SportsLine’s proven golf model has simulated the QBE Shootout 2021 10,000 times and revealed its PGA picks

The 2021-22 PGA Tour schedule concludes the calendar year with the 2021 QBE Shootout starting Friday at Tiburon Golf Course in Naples, Fla. There are no FedEx Cup points on the line in this event, but a prize pool of $3.6 million should help keep the players motivated. Twenty-four golfers are in the field and they’re split up into a dozen teams of two. This event has been dominated by the team of Harris English and Matt Kuchar, who are paired up again this year. They’re the defending champions and they’ve won three times overall.

Caesars Sportsbook lists the English/Kucher team at 13-2 in the latest 2021 QBE Shootout odds. They are behind only Sam Burns/Billy Horschel (4-1) and Kevin Na/Jason Kokrak (11-2) on the PGA odds board for this week. Before making any 2021 QBE Shootout picks, be sure to see the PGA predictions and betting advice from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, it’s up almost $10,000 on its best bets since that point, nailing tournament after tournament.

At the 2021 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in November, the model was all over Viktor Hovland (18-1) winning his third PGA Tour title.

At the 2021 Open Championship, McClure’s best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. He was also all over Daniel Berger (+220) and Emiliano Grillo (+700) finishing inside the top-20. McClure’s best bets netted over $2,200 at the 2021 Open Championship.

In addition, McClure’s model was all over Jon Rahm’s (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner. And at the 2021 Masters, McClure nailed Rahm’s (+250) top-five finish in his best bets, as well as Corey Conners’ (+550) top-10 showing.

This same model has also nailed a whopping seven majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.

Now that the 2021 QBE Shootout field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising.

The model’s top 2021 QBE Shootout predictions

One major surprise the model is calling for at the QBE Shootout 2021: The Max Homa/Kevin Kisner team, one of the favorites at 7-1, stumbles and barely cracks the top 10 of this 12-team field. Neither golfer was in the field last year. Kisner, however, played in 2018 and he struggled mightily as he was teamed up with Cameron Champ.

That duo finished last that year, a whopping 16 shots off the lead. Homa won the Fortinet Championship earlier this season, but he’s been in bad form since that point, finishing T35 or worse in his next three events. That includes a missed cut at the RSM Classic in November. Kisner has struggled this season, missing the cut in two of his three events thus far. The model says they’re not a strong value at 7-1, so this is a team to avoid in 2021 QBE Shootout bets.

Another surprise: The Ian Poulter/Charles Howell III team, a big 12-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. They have a better chance to win than the odds imply, making them a team to back.

Poulter recorded a top-five finish at this event in 2019 when he played with Graeme McDowell. Howell, meanwhile, has made several appearances at the QBE Shootout and was part of a team that tied for third in 2018 when he teamed up with Luke List. Their experience in this setting should pay dividends, and the model likes this team to finish inside the top five, making it one of the PGA sleeper picks to consider for this week.

How to make 2021 QBE Shootout picks

The model is also targeting two other teams with odds of 11-1 or higher who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big.

2021 QBE Shootout odds

Sam Burns/Billy Horschel 4-1
Jason Kokrak/Kevin Na 11-2
Harris English/Matt Kuchar 13-2
Max Homa/Kevin Kisner 7-1
Jason Day/Marc Leishman 8-1
Corey Conners/Graeme McDowell 11-1
Sean O’Hair/Will Zalatoris 12-1
Matt Jones/Ryan Palmer 12-1
Ian Poulter/Charles Howell III 12-1
Brian Harman/Hudson Swafford 12-1
K.H. Lee/Brandt Snedeker 16-1
Bubba Waton/Lexi Thompson 33-1

Two of the world’s best golfers were left red-faced after they failed to notice a key change to the course and were penalised.

Two of the world’s best golfers were penalised after they committed a rare mistake resulting in bizarre scenes.

American Jordan Spieth and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson were the first pairing up for the final round of the Hero World Challenge event in the Bahamas.

To change things up on the last day at the Albany Golf Club, organisers moved the tee box for the 17th hole to where it had been for the adjacent ninth hole.

The idea was that by moving the tee box forward on the par-5 ninth, it would give players a chance to reach the green in two shots.

