The biggest story of the LPGA season to date was Rose Zhang winning her professional golf debut at the Mizuho Americas Open.
Zhang is one of the highest touted golf prospects in recent history. In the women's game, Zhang's pro debut was the most highly anticipated since Michelle Wie made her debut back in in the 2000's.
But, unlike Wie, Rose won her pro debut on the LPGA, something that wasn't achieved since Beverly Hanson did it in 1951.
Now, after taking a few weeks off to take her finals at Stanford, Zhang returns to competitive action for this week's KPMG Women's PGA Championship. It will be the first major she's competed in since turning pro.
Let's take a look at her odds and then I'll break down how I think we should bet on her this week.
Rose Zhang odds at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship
The odds listed below are via BetMGM Sportsbook.
- To Win: +1600
- Top 5: +320
- Top 10: +150
How to bet Rose Zhang at KPMG Women's PGA Championship
I was on the Rose train for a while, and bet on her to win at her pro debut at the Mizuho Americas Open. I will be betting on her again this week, but I would recommend staying away from betting on her to win the event. A top 10 bet at +150 is the preferable way to go.
Let me explain.
Yes, Rose is well poised to be one of the best golfers on the planet and she has plenty of LPGA and major tournament wins in her future. But her odds of winning going from around 40/1 at her first event to around 16/1 at her first major tournament is an overcorrection on her odds.
Let's recognize that some of the best golfers in the world weren't competing at the Mizuho Americas Open. Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Hyo-Joo Kim, and Lexi Thompson, who are all ranked inside the top 10 women golfers in the world, didn't compete that event. All four of them, along with the rest of the top 10, will be at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Let's also remember that Rose didn't exactly run away with the win. A 2-over par Sunday round forced a playoff in which she managed to win. She also lost strokes putting on the field throughout the event.
That's not to take anything away from Rose. The win was well-deserving and her strokes gained: tee-to-green numbers are other worldly.
To beat a much stronger field in her first major as a professional is going to be a lot tougher task than what she was faced with at Liberty National. With that being said, I fully expect her to be competitive based on her ball striking numbers alone.
If you want to bet on Rose to win this week, please do. But, I think the much smarter bet is for her to hang around the top of the leaderboard and finish in the top 10.
No matter what way you bet on the Stanford prodigy, you can be assured that all eyes will be on her at Baltusrosl this week. You can check out my full betting preview and picks for the tournament here.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
