The second major of the year will be held at Southern Hills in Tulsa this week as the game’s top players compete in the 2022 PGA Championship. Last year’s champion Phil Mickelson is not in the field, so we will have a new winner hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy Sunday.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets among the 2022 PGA Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scottie Scheffler is seeking his second consecutive major championship after also winning the Masters in April, and he comes in as the betting favorite this week at +1000 . He’s not the No. 1 player in this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, however. Scheffler is second, behind only Jon Rahm. Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland round out the top 5 in the rankings.
Southern Hills is hosting the PGA Championship for the first time since 2007 when Tiger Woods won. Woods is in the field this week, only his second time teeing it up in 2022 – he finished 47th at the Masters. The course underwent a redesign in 2018 and will play about 300 yards longer than it did in 2007.
Also see: PGA Championship picks and predictions to win
2022 PGA Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 2:27 p.m. ET.
Jordan Spieth (+380)
I don’t know if Spieth will win, but I’m fairly confident saying he’ll be in contention based on the way he’s played recently. This is a course that fits him well, emphasizing ball-striking and finesse around the greens. Spieth has excelled in both areas this season and throughout his career.
BETTING A TOP-5 FINISH (+380) gives you some insurance if Spieth comes up just short of a win like last week.
Hideki Matsuyama (+500)
Matsuyama seems to be flying a bit under the radar this week. He already has two wins this season and tied for 3rd in his last start at the AT&T Byron Nelson, firing a 62 in the final round. He posted another top 15 at the Masters and is coming into this championship in good form.
Will Zalatoris (+650)
Despite struggling with his putter, Zalatoris finished tied for 6th at the Masters and tied for 4th at the Zurich Classic. He shockingly missed the cut last week in Dallas, but he was playing very well prior to that hiccup. This week won’t be a birdie fest like last week’s was, which favors Zalatoris.
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2022 PGA Championship – Top-10 picks
Cameron Smith (+260)
Smith’s track record at the PGA Championship is admittedly bad. He hasn’t finished better than T-43 since 2017, and his best finish was a T-25 in his first appearance in 2015. But when he’s on, he’s almost impossible to beat – just look at the Players Championship. He’s a deadly combination of ball-striking and putting, ranking top 10 in strokes gained: putting and approach the green.
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Brooks Koepka (+425)
Koepka withdrew from last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson with an injury, but he told reporters the reason was to ensure he was ready for the second major after gutting through an injury at the Masters. His form has been up and down this year, from 2 top-10’s to 6 missed cuts. If you’re going to take him for a top-10 finish, make it a small wager just in case he has to pull out mid-tournament, but I love his chances to notch another top 10 in a major this week.
Tommy Fleetwood (+750)
Fleetwood looked good at the Masters with a T-14. He followed that up with a top 10 at the RBC Heritage. He hasn’t impressed in his 2 events since, but he doesn’t miss cuts and he knows how to navigate windy conditions, which gives him an edge if the wind picks up this weekend.
Other T10 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Shane Lowry (+320)
2022 PGA Championship – Top-20 picks
Max Homa (+250)
Do not look at Homa’s major track record before betting on him this week. In short, he’s never contended. Not even close. That’ll change in Tulsa. He’s playing the best golf of his life and as long as he can chip the ball even decently well around the greens – his biggest weakness – he’ll be in contention. In 14 starts this season, he has 8 top 25’s.
Tony Finau (+230)
Finau played well in the last 2 PGA Championships and has more top 10’s in this tournament (3) than missed cuts (1). I like his chances here if he can find a rhythm on the greens, getting progressively worse as a putter in the last 3 years. His ball-striking hasn’t gone away, though.
Robert MacIntyre (+500)
MacIntyre has played in 8 majors. He’s missed the cut in exactly zero of them. Seriously. That’s a small sample size, and he only has 2 top 10’s (both in the Open), but in his last 5 majors, he went T-12, T-49, T-35, T-8 and T-23. For a long shot, those are the types of performances you want to bet on.
Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Tiger Woods (+300)
- Joaquin Niemann (+190)
2022 PGA Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Collin Morikawa (-125) vs. Viktor Hovland (+105)
Ah, a battle between bad chippers. Hovland is noticeably worse in this area than Morikawa, but neither is very good around the greens. They’re both going to hit a ton of greens. It’s just a matter of who will make up-and-down when they miss. I like Morikawa in this matchup, even at -125.
Corey Conners (+100) vs. Tony Finau (-115)
Conners has been surprisingly steady in majors, particularly the Masters. He comes in having finished no worse than T-35 in his last 7 events. I still like Finau, but getting Conners at even money is a nice way to hedge against Finau potentially struggling this week.
2022 PGA Championship – Top American
Jordan Spieth (+1000)
The field of Americans is loaded once again this week, headlined by Scheffler (+650) and Thomas (+900). Spieth has the third-best odds at +1000, and taking him at this spot is a good value because he doesn’t have to contend with the likes of Rahm, Matsuyama, Smith and Rory McIlroy.
2022 PGA Championship – Top Japanese
Hideki Matsuyama (-170)
Matsuyama is by far the best Japanese player in the field, and perhaps his odds should be even shorter in this group. The next-closest player is Rikuya Hoshino at +600. Unless Matsuyama surprisingly misses the cut, which he’s never done at the PGA Championship, he’s going to be the low man from Japan. He’s never finished worse than T-37 in this championship.
2022 PGA Championship – First-round leader
Cameron Young (+6000)
Young goes off at 9:44 a.m. ET Thursday, so he’s in the early wave before temperatures heat up above 90 degrees. He’s a player that can go really low and he comes in having played fantastic in his last 2 tournaments (T-3 and T-2) with an opening-round 63 at the RBC Heritage.
2022 PGA Championship – To make the cut
Suggested play in bold.
- Tiger Woods: YES (-150) vs. No (+110)
Woods made the cut at Augusta a month ago on a treacherous walking course. Now he’s had even more time to strengthen his leg ahead of the second major on a course he’s won at before. He’s making the cut.
More expert prop bet predictions
Group B winner: Cameron Smith (+330)
This is a loaded group that also includes Cantlay (+320), Morikawa (+320), Xander Schauffele (+330) and Dustin Johnson (+400).
Morikawa’s chipping could bite him, Johnson hasn’t been his sharpest this year and Schauffele has missed the cut twice in 5 PGA Championship starts. TAKE A SHOT ON SMITH (+330).
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Golfweek:
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