The PGA Tour is getting set for the penultimate tournament of their regular season, and if you haven't already placed your pre-tournament bets, be sure to check out my betting preview, as well as this week's episode of Green on the Greens to find out who I'm backing.

In this article, I'm going to focus on some bets for the first round. They're called "3-ball" bets, which means you're betting on a golfer to finish with the lowest score amongst the threesome that he's playing with that day. The great thing about these bets, is it's only on one round. You don't need to wait until Sunday to find out if your bet cashes.

Let's dive into my top three 3-ball bets for the opening round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.

You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!

I'll start off with backing Gary Woodland to put up a better first round score than the tournament favorite, Patrick Cantlay.

Woodland has had a better season than you might think. He ranks 36th in total strokes gained and 22nd in driving distance, which has been proven to be useful at Detroit Golf Club in events past. Finally, his best round, historically, has been the first. His round 1 scoring average is 69.86, which ranks 46th on Tour.

I really do love Max Homa this week, but since I don't have any pre-tournament bets on him, I'm going to bet on him to win his first round 3-ball matchup. The thing I like the most about Homa, is that he's one of the best wedge players on Tour.

He ranks fifth on Tour in approaches from 50-125 yards, which as I pointed out in my betting preview, is a key distance this week.

Woodland bet wasn't ugly enough for you? How about a Rickie Fowler bet?

Yes, he's probably lost golf bettors more money than any other popular golfer, but I have reason to back him this week. This threesome is a group of aging golfers who have been severely underperformed this season, so why not take the one with the longest odds?

Also, just like Woodland, Fowler's strongest round each week is the first. His round 1 scoring average this season is 70.11, whereas he doesn't average a sub-71 score in any of the next three rounds.

I'm ready for Rickie to once again break my heart.

You can track Iain's bets on Betstamp here.

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