Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions Golf Betting Tips 2022

Matilda Castren

1pt each way at 66/1 with William Hill

Castren, the first Finn to win on the LPGA Tour, looks well priced at a huge 66/1. Her three points out of four in the Solheim Cup, featuring a last-gasp singles win over canny veteran Lizette Salas, got overshadowed by fellow debutante Leona Maguire’s brilliance but it was the difference between team defeat and victory.

Yuka Saso

1pt each way at 20/1 with Bet365

At 20, Saso is the youngest and was only 19 when she became the first Filipino to win a Major. The Asian Games gold medalist out-duelled Nasa Hataoka in a US Open playoff, displaying a coolness that belied her inexperience.

Patty Tavatanakit

1pt each way at 12/1 with Bet365

Tavatanakit’s first LPGA victory came in a Major, some feat. The Thai 22-year-old’s first experience of Lake Nona was a positive one - she finished fifth in the Gainbridge before winning the Inspiration and posting top-sevens in two later Majors.

Lydia Ko

2pts to win at 9/2 with William Hill

The former world No. 1 is back after reinventing herself and in the sort of form that made her such a teen sensation back in the day. Still only 24, she is booked for a big year, is a Lake Nona member and finished runner-up to Nelly Korda in the Gainbridge there.

Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions Golf Betting Tips 2022

Nelly Korda, America’s finest golfer for many a year and just edging Jin Young Ko for world No. 1, heads the market for the LPGA version of the Tournament of Champions this week on the Lake Nona course in Orlando where she’s already a course winner. That Florida victory came 11 months ago in the Gainbridge LPGA - her first on US soil in a four-win year highlighted by her first Major and Olympic gold - so I would not put anyone taking the 100/30 in a field of 29, all tour champions of the past two years.

All, that is, apart from Michelle Wie West who has a special exemption, having been unable to take up her 2019 spot because of a wrist injury and missing the last two years on pregnancy/domestic grounds. Wie made only six starts last year, missing the cut in four of them, so is unlikely to figure on the podium but Korda faces stiff opposition from Lydia Ko, elder sister Jessica and a mix of ambitious starlets and experienced Major champions like Inbee Park and Anna Nordqvist.

Nelly’s main rival would have been Jin Young Ko but she turned down this opening event of 34 on the buzzing $85.7m LPGA circuit. But the “other” Ko, former world No. 1 Lydia, is back, after reinventing herself, in the sort of form that made her such a teen sensation back in the day. Still only 24, she is booked for a big year, is a Lake Nona member and finished runner-up to Korda in the Gainbridge there. The 9/2 may not be exciting enough for you, so, with all layers paying a quarter the odds the first four, the suggestion is to back a trio of big-priced alternatives who are, at worst, solid place candidates.

I give you Matilda Castren at 66/1, Yuka Saso at 20/1 and Patty Tavatanakit at 12/1, all young and very much on the way up, two of them already Major champions. 

At 25, Castren, the first Finn to win the LPGA Tour, is the oldest but as a rookie last year the least experienced. Her three points out of four in the Solheim Cup, featuring a last-gasp singles win over canny veteran Lizette Salas, got overshadowed by fellow debutante Leona Maguire’s brilliance but it was the difference between team defeat and victory. In order to earn LET membership and thus become eligible for that contest, the New York-born, California-based Finn had to win in Europe which she did without fuss in the Gant Open. That takes plenty of doing and although not the greatest putter in the world, she’s no 66/1 no-hoper even in this elite company. 

At 20, Saso is the youngest and was only 19 when she became the first Filipino to win a Major. The Asian Games gold medalist out-duelled Nasa Hataoka in a US Open playoff, displaying a coolness that belied her inexperience. As she has a Japanese father, Hideki Matsuyama’s Sony Open triumph on Sunday will be seen by Saso as a good omen.

Tavatanakit’s first LPGA victory came in a Major, some feat. The Thai 22-year-old’s first experience of Lake Nona was a positive one - she finished fifth in the Gainbridge before winning the Inspiration and posting top-sevens in two later Majors. This powerhouse looks a surefire future world No. 1. 

• Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Golf Betting Tips 2022
• The American Express Golf Betting Tips 2022

Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions Golf Betting Tips 2022

• 1pt each-way Matilda Castren at 66/1 with William Hill
• 1pt each-way Yuka Saso at 20/1 with Bet365
• 1pt each-way Patty Tavatanakit at 12/1 with Bet365
• 2pts win Lydia Ko at 9/2 with William Hill

*Place terms: one-quarter first 4 

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