LIV Jeddah
Dustin Johnson won LIV Golf’s second event of the season three weeks ago in Las Vegas at 14/1. This week, he returns to a venue where he has won twice (2019 and 2021 Saudi International) near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. DJ is the second choice on this week’s board for LIV Jeddah at 9/1. Jon Rahm (+550) is the event favorite, as he will be pretty much throughout the LIV season.
Brooks Koepka (11/1) has won the last two LIV Jeddah events and is going for the three-peat.
Joaquin Niemann (11/1) won the LIV season opener in Mexico and was 3rd last week in Oman as part of the International Series on the Asian Tour.
At 14/1 are Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, and Talor Gooch, who lost in a playoff here last year to Koepka.
However, the biggest story for this week’s LIV event is one-time golf prodigy Anthony Kim’s return to professional golf for the first time in 11 years. He is one of the deeper long shots in the field at close to 250/1.
The Course
The Royal Greens Golf & Country Club was built in 2017 and designed by Dave Sampson of Euro Golf Design. The track plays as a Par 72 for members but will play as a Par 70 for the players this week as the Par 5s on the 9th and 13th holes are converted to Par 4s for a 7,048-yard layout. There are 12 Par 4s on this track that only average around 420 yards, and four of them measure less than 380 yards. The course is built around four lakes with some holes playing towards and alongside the Red Sea itself. As well as the water, native desert areas and waste areas await poor shots as well as drainage ditches. There are several dog legs as well, so the course will demand some strategy. The course utilizes Royal Paspalum Dynasty grass throughout. Nevertheless, this is a shorter layout, so wind has to be the primary defense.
Recent History/Winners
LIV Jeddah
2023: Brooks Koepka (-14/196)*
2022: Brooks Koepka (-12/198)**
Saudi International
2023: Abraham Ancer (-19/261); 30/1
2022: Harold Varner III (-13/267); 55/1
2021: Dustin Johnson (-15/265); 11/2
2020: Graeme McDowell (-12/268); 80/1
2019: Dustin Johnson (-19/261); 7/1
Playoff win over Talor Gooch – *
Playoff win over Peter Uihlein – **
Selections
Dustin Johnson 9/1 SuperBook Sports
Sometimes, DJ’s motivation can be a question mark, but he just came off a victory in Las Vegas and has never finished worse than 6th in any appearance on this golf course at Royal Greens, including two victories and a runner-up.
Matthew Wolff 40/1 DraftKings
Wolff was 4th in Las Vegas and 7th last week in Oman, plus has finished 10th and 5th the last two years in Jeddah.
Mito Pereira 41/1 FanDuel
Pereira was 4th in Oman last week and finished 6th here last year.
Placement markets, matchups, and any further futures will be posted Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks.
