturday and Sunday)
Our take: We are just a few weeks away from the start of the PGA FedEx Cup playoffs, and the race to the top 70 and qualifying should make this tournament an interesting one.
Henley is all but in at No. 34 entering the week, but he would love to bolster his position. He enters as the second favorite behind Hideki Matsuyama and presents good value at plus odds to finish in the top 20.
Oh, and Henley loves Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC. The past three tournaments, he has finished fifth, seventh and ninth, respectively. Before he missed the cut at The British Open a couple of weeks ago, Henley had not only made 11 of 12 cuts but finished in the top 20 in eight of those starts.
ANTOHER WYNDHAM TOP 20
The play: Aaron Rai to finish in the top 20
The odds/bet: +160
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Our take: Rai doesn’t have the history at this course as does Henley, but one could argue he has been a better player as of late since a rough patch of missed cuts in May. He has two top-10 finishes in his past four starts, and he might be a sneaky play to win at +3000.
We’ll keep it on the safer side here with a top 20, but Rai has been a great hit-or-miss kind of golfer, as he usually lands somewhere near the top of the leaderboard or misses the cut. And there’s certainly enough value here to take a chance on him.
Lastly, the fact he is currently 61st in the FedEx, a top-10 finish would all but cement his spot in the playoffs.
HOW WE’VE FARED
MLB money line: Twins over Cardinals (WON)
MLB parlay: Mets-Royals under 9.5 runs; Red Sox-Mariners over 7.5 runs (LOST)
Tuesday’s record: 1-1
Total for the week: 3-1
Total for August: 1-1
Total for 2023: 177-195
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).
