FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR THURSDAY, 5/8:

My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play I cut for Thursday afternoon is with Sepp Straka in Round One head-to-head props versus Si Woo Kim. Straka followed up his tie for 13th place at the RBC Challenge with a tie for 12th place at the teams event in New Orleans at the Zurich Classic. Straka is a great fit with this short course that will often take the driver out of the bag at 7119 yards. Straka ranks second on the tour in Shots-Gained: Approach the Green. Si Woo Kim does come off a tie for 15th place at the PGA C.J. Cup Byron Nelson last week — but Straka has the rest advantage on him for Day One this week. Kim ranks 61st on the tour in Shots-Gained: Approach the Green — so this second shot course may not play as well to his strengths. Take Straka (7145) versus Kim (7145) in Round One head-to-head props. Best of luck — Frank.

Frank Sawyer has CA$HED SEVEN 1ST PLACES in his last 50 Golf Betting Reports after DELIVERING his Top Overlay Bet on Min Woo Lee last month who WON the PGA Texas Children’s Houston Open at 35-1 odds! Frank has 17 FIRST PLACE WINNERS in his last 93 Golf Reports (two in ’25!) with his regulars now enjoying over 67 WEEKS OF FREE ROLLS for 2025 and beyond! Frank’s PGA Truist Championship Betting Report includes his BEST BET WAGER to win; his TOP OVERLAY BET that identifies the most value; and his LONG SHOT BET of a golfer outside the top ten favorites to win — along with BONUS HEAD-TO-HEAD PROP BETS with his three favorite golfers! BANK on Frank!

THE SITUATION: The PGA Tour moves to Flourton, Pennsylvania, for the Truist Championship at the Wissahickon course at the Philadelphia’s Cricket Club. The Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, usually hosts the PGA event on this weekend — but with that course being the location of the PGA Championship next week, the Philadelphia Cricket Club is stepping in with this one-off this year for the sixth signature event of the year. The oldest golf course in the country is a Par 70 consisting of 7119 yards. The 72 professionals will face 118 sand bunkers and six holes with water in play. The Greens consist of A1/A4 Bentgrass averaging 5779 square feet. Thunderstorms are expected for Thursday and Friday afternoons.

LONG SHOT: Shane Lowry (+3500 odds at DraftKings). Recommended Prop Bet: Lowry (7141) versus Viktor Hovland (7141) in Round One head-to-head props. This prop goes off the board at 12:26 PM ET.

Our Long Shot Bet on a golfer outside the top ten favorites is on Shane Lowry who is listed at +3500 odds to win this tournament. Lowry followed up a tie for 18th place at the RBC Heritage with a tie for 12th place at the Zurich Classic teams event when he paired once again with Rory McIlroy. Lowry has been very consistent this season with three top tens amongst seven top 20s in 2025. His accuracy off-the-tee and precision with his irons make him a serious threat this week. He ranks ninth on the tour in Good Drives Gained. He is fourth in Shots-Gained: Tee-to-Green and 11th in Shots-Gained: Approach the Green.

Lowry is linked with Viktor Hovland in Round One head-to-head props. Hovland is playing better again after winning the Valspar Championship and coming off a tie for 13th place at the RBC Heritage. But despite his strong irons play, the short game required for this course does not feed into his strengths. Hovland ranks 173rd on the tour in Shots-Gained: Around the Green and 115th in Shots-Gained: Putting. Those are not good numbers when considering he ranks 71st in Greens-in-Regulation. Given the lack of course experience for all the professionals here this week, I like deferring to a veteran like Lowry with plenty of experience on the European Tour. Take Lowry (7141) versus Hovland (7142) in Round One head-to-head props. Best of luck for us — Frank.

Money Management advice: I like to consider the three "to win" prop bets as lottery tickets. If your typical bet is X, then I am fine if you wager 10-30% of X into each golfer to win — just be consistent with that method from week-to-week. I am also fine if you are more ambitious with these bets and wager up to X on each golfer-per-week. Over the course of the season, we have been profitable -- so I preach consistency with the investments each week. I am also OK with a slow uptick in the initial investment if the bankroll warrants -- maybe go from 20% of X to 25%.  For the head-to-head prop bets, treat them as either 10* or 20* bets (if you choose to invest in them) -- and stay consistent from week-to-week.

