The GM Tipster picks his best bets for the 2021 Solheim Cup in Ohio...
Solheim Cup Golf Betting Tips 2021
Also backing: 0.5pt Europe to win 14.5-13-5 at 16/1, match to be tied 14-14 at 12/1 and USA to win 14.5-13.5 at 9/1.
Solheim Cup Golf Betting Tips 2021
If you take the world rankings literally, Europe’s chances of retaining the Solheim Cup on American turf this weekend vary from None to Slim - and Slim has left town.
The aggregate rankings of each side put Patty Hurst’s team more than 200 places ahead of Catriona Matthew’s defending champions - and in Nelly Korda the USA have their first world No. 1 for seven years.
But as we’ve seen time and again in past Solheim and Ryder Cups, 18-hole head-to-head matchplay is a very different animal to the 54-and-72-hole strokeplay events on which those ratings are based.
When Europe walloped the Americans 18-10 in Colorado in 2013, they were the outsiders then as they are now.
True, the USA lead 7-1 on home ground but that result, and by such a huge margin, shows what can be achieved.
And when Suzann Pettersen ended the most nail-bitingly exciting match in Solheim history with the 8ft birdie putt that gave Europe the narrowest of victories at Gleneagles two years ago, they were again the underdogs.
So while the USA have to be favourites on home ground, at fabled Inverness in Toledo, Ohio, the Donald Ross masterpiece which has hosted four US Opens and two PGAs, the value lies in the 12-5 on offer for Europe.
The betting should be closer than that - Europe are only 7-4 in my book - and on the correct-score market I’ll be backing the cluster either side of a 14-14 dead-heat, itself a realistic possibility even though it has never happened in Solheim Cup history.
Five of the American team have yet to win on the LPGA Tour and veteran Lizette Salas has done so only once, seven years back. So it is not an American side that’s frighteningly strong.
They will be relying heavily on the Korda sisters, Nelly and Jessica, with strong back-up from Danielle Kang, a course winner in the Drive On Championship last year, the first tournament back after a 166-day Covid break, and big-hitting but vulnerable Lexi Thompson.
Expect the Kordas to lead off the first set of foursomes on Saturday morning when the pairings are announced at Friday’s opening ceremony (10pm our time), the start of 30 hours of live coverage on Sky.
Big punters will lump on the USA to pull off the Solheim-Ryder Cup double - it works out at just over even-money - and It makes sense to use that as cover if you’re taking the 12/5 for the European ladies (or 15/8 without the draw) as, in my view, they have a better chance than the men of pulling off an upset.
Matthew has the last three British Open winners, Georgia Hall, Sophia Popov and Anna Nordqvist, batting for her, Nordqvist‘s Carnoustie victory, with Hall, Madelene Sagstrom and Nanna Madsen right on her tail, coming at the perfect time to give the Europeans the impetus they need.
With Salas the only American in the top ten and world No. 1 Korda back in 13th, Carnoustie was a deflating result for the US raiding party.
Inverness will play as a 6903-yard par 72 which sounds on the long side but as Kang and French star Celine Boutier were two of the shorter hitters when finishing first and second there last year, short-game skills and a strong nerve rather than power are likely to be the prime requirements.
Matthew will probably reunite the Hall-Boutier partnership which won three out of three at Gleneagles while recently-married Nordqvist, now a three-time Major winner, has peaked at the right time and will be a match for anyone.
Europe field five first-timers but Irish star Leona Maguire is no ordinary rookie.
She was world No. 1 amateur for a record 135 weeks and is 15-6-13 for the last three Majors, shooting a last-round 61 in the Evian. She could be the ace in Matthew’s pack.
The 7/1 for Leona to top-score for Europe is of interest while another debutante, American 20-year-old Yealimi Noh, is an immense talent - 13-7-4-3-3 for her last five outings - and could be America’s secret weapon.
Wait and see in both cases whether they’re picked for the opening foursomes.
To win on those markets usually means playing all five sessions although that proviso did not apply at Gleneagles where Hall and Boutier played 4, won 4 to be joint-top for Europe.
It should be a close encounter of the best kind and a 14-14 dead-heat would suit Europe down to the ground as they would retain the trophy. Bring it on!
Solheim Cup Golf Betting Tips 2021 - advised bets
Also backing: 0.5pt Europe to win 14.5-13-5 at 16/1, match to be tied 14-14 at 12/1 and USA to win 14.5-13.5 at 9/1.
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