Some of the world's top golfers are heading to Gardagolf Country Club this week for the 2018 Italian Open, the second Rolex Series event of the year. Francesco Molinari is the Vegas favorite at 9-1, followed closely by Alexander Noren at 10-1 and Tommy Fleetwood at 11-1.
Before you make any bets or enter a daily fantasy golf tournament on DraftKings or FanDuel, you'll want to hear what the team at SportsLine has to say.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, was all over Francesco Molinari last week at the BMW PGA Championship. Despite being a 22-1 long shot, the model projected him as a top contender. The result: Molinari shot under par all four days and finished on top of the leaderboard. Anybody who used their model had plenty of great value selections to choose from.
Now that the field for the 2018 Italian Open is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times and the results were surprising.
One huge surprise the model is calling for at the Italian Open this week: Rafa Cabrera Bello, a 20-1 long shot, makes a serious run at the title. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
Cabrera Bello, who's currently ranked in the top 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings, tied for eighth last week at the BMW PGA Championship while hitting the most fairways in the field.
Another curveball: Tyrell Hatton, the 2017 Italian Open champion, is shut out of the top five.
Also, the model says four other golfers with odds of 20-1 or longer will make a deep run at the Italian Open title. Anyone who bets on these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2018 Italian Open? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the Italian Open projected leaderboard from the model that was all over Francesco Molinari's surprising run at the BMW PGA Championship.
Francesco Molinari 9-1
Alexander Noren 10-1
Tommy Fleetwood 11-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 16-1
Ian Poulter 18-1
Rafa Cabrera Bello 20-1
Ross Fisher 28-1
Andy Sullivan 30-1
Tyrell Hatton 33-1
Paul Dunne 35-1
Alexander Levy 35-1
Lucas Bjerregaard 40-1
Joost Luiten 50-1
Lee Westwood 50-1
Alexander Bjork 50-1
Matt Wallace 50-1