2026 PGA Championship Picks & Predictions: Best PGA Bets
The second major of 2026 is set to tee off this week from Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, for the 2026 PGA Championship. It’s a par 70 that runs 7,394 yards, featuring three-inch rough, large bentgrass greens, and nearly 200 sand bunkers in this Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner design.
Last year’s PGA Championship winner, Scottie Scheffler, looks to go back-to-back as the outright betting favorite at +480 odds. The World No. 1 has carded runner-up finishes in three straight events, so Scheffler is primed to record his second outright win of 2026 at Aronimink this week.
A cut line will be enforced this week, adding a bit more urgency to this field. Other notable betting favorites include Rory McIlroy (+850), Cameron Young (+1200), Jon Rahm (+1500), along with Xander Schauffele and Ludvig Åberg at +1800 odds.
My 2026 Truist Championship Picks: Best Bets settled 1-2 at Quail Hollow Club. Ben Griffin and Sepp Straka each played poorly, sliding outside the top 60 in a 72-man field, while our best value play, Alex Smalley, carded a T17 finish to cash his Top 20 prop at +145 odds.
I’ve got three more best bets to lock in ahead of Round 1 at the 2026 PGA Championship. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more free picks and analysis throughout the remainder of the PGA Tour season.
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Top 20 Finishing Position
Ludvig Åberg’s game is in a good place entering the PGA Championship. The 26-year-old Swede has six top 20 finishes in his past seven events, including a T8 at Quail Hollow on Sunday.
Ironically, only the Masters, the only major played so far, yielded a finish outside the top 2o (T21) for Åberg during this stretch. Ranks third in total strokes gained, including 10th in SG: Approach and second in total driving. Åberg paces the PGA Tour in approach shots from 200+ yards and is fifth in proximity.
Sitting in sixth for putting average, there’s little not to like about Åberg. Lay a bit of juice on his top 20 finishing position prop at -130 odds.
Pick: Ludvig Åberg (-130)
Top 20 Finishing Position
We’ve seen Patrick Cantlay tear up golf courses since mid-March with a T7 at the Valspar Championship. The Californian transferred that momentum into a T12 finish at Augusta National, with a pair of subsequent top 10 finishes at Signature Events.
Cantlay ranks top-20 in total strokes gained, including 22nd in SG: Off-the-Tee. He’s also 20th at finding greens in regulation and scrambling, while cracking the top 50 in putting average.
At +130, we’re landing big value on Cantlay to record a fifth consecutive top 20 finish in Philadelphia this week.
Pick: Patrick Cantlay (+130)
Top 20 Finishing Position
While he couldn’t hold his 54-hole lead on Sunday at Quail Hollow, Alex Fitzpatrick is being severely undervalued for a top 20 finish at +280 odds. Fitzpatrick has a pair of top 10 finishes following his win with brother Matt Fitzpatrick at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
He led all golfers in SG: Approach during the Truist Championship entering Round 4. Fitzpatrick has showcased his phenomenal tee-to-green accuracy while converting birdies in flurries.
If not for a few three-putts from short distances, we may have seen Fitzpatrick card his first solo win on the PGA Tour on Sunday. Expect him to continue his quality play at a course like Aronimink that rewards ball-striking and off-the-tee accuracy.
Pick: Alex Fitzpatrick (+280)