PGA Championship Odds – Early look at Whistling Straits

It’s time to start looking at golf’s final major of the year! Yes, while we’ve yet to even see who will win the Open Championship (July 16-19), already we’ve begun to start scouring the field at the 97th PGA Championship at Whistling Straits for value. Almost across the board, you can get better odds on players for the last major of the year if you act now.

Want to bet the favorites? Jordan Spieth is currently a 9/2 favorite in the Open (thanks to Rory’s injury), but he’s getting 6/1 odds for the PGA Championship. Same goes for Dustin Johnson (12/1 Open, 14/1 PGA), Justin Rose (16/1 Open, 18/1 PGA), Henrik Stenson (20/1 Open, 22/1 PGA), and, if you’re feeling really crazy, Tiger Woods (22/1 Open, 25/1 PGA).

So the rest of the golfing world can focus on the upcoming Open like a bunch of dummies! But we’re not ones to live in the present. (That’s probably why crossing the street is always such an adventure.)

Below, we set out the current list of favorites, followed by some of the best value we see in the PGA Championship field.

Favorites to Win the PGA Championship (as of July 6):

• Rory McIlroy – 5/1
• Jordan Spieth – 6/1
• Dustin Johnson – 14/1
• Adam Scott – 16/1
• Justin Rose – 18/1
• Bubba Watson – 20/1
• Jason Day – 20/1
• Rickie Fowler – 20/1
• Henrik Stenson – 22/1
• Phil Mickelson – 25/1
• Sergio Garcia – 25/1
• Tiger Woods – 25/1
• Martin Kaymer – 33/1
• Jimmy Walker – 40/1
• Matt Kuchar – 40/1

Value Picks:

Whistling Straits will mark the third straight major played on a links-style course. (Although it’s hard to even classify Chambers Bay as a golf course. David Feherty put it best when he called it a post-apocalyptic wasteland.) As such, the guys who showed up for this year’s U.S. Open and for the British Opens of the past, will be solid plays.

Dustin Johnson – 14/1

Coming off a terrific choke job at Chambers, Dustin Johnson looks like a solid pick for the PGA Championship. Johnson can smack the tar out of the ball, leading the tour in driving distance this year. He’s had strong outings on links play in the past, which included a -9 tie for fifth at Whistling Straits back in 2010.

It’s hard to throw support behind a guy after such a terrific collapse, but we’ve seen players bounce back from losses like that before (see McIlroy’s 2011 Masters), and Johnson has the kind of nonchalant attitude that should help him recover from that outing and win his first major.

Bubba Watson – 20/1

Bubba Watson is another big driver that should be a strong play this tournament. While Bubba has done a big load of nothing in majors this year, he has two majors to his name (The 2012 and 2014 Masters) along with a second-place finish at 2010 PGA (which was also played at Whistling Straits!). He is coming off a win at the Travelers, the same tourney he won in 2010 before going to Whistling Straits and losing to Martin Kaymer in a playoff. Coincidence? Probably. But it’s hard to believe Bubba will go all season without making any noise at a major. And he’s not likely to do it at the British Open, where his best finish is 23rd.

Louis Oosthuizen – 50/1

Louis Oosthuizen, currently going off at 50/1, is a longshot but could be worth a flyer. Oosthuizen made plenty of noise on the final day of the U.S. Open, rallying to -4 to tie for second. His only majors win was a dominant performance at the British Open in 2010 where he won by seven strokes. Oosthuizen has never had much success at the PGA Championship; his best result is a 15th-place finish last year. But he has played championship caliber golf on links before, and is worth throwing a little down on as a darkhorse.

(Photo Credit: Keith Allison (Originally posted on Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/].)