The original ninth tee was used for the par-3 17th hole, which was slightly shorter in distance and went over the water.

But Spieth and Stenson were seemingly unaware of the change and teed up at the 17th tee by mistake, assuming it was the ninth tee as it had been on previous days of the tournament.

They both hit their tee shots and were midway through the hole when they were chased down by an official and informed they were playing the wrong hole.

Spieth and Stenson were both penalised two shots for their mistake and swiftly returned to the correct tee box and continued their round.

With the penalty, Spieth made a triple-bogey eight and Stenson shot seven on the ninth hole.

It could have been even worse for the duo — they would have been disqualified if they had completed the 17th hole.

In the end it mattered little for Stenson and Spieth, who finished second last (19th) and dead last (20th), respectively, at the charity event.

Despite his error on the tee box, Spieth still pocketed a cool AUD$142,000 for his troubles.

Spieth, a three-time major winner, said he had never made a mistake like that in his golfing career.

“We kept our heads down off the finishing out on hole No. 8 and walked to the 9 tee box that we did on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and put the ball down and hit some beautiful tee shots,” he said.

“We didn’t pay attention being first out and just motoring along.

“Then when we went down to the balls, the rules official said, ‘Did you hit off the right tee box?’.

“A little note on the tee box would have been helpful.”

Norwegian Viktor Hovland won the event after a sensational final round of 66, which was enough for a one-shot win at the 20-man invitational hosted by Tiger Woods.

“I’ve never experienced that before,” he said.

“There was a sheet saying there was a new yardage on 17 but there was nothing about number nine.

“I actually didn’t think we were going to get penalised because it’s a charity event, but then I realised there’s world ranking involved and all that.

“I think the frustrating part for us now is that every other group … they’re making sure to tell them, but for us they didn’t. It obviously didn’t matter for us, which is fortunate I think for those guys.”

Stenson said he and his playing partner were just continuing on their merry way and had no idea they teed off from the wrong spot.

The World Golf Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 finally has a date for induction. Tiger Woods, Susie Maxwell Berning, Tim Finchem and the late Marion Hollins will formally be honored on March 9, 2022 during a ceremony at PGA Tour Headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach a day before the first round of the Players Championship.

The four inductees’ election to the WGHOF came in spring 2020, with the ceremony originally scheduled to take place in 2021. But the COVID-19 pandemic caused Hall of Fame officials to push back the induction until 2022. On Thursday, the official date was released.

This weekend, a new exhibit highlighting the accomplishments of the four honorees will debut at the Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla. Personal items, trophies and memorabilia from the careers of the foursome will be on display.

In addition to the new Hall of Fame members, Dick Ferris and Peter Ueberroth will be recognized as the first recipients of the newly created lifetime achievement award for contributions to the game. Renee Powell will also be honored as the inaugural winner of the Charlie Sifford Award for advancing diversity in the sport.

Woods, Maxwell Berning, Finchem and Hollins were named from a group of 10 finalists in 2020 that also included Johnny Farrell, Padraig Harrington, Tom Weiskopf, Beverly Hanson, Sandra Palmer and Dottie Pepper.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on Golf Channel. This is the first time the induction will take place in Florida since 2013 with the most recent ceremonies coming at St. Andrews, Scotland (2015), New York City (2017) and Pebble Beach (2019).

Dubai resident will play under the lights on the Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club

Today at 4pm the shotgun start siren will sound for the first round of this week’s Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA on the Ladies European Tour on the Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club.

I managed a practice round with my caddie Gavin Tullis yesterday morning, and the scene is now set for the tournament week. I am ready now to play.

I played with the wasl team in the Monday night Pro-Am with a 5 pm shotgun start, it was a fun format. Thank you to my team members; Helen Srivastava, Rekha Bandopadhyay and Maya Srivastava.

I’ll be teeing off in Match 16 on hole 15 tonight alongside Diksha Dagar and Agathe Sauzon, who I have both played with before during the season.

