PGA Championship 2022: Rory McIlroy Betting Odds, Preview & Prediction
This week, the second major of 2022 gets underway in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Southern Hills Country Club hosts the 104th annual PGA Championship.
Temperatures have been steamy in Tulsa, but the tournament forecast looks agreeable. Weather.com predicts a high of 89 degrees for Thursday, but temperatures are expected to top out at 82 degrees over the following three days. Other than a chance of scattered thunderstorms on Sunday, the weather is expected to be dry, making for firm, fast conditions. It will be breezy for the tournament, especially on Thursday and Friday, so we could see high scores.
Southern Hills has hosted three U.S. Opens and four PGA Championships. The most recent major to be played here was the 2007 PGA Championship. Tiger Woods finished -8 to beat Woody Austin by two shots in that event.
The course will play as a par 70 at 7,546. Three of the par-3s measure over 200 yards, with the longest topping out at 251 yards. The two par-5s play at 656 and 632 yards. Four of the par-4s are 489 yards or longer. This course is a brute.
Defending PGA champ Phil Mickelson, who topped the field at Kiawah Island last year to become the oldest player to win a major, won’t be playing this week. But it’s still a star-studded field, and Woods expects to play after returning to the Masters last month following a car crash in February 2021.
For those interested in betting on the tournament, we have some thoughts on the outlooks for the top players.
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Rory McIlroy Stats to Know
- Best Odds to Win: 16-1 (via FanDuel, PointsBet)
- World Ranking: 7
- Best PGA Championship Finish: 1 (2012, 2014)
- Last Four PGA Championship Finishes: T49, T33, 8, T50
- Last Four Tournament Finishes: MC, T33, T13, T10
Rory McIlroy Course History
Although Rory McIlroy has never officially played at Southern Hills, according to datagolf.com, a few courses on the PGA Tour schedule are similar to this version of Southern Hills, one of which is the Summit Club, where he won the 2021 CJ Cup.
Rory McIlroy Recent Form
Rory is off to a good start to the season as he has top-10 finishes at The Genesis Invitational (T10), Wells Fargo Championship (5), and the win at The CJ Cup @ Summit. He redeemed himself at Augusta, where last year he failed to make the cut and a year later returned and was the runner up. While he never had more than a 5% chance of winning the green jacket, with how well he played that Sunday, you felt like he was right in the mix.
Rory McIlroy PGA Championship Predictions
He’s come into this tournament with the fourth-best odds at 14/1, and his playing style makes him a great choice. This big course will play well in Rory’s game. This year he’s eighth on Tour at 315.8 yards driving distance and is fifth in strokes gained from tee to green. His accuracy will be the issue as his 59.9% driving accuracy is 115th, and his 67.3% greens in regulation are 79th.
Rory will also sacrifice accuracy for power. The power part of his game will help with 12 of 18 holes being Par 4s, but there are a considerable amount of doglegs on this course that could land Rory in the rough. There are also quite a few sand traps surrounding the green, and Rory has been great this year at his approach at 58.1% sand save.
When Rory is clicking on all facets of his game, he’s nearly unbeatable. He needs to remain in the mix heading into the weekend because, as we know, he can go on a tear and sore up the leaderboard. You have to love his chances this weekend with the way he’s playing.
PGA Championship 2022 Golfer Profiles
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