Steve Palmer's PGA Tour money list predictions and golf betting tips

Steve Palmer's golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the PGA Tour money list.

Best bets

Rory McIlroy
4pts 6-1 Betfred

Viktor Hovland
2pts each-way 20-1 bet365

Xander Schauffele
2pts each-way 16-1 general

Rickie Fowler
0.5pt each-way 250-1 bet365

Palmer's top tip
Rory McIlroy 6-1

The 2022 PGA Tour Money List is already nine tournaments old, with Talor Gooch leading the way on $2,293,294, but the RSM Classic champion should be quickly swamped by better players in the months to come.

Rory McIlroy has banked $1,755,000 to lie in fourth place - teeing up once compared to Gooch's six - and McIlroy's CJ Cup success in October has laid the foundation for an excellent PGA Tour campaign. It is a surprise to see 6-1 available about the four-time Major champion given his Vegas victory and the likelihood of more prestigious silverware in the summer.

As with the DP World Tour Rankings, it is difficult to triumph without doing well in the most important events on the calendar, and McIlroy will be looking forward to the 2022 Majors.

Six top-tens in the last eight Masters show how comfortable McIlroy has become at Augusta - and he can be fancied to go close to completing the career Grand Slam there in April. Stateside Major venues typically set up well for McIlroy, who has always been one of the best drivers in the world, and St Andrews is a dreamy location for the Open.

The 2010 Open at St Andrews saw McIlroy card rounds of 63, 80, 69, 68 to finish third - he was blown away in Friday-afternoon gales - then he was denied the chance to tee up as favourite in the 2015 Open at St Andrews by injuring his ankle ligaments playing football in the build-up. If McIlroy avoids footballs and gets a fair set of tee-times, he will probably be the man to beat at the Home of Golf in the summer.

At the age of 32, McIlroy has a settled family life, a tried and tested backroom team, a maturing and increasingly confident caddie, and everything seems in place for a stellar 2022. He is a tempting option for the DP World Tour Rankings, but is a more appealing wager at a bigger price for the PGA Tour Money List, a race he has won twice before.

Next best
Viktor Hovland 20-1

Perhaps the Europeans can dominate the PGA Tour Money List this time. Jon Rahm topped the standings last season - and this time McIlroy and Viktor Hovland could take charge.

Hovland, like McIlroy, will be much looking forward to Majors season. The US PGA is in Hovland's adopted home state of Oklahoma - where he enjoyed so much success as an amateur - and that tournament, in particular, looks like a golden opportunity for the Norwegian ace.

And, like McIlroy, Hovland already has a victory on the board which counts towards the Money List. The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba went the way of Hovland in November and he has $1,435,781 on the board.

Further confidence was gained from winning the Hero World Challenge a month later and Hovland seems ready to compete for the highest honours in the sport at the age of 24.

Other selections
Xander Schauffele 16-1
Rickie Fowler 250-1

Without winning a tournament, Xander Schauffele finished 12th on the PGA Tour Money List last season, banking more than $5m. That is testament to the consistency of a player who does not have an obvious technical weakness.

There were plenty of positives in 2021 for Schauffele - he got married, moved to a new house in Las Vegas, won an Olympic gold medal and made an excellent Ryder Cup debut - but PGA Tour success eluded him and the 28-year-old will start the new year full of determination.

Schauffele can be expected to end his PGA Tour victory drought fairly soon - he is surely too good to go without silverware for much longer - and the US Open would become a superb chance for Major glory if he gets back to winning ways prior to June. Schauffele and the US Open are a match made in heaven - and his record in the event is superb.

Complete a four-pronged attack with a small stake on Rickie Fowler. The former world number four ended 2021 with some positive vibes. He finished third - behind McIlroy and Collin Morikawa - in the CJ Cup in October, then the following month Fowler became a father to baby Maya.

Fowler has been showing signs of life on the golf course and the 33-year-old will be hoping to be a factor in the Open at St Andrews, where he finished 14th on his Open debut in 2010.

Jordan Spieth enjoyed a 'comeback season' in 2021 - and it seems entirely feasible that his good pal Fowler could follow the lead this year.

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