After helping launch The Match golf series in 2018, and competing in the first two installments, Tiger Woods will return for The Match 2022 on Saturday. The 15-time major champion will team up with Rory McIlroy to take on Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas over 12 holes at Pelican Golf Club in the Tampa area. Set to tee off Saturday evening, The Match 7 will be the first of its kind to take place in primetime with a 6 p.m. ET start time.
Given that Woods’ current form is well behind that of the other three, his pairing with McIlroy is listed as a +105 underdog (bet $100 to win $105). The latest Match 7 odds from Caesars Sportsbook have the Spieth and Thomas duo as -125 favorites (bet $125 to win $100). Before locking in any Match 7 bets, be sure to see Match VII picks and predictions from SportsLine’s proven golf expert, Mike McClure.
McClure, a DFS professional, knows golf inside and out. His proprietary model has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, it’s up over $9,500 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure’s model included Justin Thomas in its best bets to win the 2022 PGA Championship. That bet hit at +1600, and for the entire tournament, McClure’s best bets returned almost $800. At the 2022 Masters, McClure’s model was all over Scottie Scheffler’s first career major championship victory heading into the weekend.
In addition, McClure was all over Brooks Koepka defeating Bryson DeChambeau as a +110 underdog in The Match V. This same model has also nailed a whopping eight majors entering this event. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now, with The Match 7 set to tee off on Saturday evening, McClure has scoured the golf odds and locked in his top pick. Head to SportsLine now to see McClure’s best bet for The Match VII.
Why Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy can win The Match VII
The Thomas/Spieth team may be the betting favorite, but the Woods/McIlroy duo has the single best golfer in this event. McIlroy is the World No. 1, having achieved that mark after winning the CJ Cup in late October. With the Irishman also winning the Tour Championship to close out last season, he’s won back-to-back PGA Tour events, so there’s no hotter golfer in the world than McIlroy. Meanwhile, neither Spieth nor Thomas has finished better than 40th at any full-field PGA Tour tournament this season.
The experience with this kind of event also benefits Woods and McIlroy as the former is the only of the four golfers to compete in The Match before. The format is much different than a typical PGA Tour event, and the newcomers will have to adjust to things such as interviews between shots, off-the-cuff side bets and on-course smack talk. Woods has experienced all of this twice before, and he could also help prepare McIlroy for the different environment. See which side to back at SportsLine.
Why Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas can win The Match 7
Golf is primarily an individual sport but with the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup held in alternating years, this pair of young Americans have had plenty of opportunities to compete as a team. They went a perfect 4-0 while playing as a twosome in the 2022 Presidents Cup and they also played a combined six matches as teammates at the 2021 Ryder Cup and 2018 Ryder Cup, combining to go 4-2 in those matches.
That familiarity should be a significant advantage during this alternate four-ball format (though the exact rules haven’t yet been laid out). And while McIlroy and Woods are neighbors in Jupiter and have gotten closer over the years, you’d be hard-pressed to find a closer pair on the PGA Tour than Spieth and Thomas. They’ve regularly roomed together at certain tour stops and Spieth was the best man in Thomas’ recent wedding. See which side to back at SportsLine.
How to make The Match 2022 picks
McClure has scoured The Match VII odds board and found a critical x-factor that has him jumping all over one side. You can only get his top pick for The Match VII right here.
So who wins The Match VII? Visit SportsLine now to see who you can bank on to win The Match 7, and see where the betting value lies, all from the expert that’s nailed eight golf majors, and find out.