There are 19 groups in the field, all three-balls, with just one two-ball to complete the 56-player field.
I spent some time yesterday just looking at this week’s event and I hope you enjoy the ‘Stat Pack” below:

€260,000 total prize fund

54 Hole, 3 round tournament under lights

4pm shotgun start on each day, Wed 27th – Fri 29th October

15th edition of the tournament

56 players, including 11 invites

18.00 – 20.00 – TV timings on Dubai TV for each round

There is no cut and all players will play 54 holes

-10 was last year’s winning score by Minjee Lee

Number One on the 2021 Race to Costa Del Sol – Atthaya Thitikul is playing

23 in the ROLEX Women’s World Rankings – Ariya Jutanugarn is playing, the highest ranked player

45: Record numbers of wins on the LET – Dame Laura Davies is playing

Two-time winning Solheim Cup Captain – Catriona Matthew is playing

21 countries are represented in the field: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and Wales

The Asian Tour has announced its return to India as it enhances its 2022 schedule.

Tournament golf is set to return to Delhi Golf Club from March 24-27 when the Asian Tour hosts the inaugural The DGC Open triumphantly signalling the return of the Asian Tour to India for the first time in nearly two-and-a-half years.

To be staged on the renovated Lodhi Course and boasting a purse of $500,000, the event will be one of the standout tournaments in the early part of the season on the 2022 Asian Tour schedule. “The DGC Open is a new tournament, on a newly renovated Gary Player Design course and in many respects represents a new start for everyone involved,” said Manjit Singh, President, Delhi Golf Club. “It is an exciting opportunity for The Delhi Golf Club to play a key role in the return of the Asian Tour to India. We feel it is extremely important that we set the wheels in motion to restore tournament golf in India and help the game we are all so passionate about. To commemorate this occasion Mr. Gary Player, himself, is scheduled to be present.”

The last time the Asian Tour staged an event in India saw Korean teenager Kim Joo-hyung claim the Panasonic Open India in November 2019. While the same event in October of 2018 was the most recent occasion Delhi Golf Club hosted an Asian Tour event. “The addition of The DGC Open to our 2022 schedule is a massive boost for the Asian Tour and something we have been working very hard on behind the scenes to facilitate,” said Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO of the Asian Tour.

The Tour resumed play, following a 20-month break caused by the pandemic, in November and December last year with back-to-back events in Phuket.

Chan Shih-chang won the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship before Phachara Khongwatmai was victorious in the Laguna Phuket Championship.

The R&A and the Asian Tour have announced that next month’s SMBC Singapore Open, 20 – 23 January, 2022, at Sentosa Golf Club, will be part of The Open Qualifying Series and receive four spots for The 150th Open at St Andrews, July 14 – 17, 2022. The leading four players who finish in the top 12 and ties, who are not already exempt, will earn a place in the game’s oldest Major.

The New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sports and the Kolon Korean Open are the other Asian Tour events that receive these prestigious spots, three and two respectively.

The Open Qualifying Series started at the Joburg Open last November on the DP World Tour, with South Africans Thriston Lawrence and Zander Lombard, plus England’s Ashley Chesters booking their spots.

In total 16 professional events in 11 countries make up The Open Qualifying Series in 2022.

Four golfers, 18 holes, a $10,000 winner-takes-all prize.

The Longbow Cactus Cup Championship returned to Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona, for a second year. In 2020, Haley Moore, who played college golf 125 miles away at the University of Arizona, claimed the top prize after prevailing in a one-hole playoff. This time around, it wasn’t as suspenseful.

Elizabeth Wang strung together seven straight pars to open her round, made her first birdie of the day on eight and then made par on the ninth to make the turn up three shots up on Gabriella Then. Kendra Dalton and Nishtha Madan were tied at 4 over after nine holes.

The tournament targets the top players on the Cactus Tour and four of the top five money winners from the 2021 season were in the field. Dalton led the circuit in money at $13,575 after she won three times. She took the early lead Monday but ran into trouble with a triple bogey on the fourth and a double on the sixth. Madan doubled the sixth while Then bogeyed and Wang opened a three-shot lead through nine holes.

Wang, 21, grew up near Disneyland and played one year of college golf at Harvard. Leaving what she called her dream school was the “hardest decision of my life,” she said. One of her notable accomplishments was knocking out world No. 1 Jennifer Kupcho in the Round of 64 in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur. A rookie in 2020, she came into the event with $5,655 in career earnings on the Cactus Tour.

