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The PGA Championship is here, and both major tours will come together to try and win the prize money! Check out our PGA Tour odds series as we give you the PGA Championship best bets for PGA Tour and LIV Tour players.
The PGA Championship is the season's second major, so we will be seeing players from both the PGA and LIV Tour come together at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Last season, Brooks Koepka took home the win, and he is one of the golfers playing well heading into this event.
The course at Valhalla is longer than normal. It comes in over 7,600 yards, and almost every hole (besides the par 3s) is going to be a driver hole. The winner of this event is going to be whoever can drive it far and straight while hitting their mid/long iron approach shots well. With that said, there are a few best bets I am loving as the top players in the world tee it up at the PGA Championship.
Here are the PGA Championship odds, courtesy of FanDuel
PGA Championship Odds
Scottie Scheffler OVER 4.5 birdies in round 1: +105
Xander Schauffele top-10 finish (including ties): +105
3 Ball round 1 – Bryson DeChambeau beats Tommy Fleetwood and Akshay Bhatia: +140
Joaquin Niemann UNDER 70.5 round 1 score: -105
Why Scottie Scheffler will make Over 4.5 birdies in round 1 at PGA Championship
Scheffler is the best golfer in the world, there is no doubt about that. He leads the PGA Tour in a lot of main categories, as well. Scheffler is first in scoring average, birdie average, total strokes gained, greens in regulation, and strokes gained: approach to green. The stats you should focus on here are strokes gained: approach to green, greens in regulation and birdie average. Scheffler excels at hitting the greens with his irons, and he is constantly setting himself up for birdie. He averages 5.38 birdies per round, so if he can keep that up, this number should hit.
There are two hesitations here. Scheffler missed last week due to the birth of his first child. An incredible amount of joy for him, but he could come into this event just a little bit tired. Despite that, Scheffler is still the best golfer at the event, and I am convinced he can shoot low in his sleep. The second hesitation is his putting. He is not great with the putter, so if he leaves himself 15-20 foot putts for birdie, I am not sure how many of those he ends up making. Nonetheless, this is still a bet I love.
Why Xander Schauffele will have a top-10 finish at PGA Championship
Schauffele is coming off a second-place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship. He had a great chance to win, but Rory McIlroy was a man on a mission. Still, second-place is nothing to be ashamed of. Schauffele is no stranger to the top-10 finish, though. He has made all 12 of his cuts this season, and has finished in the top-10 eight times. This includes an eighth-place finish at the first major of the season, The Masters.
As mentioned, golfers are going to need to hit the ball far and straight if they want to be at the top of the leaderboard in this event. Schauffele averages 304.6 yards per drive and hits 67.76 percent of fairways. That should be far enough, and enough fairways for him to have success. As long as his irons are locked in, I expect to see Schauffele's name at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Why Bryson DeChambeau will score better than Fleetwood and Bhatia in round 1 of PGA Championship
This is based on DeChambeau's ability to drive the ball. I have said it before, and I will say it again, hitting the ball far and on the fairway is key at the PGA Championship. DeChambeau leads the LIV Tour with 318.9 yards per drive. That number would be first on the PGA Tour by 1.7 yards. DeChambeau can absolutely demolish the ball off the tee, but he does get himself in trouble with his accuracy. I will not pretend like he is the most accurate golfer in the world, but he has the ability to hit every green in two strokes when he is on. If DeChambeau is on in this event, he will be able to shoot better than Fleetwood and Bhatia.
Why Joaquin Niemann will score Under 70.5 in round 1 at PGA Championship
Nieman is playing well this season on the LIV Tour. He is the individual leader through their first seven events, and he has won twice. He has shot -1 or better in 19 of his 21 rounds on the LIV Tour, as well. Niemann is playing some very good golf, and he just needs to shoot -1 to hit this mark on Thursday.
Looking at his stats, Niemann is second on the LIV Tour in birdie average (5.0), second in total eagles (6), 15th in scrambling (65.96%), second in greens in regulation (75.13%), seventh in putting average (1.56), and second in driving distance (317.4). On the PGA Tour, those numbers (in order listed here) would rank second, 37th (In significantly less rounds), 20th, first, first, and first. Niemann would be having a lot of success if he was on the PGA Tour, and I expect that to happen at the PGA Championship. A round of one-under par seems more than attainable for him.
