Steve Palmer's LIV Golf Chicago predictions & free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for LIV Golf Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms.

Where to watch

Live on YouTube or LIVGolf.com from 6.15pm on Friday

Best bets

Sam Horsfield
1.5pts each-way 66-1 BoyleSports

Eugenio Chacarra
0.5pt each-way 200-1 BoyleSports

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Most bookmakers have Dustin Johnson ahead of Cameron Smith in the betting for LIV Golf Chicago - the fifth event of the LIV Golf series.

World number three Smith was atop the betting for LIV Golf Boston last time out, but the Australian finished tied for fourth, with Johnson regaining his status as LIV king.

Smith and Joaquin Niemann are playing their second LIV event this week. Henrik Stenson returns to the fray after a bout of vertigo kept him out of Boston, with Shergo Al Kurdi making way, while David Puig has replaced Adrian Otaegui.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Sam Horsfield 66-1

Only a handful of players in the LIV Golf Chicago field have competitive experience of the Rich Harvest Farms course - and Florida-based Englishman Sam Horsfield will be looking forward to teeing up there again this week.

Horsfield starred at Harvest Farms in the 2015 Western Amateur Championship. After four rounds of strokeplay competition, an 18-year-old Horsfield finished third. Only two players managed to outscore the teen terror seven years ago - and he can hit the ground running this week.

A fast start is crucial in 54-hole sprints and Horsfield can put his course knowledge to good use. At the age of 25, he is a three-time DP World Tour champion, with the latest of those triumphs coming in May in the Soudal Open.

Back on the DP World Tour last week, Horsfield did well to concentrate amid all the noise surrounding the participation of the LIV Golf players, and he got better every day. Rounds of 70, 68 and 67 meant a share of 18th place in a high-class Wentworth line-up.

Horsfield's last LIV Golf round was a Sunday 65 in Boston, so he is 16 under par for his last four competitive rounds, and his A-game may be returning at an opportune moment. As an ambassador for Bettinardi putters, he is a regular visitor to Bettinardi's headquarters in Chicago, and this could be the city where his LIV Golf career takes off.

Next best bet

Eugenio Chacarra 200-1

Another young talent who will be looking forward to Rich Harvest Farms is Eugenio Chacarra. The 22-year-old Spaniard, a former world number two amateur who turned professional in June, starred at this course in last year's Palmer Cup.

The Palmer Cup - a Presidents Cup-style contest for amateurs - saw America win comfortably. Chacarra was superb for the Internationals, though, winning all four of his matches.

Chacarra, settling into both professional life and the new LIV circuit, has huge scope for rapid improvement. Maybe a return to such a happy hunting ground will be the impetus he needs to show the talent which made him an amateur star.

The Madrid man can be backed at 200-1 with BoyleSports getting five each-way places, or at 125-1 with Betfair and Paddy Power getting six.

Rich Harvest Farms course guide

Course Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Illinois
Prize money $20m ($4m to the winner)
Length 7,715 yards
Par 72 - four par-fives, ten par-fours, four par-threes
Field 48 (no cut)
Format 54 holes of strokeplay
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Cameron Smith (3), Joaquin Niemann (20), Dustin Johnson (23), Abraham Ancer (24), Brooks Koepka (27)

When to bet By 6.15pm on Friday (shotgun start)

When to watch Live on YouTube or LIVGolf.com from 6.15pm on Friday

Time difference Illinois is six hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last time - LIV Golf Boston 1 D Johnson (13-2), T2 A Lahiri (80-1), J Niemann (9-1), T4 L Westwood (66-1), C Smith (11-2)

Course type Parkland

Course overview Jerry Rich started designing the course in 1987 and it finally opened in 1999 as an ultra-private and exclusive members club. The 2009 Solheim Cup was staged there, along with numerous elite amateur events. Giant par-threes and two enormous par-fives (each 634 yards apiece) are a feature of this long, hilly, tree-lined layout, where a lake, lagoons and a creek are in play, and there are numerous blind tee shots

Weather forecast Sunny and warm, with light to moderate breezes throughout

Type of player suited to the challenge This is a long, tough, demanding layout which will greatly intimidate short hitters

Key attribute Power

Spotlight insight Only one of the four LIV Golf events has been won by an American

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