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Xander Schauffele 2023 PGA Championship: Best Bets, Picks & 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 >>

Xander Schauffele 2023 PGA Championship Best Bets

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Xander Schauffele Stats to Know

    • Best odds to win: +2400 (FanDuel)
    • World ranking: 5
    • Best PGA Championship finish: T10 (2020)
    • Last four PGA Championship finishes: T16, T10, MC, T13
    • Last four tournament finishes: T10, 4, T4, 2

Xander Schauffele Course History

The 29-year-old Xander Schauffele is set to tee off at the PGA Championship for the seventh time in his career. So far, his best outing was a T10 finish at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco back in 2020. The fifth-ranked player in the world has logged three top-20 finishes at the PGA Championship. Of his six outings at this event, he’s missed two cuts — once in his debut in 2017 and again in 2021. However, take it all with a grain of salt, as none of those tournaments were played at Oak Hill Country Club. This will be a new course for many players, which means it’s more difficult to discern who will secure the win this weekend.

Xander Schauffele Recent Form

Schauffele is playing some of the best golf of his career right now, having not missed a cut since last April at the Masters. Since the start of the new season in October, the American has five top-5 finishes and three top-10s to his name. Most recently, he finished second at the Wells Fargo Championship in early May, four shots behind Wyndham Clark. It was Schauffele’s third consecutive top-5 outing, along with a T4 at the Zurich Classic (an event with two-player teams) and a standalone fourth-place finish at the RBC Heritage. There’s no doubt that Schauffele is earning his No. 5 world ranking.

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.

2023 PGA Championship Golfer Profiles

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

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