THE SITUATION: The PGA Tour moves to Flourton, Pennsylvania, for the Truist Championship at the Wissahickon course at the Philadelphia’s Cricket Club. The Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, usually hosts the PGA event on this weekend — but with that course being the location of the PGA Championship next week, the Philadelphia Cricket Club is stepping in with this one-off this year for the sixth signature event of the year. The oldest golf course in the country is a Par 70 consisting of 7119 yards. The 72 professionals will face 118 sand bunkers and six holes with water in play. The Greens consist of A1/A4 Bentgrass averaging 5779 square feet. Thunderstorms are expected for Thursday and Friday afternoons.

TOP OVERLAY BET: Russell Henley (+3000 odds at DraftKings). Recommended Prop Bet: Henley (7143) versus Daniel Berger (7144) in Round One head-to-head props. This prop goes off the board at 12:37 PM ET.

Our Top Overlay Bet on the golfer to win this tournament who offers the most value relative to the odds is on Russell Henley who is listed at +3000 odds. Henley is a great fit for this course since his lack of distance but supreme accuracy off-the-tee will be rewarded. He is in the best form of his career coming off a tie for eighth place at the RBC Heritage. Including his victory at Bay Hill which was another signature event this year, Henley has five top-ten finishes this year. Let’s discuss his skill set for this course. He ranks 12th in accuracy with his driver. He then leads the tour in proximity to the hole from 125 to 150 yards to the pin — and he ranks second in proximity from 100 to 125 yards to the hole. He ranks fourth in the field this week in true strokes gained in the last three months — sixth in that metric over the last six months. He is also a top-five bunker player since the beginning of 2024. More accolades: he ranks third in Greens-in-Regulation and 15th in Shots-Gained: Approach the Green. He also ranks tenth in Bogey Avoidance — and he is 14th in Shots-Gained: Putting. Given the expected rain, avoiding the rough with clean fairways to greens shooting seems like the formula for success this week.

Henley is linked with Daniel Berger in Round One head-to-head props. Berger is having a fine season — his tie for third place at the RBC Heritage was his second top-ten finish this season. But he lags behind Henley in all the key metrics that will likely make the difference this week. He ranks 38th on the tour in Shots-Gained: Approach the Green and 53rd in Greens-in-Regulation. He ranks 23rd in proximity which is great but not quite at the Henley levels. He is 50th in Shots-Gained: Putting. Furthermore, he ranks just 107th in Round One Scoring — and Henley is 18th in Round One Scoring this season. Take Henley (7143) versus Berger (7144) in Round One head-to-head props. Best of luck for us — Frank.

Money Management advice: I like to consider the three "to win" prop bets as lottery tickets. If your typical bet is X, then I am fine if you wager 10-30% of X into each golfer to win — just be consistent with that method from week-to-week. I am also fine if you are more ambitious with these bets and wager up to X on each golfer-per-week. Over the course of the season, we have been profitable -- so I preach consistency with the investments each week. I am also OK with a slow uptick in the initial investment if the bankroll warrants -- maybe go from 20% of X to 25%.  For the head-to-head prop bets, treat them as either 10* or 20* bets (if you choose to invest in them) -- and stay consistent from week-to-week.

THE SITUATION: The PGA Tour moves to Flourton, Pennsylvania, for the Truist Championship at the Wissahickon course at the Philadelphia’s Cricket Club. The Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, usually hosts the PGA event on this weekend — but with that course being the location of the PGA Championship next week, the Philadelphia Cricket Club is stepping in with this one-off this year for the sixth signature event of the year. The oldest golf course in the country is a Par 70 consisting of 7119 yards. The 72 professionals will face 118 sand bunkers and six holes with water in play. The Greens consist of A1/A4 Bentgrass averaging 5779 square feet. Thunderstorms are expected for Thursday and Friday afternoons.

