The second major of 2024 tees off Thursday with the first round of the 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky.
Our golf experts preview the tournament and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
106th PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Louisville, Ky., May 16-19
Course: Valhalla Golf Club (Par 71, 7,609 Yards)
Purse: TBA. $17.5M in 2023 (Winner: $3.15M)
Defending Champion: Brooks Koepka
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Thursday: 7 a.m.-noon ET (ESPN+), noon-8 p.m. (ESPN); Friday: 7 a.m.-noon (ESPN+), noon-7 p.m. (ESPN); Saturday-Sunday: 8-10 a.m. (ESPN+), 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN), 1-7 p.m. (CBS).
X: @PGAChampionship
PROP PICKS
-Tiger Woods to Miss Cut (-225 at DraftKings): Tiger made the cut against a much smaller field at the Masters and hasn’t played since. Valhalla is a different beast than the one he tamed in winning 24 years ago, and just walking the lengthy track for two days could prove a significant challenge.
–David Puig Top 40 (+250 at BetMGM): The young Spaniard sits 109th in the world while plying his trade primarily for LIV Golf. But he did earn a special invite courtesy of his win in Malaysia along with three other top-10 finishes on the Asia Tour this year. In two major appearances in 2023, Puig finished T14 at St. Andrews and T39 in the U.S. Open.
–Jon Rahm to Beat Xander Schauffele (+130 at DraftKings): Rahm hasn’t won an individual event since joining LIV, but he has racked up consistent top-10 finishes. After a miserable showing at the Masters, he will be motivated to show his game isn’t deteriorating. Schauffele is the -165 favorite, hence the decent payout for a winning bet on Rahm. While Schauffele struggles to close, he’s coming off his eighth top-10 in 11 starts this year.
2024 Prop Picks Record: 26-28-1
BEST BETS
–Scottie Scheffler (+450 at BetMGM) has won four of his past five starts, including the Masters, and tied for second in the other. He is coming off a three-week break for the birth of his first child, but is the book’s biggest liability while being backed by the most total bets (18.2%) and money (29.4%) to win since opening at +750.
–Rory McIlroy (+750) has won his past two starts as he seeks his first major championship since 2014, which came at Valhalla. He’s the book’s third-biggest liability, drawing 13.3 percent of the money since opening at +1100.
–Brooks Koepka (+1400) is a three-time winner of the event and won his most recent LIV Golf start. His odds have lengthened slightly since opening at +1200, but he’s BetMGM’s second-biggest liability with 14.5 percent of the money backing him to win.
–Xander Schauffele (+1400) is seeking his first career major title and his first victory in nearly two years after being unable to capitalize on his 54-hole lead last week.
–Jon Rahm (+1800) has had his odds lengthen significantly since opening at +800. He doesn’t have much course knowledge as he arrived in Louisville for the first time this week, but Rahm has been playing steadily if not spectacularly for LIV.
–Ludvig Aberg (+1800) is a career-high sixth in the world following his T10 at the RBC Heritage after a solo second at the Masters. He also finished eighth at The Players.
–Bryson DeChambeau (+2500) has the length to be a major factor at the 7,609-yard track. He finished T4 at last year’s PGA Championship and if he drives it well, DeChambeau would benefit even further if damp conditions make Valhalla play even longer but with more receptive greens.
NOTES
–If there is a tie after 72 holes, a playoff would be an aggregate score of three additional holes – Nos. 13, 17 and 18. If needed, the fourth hole would be the 18th followed by Nos. 13, 17 and 18 again.
-There are 16 LIV Golf players in the field, highlighted by defending champion Koepka. In addition to nine players who qualified, seven others received special invites.
–Valhalla has undergone a major renovation since the last time it hosted the PGA Championship in 2014. The 2021 project included changing the fairway turf and tees from bent grass to Zeon Zoysia, which requires less water. New championship tees were also created for Nos. 1, 12, 13, 14 and 18, with the course’s total length increased by 151 yards.
–The final two spots in the field went to Chris Gotterup with his win at Myrtle Beach and S.H. Kim, who was the highest finisher at the Wells Fargo behind McIlroy who was not already qualified. Gotterup will make his PGA Championship debut.
–Jordan Spieth is seeking to complete the career Grand Slam but enters with four missed cuts in his past seven starts.
–Field Level Media