Major week is upon us with the PGA Tour headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma and Southern Hills Country Club for the 104th edition of the PGA Championship. Though we have a stacked field with the world’s best players assembled, the big news is who won’t be attending. Defending champ Phil Mickelson is not included in the field. To make up for Lefty’s absence we are expected to have a Tiger Woods sighting. Woods won this tournament the last time Southern Hills hosted in 2007, his fourth PGA Championship title. Making just his second start of the season Woods finds himself well down the odds board with Masters champ Scottie Scheffler leading the way. Four players hit the board with odds shorter than 20/1 with a tightly-packed group of players on the next tier. BookMaker.eu has a complete updated list of betting odds for the PGA Championship when you’re ready to make a wager.
Odds to Win PGA Championship
Scottie Scheffler +1000
Jon Rahm +1100
Rory McIlroy +1400
Justin Thomas +1650
Jordan Spieth +2050
Xander Schauffele +2150
Collin Morikawa +2252
Patrick Cantlay +2252
Cameron Smith +2452
Dustin Johnson +2552
Hideki Matsuyama +2650
Viktor Hovland +2802
Shane Lowry +3820
Will Zalatoris +3955
Matthew Fitzpatrick +4050
Sam Burns +4500
Brooks Koepka +4550
Joaquin Niemann +4750
Tony Finau +5500
Corey Conners +6500
Max Homa +6500
Jason Day +7500
Daniel Berger +7500
Tyrrell Hatton +7500
Louis Oosthuizen +7550
Cameron Young +7550
Tommy Fleetwood +9500
Keegan Bradley +9800
Tiger Woods +10000
Davis Riley +10000
Harold Varner III +10000
Odds Analysis
Brooks Koepka +4550
It’s been a tough year for Koepka and he lost some of his luster in majors with a MC at the Masters last month, but he’s still hard to ignore on the big stage which is why I’m giving him another crack. He has had troubling results off the tee, but using more irons is the way to play this course and Koepka is more accurate with those sticks. He withdrew from last week’s event to get himself right and since he’s never missed a cut at the PGA I think he’s worth backing.
Scottie Scheffler +1000
I rarely back the favorite but Scheffler’s play over the last few months has been inspirational. He’s won four times already this season, including a three-swing triumph at Augusta last month, and he’s playing a course he’s very familiar with. Scheffler was the individual medalist and helped Texas to the Big 12 Conference golf championship a few years ago and just last week fired a 64 at Southern Hills while taking a practice spin around the property.
Cameron Smith +2452
Approach play will be huge this week with hazards surrounding every hole, so it makes sense to back a player who is strong in that area. Over his last three tournaments Smith has averaged more than 2.0 strokes gained on approach, which if holds should give him an edge over most in the field. Another strong part of his game is accuracy. While he’s not particularly long you don’t have to be on this course since par is your friend and avoiding danger will help the score.
Jordan Spieth +2050
Spieth has said in the past that the PGA Championship is the most difficult for him, but he has to be feeling good about his game coming in. And since the mental part is so important I think he can overcome his phobia. He challenged for the ATT Byron Nelson title before coming up short giving him a runner up after his win at the RBC Heritage. And Spieth will continue playing with the shot at earning the career grand slam at stake, and he’s got a shot as long as he doesn’t psyche himself out.
Tiger Woods+10000
After what Mickelson did in this tournament last year why not drop a few bucks on Tiger at this price. He said leading up he’s feeling stronger and that’s after making the cut at Augusta. The course is much different but Tiger is the defending champ at Southern Hills and his game has manifested into a nice fit for the layout. Tiger doesn’t hit the ball as far as he once did, but his accuracy is impeccable and ... it’s Tiger freakin’ Woods.
Course: Southern Hills Country Club – 7,556 yards, Par 70
Things will be different this week. Following a 26-under winning tally from K.H. Lee in Dallas last week, we’re unlikely to reach half that total at Southern Hills, which has seen an average winning score of 7-under the last four times hosting the PGA Championship. The layout was last used in 2007 with Woods winning at 8-under. This will be the fifth playing of this tournament on this course, though it will look vastly different. The property had a huge facelift a few years ago with trees removed, bunkers updated, fairways widened, and rough removed from around the greens. It’s a long par-70 with only two par-5s, both measuring over 630 yards. With hazards lurking everywhere it’s better to be safe off the tee and deadly accurate on approach.
TV Coverage: ESPN+, ESPN, CBS
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker.eu.