BEST BET: Collin Morikawa (+1400 odds at DraftKings). Recommended Prop Bet: Morikawa (7138) versus Rory McIlroy (7138) in Round One head-to-head props (and grab the +0.5 strokes if available and priced no higher than -150). This prop goes off the board at 12:26 PM ET.

Our Best Bet to win the PGA Trust Championship is on Collin Morikawa who is listed at +1400 odds at DraftKings. Morikawa is in a bit of a slump having followed up a tie for 54th place at the PGA RBC Heritage with a missed cut at the team event at the Zurich Classic New Orleans two weeks ago. But Morikawa is not getting complacent — he sacked his long-time caddie J.J. Jakovac for Max Homa’s previous caddie Joe Greiner who recently was on the bag for Justin Thomas in his win at the RBC Heritage. Greiner’s decision to go with Morikawa is certainly a strong endorsement. Sometimes these professionals simply need a different voice talking them through a tournament — and it is not uncommon for the results to be immediate. We were on Morikawa for the Masters who settled for a tie for 13th place — but he did gain +2.2 strokes versus the field in Shots-Gained: Off-the-Tee and another +5.4 strokes versus the field in Shots-Gained: Approach the Green. Each week on the tour presents a new challenge given the situation for the golfers and the characteristics of the golf course — and with Morikawa priced 3.5 times more than Rory McIlroy who is listed at +400, he simply offers much more value. At a short course like this which will privilege second shots with the irons, it’s great for Morikawa’s skill set. He is as good with his irons as anyone in the world right now. He is not as long off-the-tee as others — and he can struggle with his putter. Morikawa is playing at a consistently high level and looks due for a breakout. He had not finished worse than 17th place in six tournaments before these last two events (and I don’t care about team events) — and he has two second places in 2025. He finished in a tie for tenth place at THE PLAYERS Championship in March. He was then cruising on the way to victory at Bay Hill at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before Russell Henley holed a near-miracle chip shot in big rough to register an eagle on the 16th hole on Sunday to rally from a one-shot deficit to the eventual winning one-shot victory. Morikawa was unable to birdie one of the two remaining holes and settled for second place. He began the year with a second place at The Sentry followed up by a pair of ties for 17th place at Pebble Beach and then the Genesis Invitational. Morikawa ranks third on the tour this season in Shots-Gained: Total — and he ranks third on the PGA Tour in both Shots-Gained: Tee-to-Green and Shots-Gained: Approach the Green.

Morikawa is linked with Rory McIlroy in Round One head-to-head matchups. This is McIlroy’s first tournament since winning the Masters — and I suspect his focus has not been grinding extra practice rounds since finally achieving his career grand slam. For McIlroy, this is his warm-up for the PGA Championship next week. And just don’t get me started about how many times McIlroy tried to give away the green jacket last month. At better odds, maybe. At 4:1, no way. More importantly, this short course does not play into McIlroy’s strengths. He leads the PGA Tour in Shots-Gained: Off-the-Tee and is third in Driving Distance. Those metrics are powered by his power with his driver when considering he ranks 162nd on the tour in Driving Accuracy. On a course where the 36-year-old has no advantage over his peers in course experience and his length off-the-tee is mitigated, this event simply does not play to his strengths. Morikawa comes in with much more motivation. Take Morikawa (7138) versus McIlroy (7137) in Round One head-to-head props (and grab the +0.5 strokes if available and priced no higher than -150). Best of luck — Frank.

Money Management advice: I like to consider the three "to win" prop bets as lottery tickets. If your typical bet is X, then I am fine if you wager 10-30% of X into each golfer to win — just be consistent with that method from week-to-week. I am also fine if you are more ambitious with these bets and wager up to X on each golfer-per-week. Over the course of the season, we have been profitable -- so I preach consistency with the investments each week. I am also OK with a slow uptick in the initial investment if the bankroll warrants -- maybe go from 20% of X to 25%.  For the head-to-head prop bets, treat them as either 10* or 20* bets (if you choose to invest in them) -- and stay consistent from week-to-week.