Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas versus the rest of the 156-player field at the PGA Championship.
Who are you taking?
Sharp bettors at the Westgate SuperBook backed the top four favorites to win the year’s second major at +130. The prop now pays even money, with the field a slight -120 favorite.
Scheffler and McIlroy are the +450 co-favorites at the Westgate to win the PGA, which tees off Thursday at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. DeChambeau is the 8-1 third choice and Thomas is tied for the 20-1 fourth favorite with Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm.
VSiN host Wes Reynolds, who has picked four outright PGA Tour winners this year, made DeChambeau one of his best bets.
“DeChambeau fell short at the Masters last month but should be out for redemption here. He has won two U.S. Opens and was runner-up at the PGA held at Valhalla last year … so he has a proven record on long, classical courses,” said Reynolds (@WesReynolds1). “DeChambeau also won his last time out at the LIV event in Korea, which is not exactly ideal preparation for this week, but it is a victory that at least shows good form.
“DeChambeau has also finished fourth and ninth on his last two visits to Quail Hollow, so he has the course experience as well.”
Westgate golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman made Thomas one of his best bets.
“He’s improved his game over the last year. He’s been so close to winning quite a few times and he finally cracked through at the RBC Heritage,” said Sherman (@golfodds). “He’s got two PGA Championship wins. He won the last time the PGA Championship was here in 2017. He’s got all the momentum going in here. I think anything over 20-1 feels like a decent shot relative to the other guys.”
Sharp bettors at the Westgate backed Schauffele over Thomas in a tournament matchup at -120 (now -130), and Reynolds made Schauffele one of his best bets to win his second straight PGA Championship.
“I know there’s a lot of people that like Xander,” Sherman said. “He won two majors last year and is slowly returning to form (after a rib injury). He’s finished second each of the last two years at Quail Hollow.
“If he can keep progressing, I can see why people think that at 20-1 or in a matchup, he could be worth supporting.”
Sherman also bet on four other golfers to win the PGA, albeit at better odds, in Tyrrell Hatton (now 54-1), Corey Conners (70-1), Daniel Berger (80-1) and Aaron Rai (165-1).
“Conners has just been fantastic this season. He’s had so many top 10s this year,” Sherman said. “At Quail Hollow the last couple years, he’s been 13th and eighth. It feels like 50-1 is the right range for him. If you find higher than that, it definitely feels like he can be in the mix as a live long shot.”
Here are five more best bets from Reynolds, with comments on each:
Ludvig Aberg, 28-1
“The Swede’s triple bogey-bogey finish dropped him from third to seventh at last month’s Masters. … Aberg has proven himself on lengthy courses as evidenced by his Genesis Invitational victory at Torrey Pines earlier this year.”
Joaquin Niemann, 33-1
“Niemann has yet to post a top 10 finish in 23 career major championships, so he is a bit of a wild card this week. However, he has won four times in the last five months and is one of the longer hitters off the tee in the entire game.”
Patrick Cantlay, 41-1
“Cantlay does not have a standout record here at Quail Hollow, but he might be sneakily rounding into form. In last week’s fourth (place finish) at the Truist, he led the field for greens in regulation and was third for strokes gained: approach.”
Viktor Hovland, 50-1
“Hovland finished third on debut at Quail Hollow in 2021. … He has come alive in the last two PGA Championships, having finished second at Oak Hill in 2023 and third last year at Valhalla.”
Patrick Reed, 80-1
“While Reed may not leap off the page to win here this week, he does have good career form at Quail Hollow with a runner-up to Justin Thomas in the 2017 PGA, along with a sixth in 2021 and an eighth in 2018.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
