The 2024 PGA Championship gets underway on Thursday, May 16, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. The early favorite is Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who is listed at +350 odds. Tiger Woods has said that he will play in the event that will run from the 16th through Sunday, May 19.
Brooks Koepka, last year’s PGA champion, is also in the field. Phil Mickelson, as well as a handful of other LIV golfers, will also play at Valhalla. That’s significant as we will see in a moment. Rory McIlroy’s attendance is also noteworthy. Let’s take a look at the odds and this year’s PGA Championship field.
Back the Hot Golfer
It’s been an impressive run for Scheffler, who has won four of his last five starts. That includes a green jacket as the Masters champion. He followed that up with a win at the RBC Heritage on April 22. Scheffler has been off since and you can bet he’s been preparing to capture this year’s title after finishing as a runner-up in 2023.
Scheffler is the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. You can just about guarantee that he will be in contention for any major this season. Scheffler is an overwhelming favorite at +350 and can be found as low as +320 at some sportsbooks.
Who Can Catch the Champ?
No other golfer comes close to Scheffler’s +350 odds at BetUS.com. Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy are next on the board at +1200. Smart bettors should be aware of McIlroy’s performance the last time the PGA Championship was played at Valhalla.
That was in 2014 and McIlroy edged out Mickelson for the win. McIlroy shot a 16-under 268 and beat Mickelson by a single stroke for his second PGA Championship win. McIlroy is the second-ranked golfer in the world right now. His best finish on the PGA Tour this season is third at the Valero Texas Open back in early April. McIlroy has finished in the Top 10 in each of the last two PGA Championships.
Rahm is ranked fifth in the world and, golfing on the LIV Tour, he has finished in the Top 10 in all seven tournaments in which he has played. In defending his 2023 Masters win, Rahm tied for 45th at Augusta this year.
The One to Watch
Quick, which golfer has the most PGA Championship victories? Before 1958, the PGA was scored as match play and Walter Hagan recorded five wins. After the move to stroke play in 1958, Jack Nicklaus won the event a record five times. He’s followed by Woods, who last won the event in 2007. Woods has won the PGA four times in his career. More on him later.
After Woods, the next name on the list is Koepka. Yes, last year’s win gave Koepka three PGA Championship victories. His first two came consecutively in 2018 and 2019. In the ‘18 win, Koepka set the tournament score record with a 268.
Koepka is given +1400 odds to win again in 2024. He has been playing on the LIV Tour and is coming off a win last week at LIV Golf Singapore. Koepka is currently ranked 37th in the world and he tied with Rahm for 45th at this year’s Masters.
Best Longshot Bets
Six of the last seven PGA Championship winners have closed with odds of +3500. That includes all of Koepka’s wins. He closed at +2000 before last year’s win. There have been some underdogs pull some wild victories at the PGA Championship.
The most recent was Mickelson. Remember, he was the runner-up in 2014 when the PGA was last held at Valhalla. In 2021 at the age of 50, Mickelson won by two strokes over Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. Mickelson was given +20000 odds that year. In 2024, he’s listed at +15000 at SportsBetting.ag.
The other longshot that demands some attention is Woods. Tiger’s most recent best at the PGA Championship came in 2018 when Koepka took the top spot. Woods finished two strokes behind. Among Woods’ four PGA Championship victories is one in 2000. That one came at Valhalla. Woods is also given +15000 odds to win this year.