Wang’s lead grew to five shots after Then posted a triple-bogey 7 on the 12th but the lead shrank to two by the time the golfers reached the 18th hole. On the final hole, Dalton went for the green in two but landed in a greenside bunker. Wang then two-putted for birdie for a 1-under 71 to win by four. Dalton finished 3 over. Madan and Then finished 5 over.

“I think that’s something I’ve always needed to work on,” Wang said of staying focused as her five-shot lead whittled away. “My mind definitely did wander. Being able to stay in the moment is something that a lot of people can do; it’s something that I’ve constantly needed to work on.”

She’s won twice on the Cactus Tour, but this one “feels great.”

Winning an 18-hole event was a different feeling though.

“With only 18 holes, the end comes up fast.”

Fun tournament for players of all levels launches in January

Topgolf Dubai at Emirates Golf Club has launched the third edition of the RAKBank League competition for players of all levels at the popular interactive driving range and golfing destination.

Topgolf is inviting teams of four to six players to sign up for the five-week competition, which begins on January 25.

The tournament, which runs until February 22 is held every Tuesday evening from 7pm to 9.15pm, with prizes sponsored by RAKBank up for grabs in a friendly atmosphere, where fun is the name of the game. Players can also enjoy a 10 per cent F&B discount during league games. Entry is Dh300 per week, per team. Space is limited and registration is open on the Topgolf website.

The Ladies European Tour (LET) is set to offer players a record prize fund of 24.5 million euros (27.76 million dollars) in 2022 after it announced 31 events across 21 countries, the biggest number of tournaments in its 44-year history. The prize money has increased by 4.5 million euros over last season and is 19 million euros more than in 2019

Two new tournaments have been added while eight events will return to the calendar next year, including the Women’s Irish Open, which will feature after a decade-long absence.

“On the back of a strong 2021 season, which featured 23 tournaments, 2022 is going to be a record-breaking year for the LET with the largest total purse and number of events in history,” LET chief executive Alexandra Armas said.

“We will be launching new events in Asia and South Africa and returning to various territories across Europe and further afield, so it’s looking very exciting for our international membership.”

Faisal Salhab takes individual title and grabs invite to RAK Championship

Team Saudi Arabia shot a final round score of 220 for a four-round total of 895 to win the 40th edition of the Arab Golf Championship at Dreamland Golf Resort in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday.

On the warmest day of the week, and starting the final round with a narrow two-shot overnight lead, the Saudis ultimately won by a comfortable nine-shot margin from runners-up Tunisia, with counting scores of 72 (Faisal Salhab), 73 (Al Sharif) and 75 (Al Mansour) and were able to discard their fourth score of 76 (Al Sakha) in this best three scores from the team of four players in each round.

The UAE team shot a final round of 235 to finish fifth overall with a 12-round team score of 940.

Faisal Salhab (Saudi Arabia) took the individual title with a final round of par 72. His consistency throughout the week with rounds of 72,72,70 and 72 gave him an eight-shot victory over Qatar’s Saleh Ali Al Kaabi, who had to settle for the silver.

Salhab’s individual title also helped him clinch the invitation to play in the DP World Tour’s $3 million Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital to be held at Al Hamra Golf Club from February 3-6.

Ahmed Skaik (UAE) shot a final round of 75, for a four round total of seven over 295, to take the bronze medal in the individual division. Skaik had four bogeys and one birdie, on hole 2, in his final round.

The UAE playing captain Khalid Yousuf, after the final round, said: “We have all had a good week in Cairo. Firstly, congratulations must go to Skaik for his fine performance with rounds of 76,73,71 and 75. Ahmed is only 24 years of age and over the last 18 months he has quietly gone to the next level of playing the game. He now looks comfortable among the best of amateurs as well as among professionals.

“I was disappointed with my own performance. It is very challenging to keep up with these youngsters, many of whom play full-time golf on the amateur scene in the region and beyond. I am just not devoting enough time to practice with all my work commitments, we all have to put in the hard work on the range and other areas of the game and fitness to get the desired results. There are simply no shortcuts in golf.”

Eleven teams competed in this year’s Arab Golf Championship with representation from 13 Arab countries with Iraq and Jordan sending individual participants.