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2023 PGA Championship: Best Bets & Predictions

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The PGA Championship used to bat cleanup as the fourth and final major of the season, but this will be the fifth time that the PGA has been held in May, in between the Masters and the U.S. Open.

Justin Thomas is the defending champion. He shot a final-round 67 at Southern Hills last year and beat Will Zalatoris in a playoff to win the Wanamaker Trophy, the giant piece of hardware awarded annually to the PGA champ. Thomas and Brooks Koepka have combined to win four of the last six PGA Championships, with Collin Morikawa and Phil Mickelson interrupting the Thomas/Koepka reign in 2020 and 2021.

This year’s PGA Championship returns Oak Hill in Pittsford, N.Y., where Jason Dufner finished -10 to win the 2013 PGA, beating runner-up Jim Furyk by two strokes. But the East Course at Oak Hill will look much different than it did at the last PGA here 10 years ago. Course architect Andrew Green presided over a major remodeling intended to make the course more faithful to the original Donald Ross design. The course will once again play at par-70, and after playing at 7,163 yards in 2013, it has been stretched to 7,400 for this year’s event.

Will favorites Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler flex their muscles at Oak Hill? Will Thomas and Koepka extend their stretch of PGA dominance? Or will an unexpected winner emerge from the field the way Jimmy Walker did at Baltusrol in 2016? Read on for betting profiles of the top contenders for the 2023 PGA Championship.

Check out our 2023 PGA Championship Betting Guide >>

2023 PGA Championship Best Bets & Predictions

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Xander Schauffele Betting Outlook

You’ll hear a lot this week about how the keys to success at Oak Hill’s East Course include driving accuracy and quality putting. Well, Schauffele isn’t exactly the best driver in terms of accuracy. He ranks 114th in driving accuracy, hitting the fairway 58.1% of the time. However, Schauffele is typically able to overcome any mis-hits, as he’s 17th overall in greens in regulation at 69.5%. With the way that he’s playing right now, it’s worth a shot to play Schauffele at +210 to finish inside the top 10 (via DraftKings). I wouldn’t mind a sprinkle on him to win the whole thing at +2400, but if you’re looking for a more conservative wager, ride with me in betting that Schauffele makes it inside the top 10. He’s on fire right now and really hitting the prime of his career. I think he’ll be in contention heading into Sunday’s final round.

Scottie Scheffler Betting Outlook

Scottie Scheffler is the only golfer in the field who might actually be worth his confident odds. Oak Hill demands a bag full of thoughtful, well-executed shots. This bodes well for Scheffler, who enters the event on a real heater. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if he captures his second major this week. I also like throwing some skin on a top-5 finish, which is stable at plus-odds.

Sungjae Im Betting Outlook

All things considered, I think the best bet that we can make on Im is for him to place inside the top 20 this weekend. That’ll issue a respectable +130 payout over at DraftKings Sportsbook. Im is just 45th in putting average this season, averaging 1.74 putts per hole. Considering the difficulty of putting at Oak Hill’s East Course, I think that may be what holds him back this weekend. However, there’s no denying that the South Korean is at the top of his game right now. That alone is worth a flier on him to place inside the top 20. As I mentioned above, he’s accomplished that in five consecutive tournaments. Let’s lock him in to do it a sixth straight time in Rochester this weekend.

2023 PGA Championship Golfer Profiles

Check out our previews for each of the top golfers competing at Oak Hill this week:

PGA Championship Odds Boost: Add +1000 to Any Golfer to Win! >>

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